A bit over a year ago I decided to give up motoring and buy two electrical mobility scooters. I was told by several people that "You'll miss the car". I knew that to be true, but with the cost of running a car I reckoned that I would save money by using taxis. I only expected to go about two miles from the house as a maximum.
I did a bit of research before buying the scooter (one each for the wife and I). One lady on the estate told me that she had had three punctures in three weeks. She then invested in a set of solid tyres. So I decided to do likewise. They make the ride quite hard, but I don't want to ruin a tyre in order to get home after a puncture.
I'm back with a car, and it is not that I want to travel long distances. This estate was built in about 1930 and the roads haven't been made up since then. The Council fill in potholes when they are pressed, and they fill in the Mark IIO potholes holes in the repaired originals. Consequently the roads are terrible. This part of the city pays the highest charges of all the city but the money gets spent on other suburbs. I think Nottingham should abandon Robin Hood for the slogan "we have no money" That's what we are always being told. But they are spending millions (literally) on some of the prestige projects near the City Centre.
But not only are the roads a disgrace to the western world, the pavements are no better. I always use the road when I am travelling around the estate. They are much safer that the footpath. I also find that the great majority of motorists are courteous in the extreme. Almost embarrassingly so. The reason that the pavements are so dangerous is that most of them have a distinct slope. There is no worry about puddles on the path, any more than you have puddles half-way up a mountain.
The very narrow wheelbase of the scooters makes even a slight slope seem excessive. The scooters are designed to go through normal house doors. A twenty-four inch gap is sufficient for a scooter to pass.
But the worst is when one leaves the estate. Some years ago the Council decided to make a lowered kerb at every crossing. This was probably intended to be used by wheelchair pushers. But, of course, if the workman aren't properly supervised, they just put a lowered kerb where it suited them. It is common to find a lowered kerb on a sharp bend in the pavement. With the narrow wheelbase this means that you go down the slope at an angle. A few cases have been reported of scooters tipping over. One in the city a couple of years back dumped the driver in front of a car and killed the driver. I reckon the car must have been severely damaged as these scooter are quite solidly made.
On the Derby Road en-route to Lenton Boulevard there is a hundred-year-old tree right in the middle of the pavement. I had to get off the pavement and drive in the bus lane in order to pass the tree.
Here on the estate, although the road is the safer than the pavement, there are hazards unique to these roads. I always drive in the centre of the road as if you keep close to the kerb, there are sudden invisible hollows in the tarmac. If I pull over to the kerb, I always stop until the car has passed as if one puts one wheel in an invisible hollow, it is frightening. Five miles per hour is a brisk walking pace, and you career to the left or right without warning. Some of these hollows are virtually impossible to see even in broad daylight when you know they are there. A normal pothole is generally visible due to the change of colour, but these hollows are almost invisible.
So I bought another car and only use the scooter for very local journeys. The scooter is still very useful as I have a pair of very gammy feet. And I find that I overtake all pedestrians.
There is a higher-speed version that I have considered. This machine travels at eight miles per hour. The chassis is sprung, whereas on my version it is not. I know one user who has been to Chilwell and back on his machine, and that is a pretty good journey. My own machine is legal both on the road and on the pavement. It has lights, trafficators, a mirror and a horn. The horn is a joke, of course, as it can only be heard by a person standing close to the scooter. But I suppose it meets the legal requirements of the Road Traffic Acts.
There are various accessories one can get, such as a rain-hood but I feel that they may make the machine unstable in a high wind. Both of our machines get plenty of use despite their limitations.
There is no legal requirement for insurance, but it could be very serious if one were found at fault and had no cover. I won't go into the lurid details, but just think things through. No driving licence is required, and there is no road tax. The government is considering whether to introduce mandatory insurance as there have been several cases of people being hurt in a supermarket by a careless scooter driver.
I use mine to travel round the Queens Medical Centre (QMC) (the local large hospital), and it will just fit into a lift. The long corridors are a chore to walk along, but the scooter makes easy work of them. The only thing I have to watch out for is for a person coming out of a side door. But the corridors are wide enough for me to drive down the centre
If any viewer has a query, feel free to call or email me with your questions.
Colin D Campbell
0115.928.1685
CDCNottm@AOL.com