Good footpath...

Are Scooters Safe?

This is a question often asked. However, the real question is more .... "Are scooters safe for me, or my relative / friend?"  It's an issue about the user safety and whether a scooter is a suitable form of transport for that particular user.

The answer to the question is undoubtedly "Yes". But in the end, it is up to the user themself to decide if the scooter is a safe form of transport for their requirements.

If you ask another question: "Are scooters a safer form of transport than cars, or even walking?", then the answer is an unequivical "YES"! Research done by Scooters Australia and presented to the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC), points to scooters being around 3 times as safe as driving a car, being a passenger in a car, or walking on the footpath. This research is attached below as a PDF file.

So, if you are considering swapping your car for a scooter for those local trips, you are reducing your risk of accident by around two thirds!

Bad footpath!

More good paths ...

Smooth wide access ramp

Safety zone in the middle of the road

Flexible surface over tree roots eliminates cracking

Why do accidents happen?

With mobility scooters, there are three main causes of accidents:

1. Little or no training

If you have not driven a scooter before, some basic training is in order, even if you have driven a car. Scooters are far easier to drive than a car, but there are still some pitfalls in driving safely. There are plenty of tips that can help you drive safely.

When you purchase from a Scooters Australia store we give you a full training course backed by a certificate on successful completion (see right).

Make sure that when you purchase a scooter, safety training is provided. If you have already purchased a scooter but feel you need some training, we can provide it at a reasonable cost.

Our training certificate

More bad footpaths ...

Tree roots on narrow bitumen path cause cracking

Impossible ramp and extremely narrow path. Users are forced to travel on the road in this situation.

2. Poor infrastructure

Scooters have been around for more than 20 years and all levels of government have not kept up with this new trend in local travel. So footpaths and road / footpath ramps are still in a very poor state of affairs in many areas and sometimes contribute to accidents, especially if the user is forced on to the road.

Some councils are making the effort, and others are not.  So what can you do about it?

The first thing you can do is to tell the council that you want to travel on a certain route and that the paths and ramps are not suitable. They are obliged to do something about a bad situation or face the possibility of being accused of discrimination.

Secondly, you can write to your local member, both state and federal, and point out the poor state of the infrastructure. If they are serious about the road toll, about safety, and about global warming, they should make an effort to help.

3. Poor quality scooters

Not all mobility scooters are created equal, despite the appearance. It's what's under the "bonnet" that really counts!

Mobility scooters come under the category of a medical device and must therefore be subject to the Therapeutic Goods Administration requirements. Some less scrupulous importers are bypassing their obligations to have their scooters comply with these requirements.

So make sure your scooter seller is selling mobility scooters that are registered with the TGA.

And make sure that when you write to your local member, you urge them to ensure the TGA is doing their job and culling out those non compliant scooters from the market.

ACCC Expresses Concern about Scooter Safety

August 2009

The Federal minister for Consumer Affairs, Craig Emerson, issued a statement expressing some concern about mobility scooter safety. According to the ACCC there were approximately 70 deaths "associated" with mobility scooters between 2000 and 2009.

The ACCC called a meeting in September 2009 with various organisations, government departments and industry to discuss what could be done to increase the safety of scooters. Scooters Australia was asked to provide an industry response and you can access the paper we presented to the meeting here.

The industry association, the Independent Rehabilitation Suppliers Association (IRSA) backed the Scooters Australia position and issued a Press Release to that efffect.

At the meeting, Dr Clare Bradley from Flinders University delivered a research paper in which she put the figure lower, at approximately 35 deaths that may have been caused by scooter accidents. This represents less than one death per state per year and is a far cry from the 200 odd deaths caused by road accidents in the 70+ age group each and every year.

The ACCC and state government road departments indicated that they would try to reach some agreement on measures to ensure safer conditions for scooter drivers in the future. Scooters Australia welcomes such intitatives and looks forward to their conclusions.

"Scooters are more than three times safer than motor vehicles" - Peter Fraser, Scooters Australia