DoT Consultation on "Mobility Devices"

[davidgillon]

 The Department of Transport has launched its long awaited consultation on getting rid of the despised term "Invalid Carriages" and bringing the law on "Mobility Devices" into the 21st Century.

It's mostly sensible, but I do get a shudder when I come across phrases like "someone who is permitted to use a wheelchair". Permitted? Really?

I'm not entirely certain about "Mobility Device" as the replacement for "Invalid Carriage", god knows it needs replacing, but I don't get the warm fuzzies over "Mobility Device", though I can't actually think of a better alternative right now.

I can see spats with the cyclists coming over whether we're allowed to use cycle lanes (apparently we're not, not even manual chairs - who knew?!)

The intentions seem good, but there really is the potential for this to go horribly wrong, such as options where you can say any power-assisted chair shouldn't be allowed on the pavement. I'm not convinced this was written by someone who actually understood the full range of power assistance types and how different the capabilities are. I need to think about it, but I think we may need more than three classes of "mobility device".

The consultation's open now, and closes end of March.

Comments

[rmc28]

I can't speak for all cyclists, but as one myself I'm cool with wheelchairs in the cycle lane. In practice there's a couple people I see using powerchairs in the cycle lanes around Cambridge already and have done for years.

[davidgillon]

I can't imagine most people would object, but I can imagine some would if cycle lanes become officially dual use.

[davidgillon]

I've already seen the first person saying the law should be changed to ban fat people from using mobility scooters. *le sigh*

Clearly the implications of many medications causing weight gain, and of the impact of sudden limitations on your ability to exercise are beyond them.