Calls for buggy user tests

Calls for buggy user tests

The electric buggies can reach speeds of 8 mph

Tougher controls have been called for after it was claimed a number of pensioners on motorised buggies had mowed down pedestrians in a Dorset town.

In the last month, four pedestrians have been struck by scooters travelling through a pedestrianised shopping zone in Dorchester.

Calls have now been made for a highway code and annual tests to ensure the drivers are safe.

Dorchester councillor Sue Wakely said an elderly man recently ploughed into her from behind, bruising her ankles and ripping her trousers.

We give customers a basic test to make sure they are fit to drive one but there are some companies who will sell the scooters to anybody

Chris Roberts, Westworld Mobility

She said: "I didn't even hear this scooter coming up behind me and the next second it struck the back of my legs.

"I almost ended up in the gutter - I lost my shoe, had my trousers torn and was left nursing a sore ankle.

"I looked at the man in the cart and he didn't stop, he sped off and I couldn't catch up with him."

Ms Wakely said she knew of two other women and a man who had also been knocked over by a buggy.

She added: "If I had been a small child or an elderly person I may have been more seriously hurt.

"As a result we are making calls to the government to introduce some sort of legislation where people in invalid cars have to obtain a licence and go through some kind of regular testing."

'Basic testing'

Chris Roberts, who runs Westworld Mobility in Dorchester, agrees that more controls are needed.

"The problem is that people who have lost their driving licence because of their poor eye sight want to replace their car with a scooter," he said.

"At present there is no licensing and there is no legal requirement for drivers to be insured.

"We give customers a basic test to make sure they are fit to drive one but there are some companies who will sell the scooters to anybody.

"It really is an accident waiting to happen and there have been incidents of people in Dorchester being hit by scooters."

A spokeswoman for the Department for Transport said a review was underway to look not only at insurance and registration but the weight and construction of the vehicles and how many people could ride on one.

Britain has more than 145,000 buggies, each costing about £2,000.