Today, while driving down the road, I was shocked . . . . . .

cars · Post by **cars** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 5:41 pm

when I saw a guy on a scooterchair riding on the sidewalk going as fast as the scooter would go. He had a white 8 foot long, "red tipped" stick that he was tapping from side to side on the sidewalk. Apparently he was blind!! It is beyond me how he was able to do this!!!

(Side note: it was fortunate that no one was on the side walk in front of him, as he most likely would have mowed them down)

Odie · Post by **Odie** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 5:43 pm

cars;1179023 wrote: when I saw a guy on a scooterchair riding on the sidewalk going as fast as the scooter would go. He had a white 8 foot long, "red tipped" stick that he was tapping from side to side on the sidewalk. Apparently he was blind!! It is beyond me how he was able to do this!!!

(Side note: it was fortunate that no one was on the side walk in front of him, as he most likely would have mowed them down)

omg.......blind gong that fast?

he is lucky he didn't hit anyone.

chonsigirl · Post by **chonsigirl** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 5:48 pm

Good grief, that is a scarey thought of him riding like that!

Victoria · Post by **Victoria** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 11:29 pm

Some shopping malls here have now introduced a speed limit for these scooters.

There have been injuries and some serious damage done by elderly people whizzing around at 25kmph through busy shops.

To have one of these scooters is a blessing for many but yet again we see that the minority of selfish people are going to ruin it for the rest.

Post by **Bryn Mawr** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 11:35 pm

Then this one should *really* worry you :-

BBC NEWS | England | Manchester | Blind man breaks speed record

A blind man is claiming a world record by reaching a speed of 144mph in a £58,000 car. Mike Newman was alone behind the wheel of a Jaguar XRJ 4.2 car during the record bid at Elvington Airfield, near York, on Wednesday.

Earlier this month, Billy "the Whizz" Baxter laid claim to the world blind land speed record with an average 165mph on a motorbike.

cars · Post by **cars** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 11:46 pm

Bryn Mawr;1179085 wrote: Then this one should *really* worry you :-

BBC NEWS | England | Manchester | Blind man breaks speed record

Yes scary, but at least they weren't on the "sidewalk"!

Post by **Bryn Mawr** » Thu Apr 23, 2009 4:27 am

cars;1179087 wrote: Yes scary, but at least they weren't on the "sidewalk"!

True

It does bring up a lot of questions though - how long has he been blind, was he a mobility scooter user before he went blind, where did he practice before he learnt to control it, etc.

I assume that the locals know to keep an eye out for him danger would come from the out of place.

princessladedah · Post by **princessladedah** » Thu Apr 23, 2009 4:49 am

If he had hit someone(thank goodness he didnt) I wonder what charges would have been brought if any

Mustang · Post by **Mustang** » Thu Apr 23, 2009 5:26 am

Time for speed bump's on the side walk!

cars · Post by **cars** » Thu Apr 23, 2009 8:58 am

Bryn Mawr;1179094 wrote: True

It does bring up a lot of questions though - how long has he been blind, was he a mobility scooter user before he went blind, where did he practice before he learnt to control it, etc.

I assume that the locals know to keep an eye out for him danger would come from the out of place.
As mentioned in OP, it's beyond me how he was able to do what he did! The sidewalk was about 5 feet wide, and ran for quite some distance before comming to the corner, thus, him having to cross a road!!!

I saw him as I was going in the opposite direction, so I didn't see how he negotiated that event! It was amazing, as well as shocking at the same time!

qsducks · Post by **qsducks** » Thu Apr 23, 2009 9:25 am

cars;1179185 wrote: As mentioned in OP, it's beyond me how he was able to do what he did! The sidewalk was about 5 feet wide, and ran for quite some distance before comming to the corner, thus, him having to cross a road!!!

I saw him as I was going in the opposite direction, so I didn't see how he negotiated that event! It was amazing, as well as shocking at the same time!

Could he tell if the light was red or green?

G-man · Post by **G-man** » Thu Apr 23, 2009 10:04 am

Those lil' scooters can haul some ass! :yh_rotfl I saw one of those things doing nearly 30 miles an hour down a steep hill in Victoria once... he at least had enough sense to be on the road rather than speeding down the sidewalk.

I suspect that a blind person's sense of speed is dramatically different from a visually unimpaired person. There could be another explanation here, however... suicide by scooter? :wah:

Post by **Bryn Mawr** » Thu Apr 23, 2009 2:02 pm

cars;1179185 wrote: As mentioned in OP, it's beyond me how he was able to do what he did! The sidewalk was about 5 feet wide, and ran for quite some distance before comming to the corner, thus, him having to cross a road!!!

I saw him as I was going in the opposite direction, so I didn't see how he negotiated that event! It was amazing, as well as shocking at the same time!

He obviously negotiated the sidewalk and had done so many times before. The question is how he learnt his skills and exactly how resilient they are to changing circumstances.

Post by **Bryn Mawr** » Thu Apr 23, 2009 2:04 pm

G-man;1179223 wrote: Those lil' scooters can haul some ass! :yh_rotfl I saw one of those things doing nearly 30 miles an hour down a steep hill in Victoria once... he at least had enough sense to be on the road rather than speeding down the sidewalk.

I suspect that a blind person's sense of speed is dramatically different from a visually unimpaired person. There could be another explanation here, however... suicide by scooter? :wah:

Here, mobility scooters are restricted to either four or eight MPH and could never reach thirty even on the steepest slope.

There is no way they would be safe to be on the road - they are designed to be on the pavement / sidewalk.