| Don't get me started on cyclists. I'm OK with people cycling to work, but the lycra guys that go out practising their road racing during the evenings and weekends seem to have a complete death wish. I came across a group of about 6-7 of them in a similar situation, about 3 abreast and taking up the whole of the carriageway. I stayed about 20 yards behind them around a series of blind bends as their group was doing about 20 mph. As the road widened a bit and came to a 200 yard straight I pulled right out onto the other side of the road and started a cautious overtake, only to find that one of them on the back of the group suddenly decided he was in the tour de france and started to sprint to the front. As he did that, he just swerved right into my path. No indication, no warning, no glance over his shoulder, just a hard swerve across the front of me. I had to stand on the anchors and a good blast of the horn...to which I got the V's and a load of verbal from the ****.
As for the mobility scooter, I'm also a reluctant expert on them because I've just bought one for Mrs Jools (could've got a reasonable 999 for the same price).
There are several classes of mobility scooter. The small and medium sized ones are Class 1 and 2 types, can usually be dismantled for easy stowage in a car boot, have a top speed of 4mph (walking pace) and are only allowed on pavements (unless you're crossing the road).
The type 3 ones, like Mrs Jools has got, are fully road legal with lights, indicators, brake lights, hazard warning flashers, a horn and a reversing beeper. They usually have a dual speed switch between 4 mph, which is the legal maximum on pavements and 8mph which is the legal maximum on roads (I'd like to know where he got a 12mph one). The class 3 scooters have to have a tax disc (although the road tax is free for registered disabled people - even on cars) although they don't need a number plate. They have to be driven by people over 14 and you have to have the same ability to read a number plate as a normal driving test - bizarrely, it's illegal for somebody who is not disabled to drive one unless they're a trade demonstrator.
Although they are road legal, you need to exercise common sense when driving a slow vehicle on the road. Really, the road legal bit is only really necessary to go for very short (20-50 metre) stretches to get from one pavement to the next. Funnily enough, it's only when you are affected by this that you notice how **** poor the placement of drop-downs in the kerbs are (you would think they's line up wouldn't you), or how the pavement on one side of the road stops and doesn't start on the other side of the road fo another 50 metres. The pavements are sometimes so narrow for a stretch that you have to use the road as well - but as for using the road just because the pavement is a bit bumpy, that's mental.
Mind you, I am well impressed with Mrs Jools' scooter. We chose ours because it's an 'all terrain' one and it's damned impressive. We've got a country park near us with some pretty steep slopes, rough-ish ground and tree roots to negotiate, but it goes nearly everywhere without seeming to break sweat. It's enabled Mrs Jools go round the park with the dog for the first time in over 3 years - a simple pleasure but very liberating |