“You asked me once, what was in Room 101. I told you that you knew the answer already. Everyone knows it. The thing that is in Room 101 is the worst thing in the world”. George Orwell, 1984. Here’s the first of what may become occasional musings about the possible ‘things’ in Room 101.

Bloody mobility scooters!

They were probably a very good idea when first designed in order to give mobility to those worst affected by age or disease. Now a significant number of them seem to be driven by people too obese to walk. And, what’s a contributing factor to obesity? Laziness in failing to take exercise such as walking! The next large group are those who don’t really appear to have much need of them but find them a great alternative to a car for going to (and inside) the shops. This group usually drives the models which can legally do up to 8 mph, making them twice as fast as the pedestrians they’re dodging in and out of, and have a range in excess of 30 miles. 30 miles! I could commute from Southampton to the Stagecoach Depot at Winchester and back with one of those. They don’t require the driver to take any proficiency test before being let loose on the roads, pavements and supermarket aisles, worst of all, there is no requirement to insure against 3rd party risks. This scooter weighs 283lbs and can carry 400lbs so with a maximum load the total weight is 0.3 tons. 0.3 tons doing 8 mph can cause a lot of damage!

I often see one mobility scooter user in Winchester who has a trailer attached. Not a small trailer like this but a large which trailer which only a couple of days ago was being used to transport a fridge! In the past this articulated lorry of mobility scooters continually drove around the pedestrianised area of Winchester with a large ‘A’ frame on the trailer carrying adverts for a local hostelry. I consider that an abusive and inconsiderate use of a mobility scooter.[b][/b]