Choosing Your First Mobility Scooter

Before you look at a single scooter, write down the trips you actually want to make in an ordinary week. “To the village shop and back, about half a mile, on the pavement” is a completely different brief from “into Andover town centre three times a week, about three miles each way, with a hill on the way home.” Those two briefs lead to different scooters, and knowing which one you are solving for will save you money.

Pavement class or road class?

There are two classes of mobility scooter in the UK, and most of the confusion comes from assuming that faster is simply better.

A Class 2 scooter is limited to 4mph and is designed for pavements, footpaths and pedestrian areas. It may not be used on the road. These machines are usually lighter, and many break down into a few manageable pieces, which matters if the scooter needs to go in a car boot or up a step into a shed.

A Class 3 scooter can travel up to 8mph. It has a longer range and a more supportive seat, and it may be used on the road for short stretches — but not on motorways, in bus lanes or in cycle-only lanes. These are heavier machines that need more space to store and charge, and they generally suit someone with a driveway, garage or a sheltered spot beside the house.

If all your journeys are local, a 4mph scooter will very often do everything you need, and it will be easier to live with.

The four questions we ask before recommending anything

How far, and how often? Battery range figures are measured in ideal conditions. Cold weather, hills, rough surfaces and a heavier rider all reduce the distance a scooter will cover. If your regular trip is two miles, look for a scooter with comfortable margin beyond that.

What are the surfaces like where you live? Smooth tarmac pavements and gravel paths need different tyres and different ground clearance. Take a photograph of the worst part of your usual route and bring it with you.

Where will it live and charge? A scooter that has to be carried up two steps into a shed will quickly stop being used. Charging needs to be easy and dry, and the battery should not be left in a cold, damp outbuilding over winter.

Who will lift it? If a family member or carer has to lift the scooter or its heaviest part into a car, that weight becomes the single most important specification on the list.

Getting the fit right matters more than the badge

Seat height, tiller angle and tyre pressures are all adjustable, and a scooter that is set up properly feels completely different from the same scooter set up badly. We set every machine around the person who will be using it, and we check it again before it leaves.

Try it before you decide

A scooter that handles a shop floor beautifully can still be wrong for your garden gate. Where it is practical, we bring options to your home so you can try them on your own paving, through your own doorway and into your own storage space. There is no charge for that and no obligation to buy.

And if the honest answer is ‘not yet’

Sometimes a scooter is not the right answer — if balance, vision or reaction times have changed, or if a walking aid or a different arrangement would serve you better. We are not clinicians and we will not pretend to be. What we will do is say plainly when a conversation with your GP, a physiotherapist or an occupational therapist should come first. Ring us on 01264 243124 and we will give you a straight answer.