The Quingo team were interested to discover the recent story of a Carlisle man who believes that some pavements in his city are unsafe for mobility scooter users.
A lack of dropped kerbs in parts of Carlisle?
Jack Paton, 65, of Montgomery Way’s Botcherby often uses his scooter to visit family in nearby Harraby where he says that some of the streets have kerbs up to five inches high. He claims that the lack of dropped kerbs make certain areas difficult for him to get around.
Mr Paton said: “It’s extremely dangerous, especially with a three-wheeler that will tip over. Why wait until an accident happens? Prevent it before it happens.”
Mr Paton raised his concerns about the lack of dropped kerbs and the conditions of the roads in the Harraby area before the Cumbria County Council’s Local Committee for Carlisle several weeks ago.
What did the council have to say?
In response to the disappointment expressed by Mr Paton, a spokesman for the council said: “There are a large number of locations in Carlisle where dropped sections of kerb are required.
“We don’t have the funding to carry out all these works immediately, so we are working through a prioritised programme of schemes based on guidance from the city council’s disability officer who assesses all requests for dropped kerbs.
“We can’t say exactly when work will be done at these locations as we’re currently finalising the works programme.
What to know about dropped kerbs
Quingo recently wrote an express guide on dropped kerbs and how to apply for them to be introduced in your area. They’re essentially pavement ramps that allow for the easy passage of pavement to road for pushchairs, wheelchairs, pedestrians and, of course, mobility scooters.
Dropped kerbs which allow level access for wheelchair or mobility scooter users may be provided by your local council for people who are experiencing issues due to the height of kerbs in their locality.
Do all mobility scooters handle kerbs in the same way?
Kerbs and kerb safety are of course of great interest to the Quingo team so we were interested to read Mr Patton’s story. Of course not all scooter handle kerbs in the same way and only the Quingo 5 wheel system offers the ability to climb and descend kerbs at angles when space is restricted. This means that your Quingo scooter is designed to cope with kerbs at 45″ degree angles up to 3 inches (depending on the model). The system works equally well going up kerbs as well as coming down and here the 5 wheel scooter also features Quingo’s Kerbmaster which prevents tipping and eliminates beaching, both safety features well worth being aware of.
