THIS picture shows the moment a mobility scooter driver pulled into oncoming traffic while going the wrong way down a busy one way street.

Drivers were surprised when the scooter driver pulled around a lorry into oncoming traffic at the junction of Drake Street and Nunnery Lane in York.

The person who took the picture, but asked not to be named, said he had been astonished to see the woman drive the wrong way down Nunnery Lane for about 70 metres before reaching the lorry.

Rather than pulling on to the clear pavement to go round the lorry, the woman was seen to drive into quick moving traffic merging into one lane towards her.

He said: “I was walking away from the lorry when the woman pulled out of a side street and pulled right into oncoming traffic without pausing.

“I looked at her incredulously and I assumed she would go back on the path but when I turned to look she was pulling into oncoming traffic past the lorry when the pavement was clear.

“I’m still flabbergasted. I was waiting for a crash.

“There was no earthly reason she could not go on the pavement.”

He said he believed someone would blame a car driver should something have happened.

Certain mobility scooters are legal to use on the road, though owners must obey the laws which govern any other vehicle, according to Gary Braithwaite, owner of Bayliss Mobility in Walmgate.

He said: “It’s got to be a class three vehicle which means it has to have lights and tax etc, but the normal rules of the road still apply.

“However, if the path is blocked you have no choice – like a pedestrian.

“But it’s just like driving a car, you should mirror, signal and manoeuvre. In fact you need to take more care because you are more vulnerable.”


Scooter facts

MOBILITY scooters fall into two categories, called class two and class three, according to the Department of Transport:

A class two is intended only for footpath or pavement use and has a maximum speed limit of four mph.

A class three scooter can be used on the road and has a maximum speed limit of eight mph, but is restricted to four mph on a footpath. Either type may only be used by a person classed as disabled.

Users are not required to hold a driving licence and the scooters do not need to be road-taxed, however they must display a “nil duty” disc. 

While regular insurance is not legally required, the department strongly advises users to take out insurance to cover “personal safety, other people’s safety and the value of the vehicle”.

Further information can be obtained from the DVLA Contact Centre on 0300 790 6802.