Mobility Blog

After plenty of thinking and talking with family and friends, you've decided the time is right to invest in a mobility scooter. So, where do you start in choosing a scooter that is best for your needs?

Your choice really comes down to where you want to use your scooter, the distances you want to travel on your scooter and matching you size to the size and performance capabilities of the scooter. For example, if you plan to spend a lot of time going on longer trips then you will need a completely different scooter from someone who plans to only use their scooter in their home and zipping down to the local shops at the end of the street.

Damian Ryan, a Senior Healthcare Consultant from Bluesky Healthcare has provided some answers to questions for you to think about and how their answers might affect your scooter choice:

Indoor or outdoor?

If you mainly want to use your scooter within your home and within a shopping centre then size, turning circle and manoeuvrability will be the top priorities. A compact 4-wheel model might be the best choice for you.

If you intend to do a lot of outdoor travel including over varied terrain such as uneven footpaths, gravel, grassed areas and hills, then a larger 4-wheel model will provide more power and reliability.

If you will be covering rough terrain or suffer from back pain then a scooter with shock absorbers and suspension will be what you need to safely cope with uneven terrain and provide a more comfortable ride.

If you live in a very hilly area or if you are a bigger person then a scooter with a 4 pole motor is a must to ensure the delivery of the extra power you will need and to prevent the motor from overheating and short term burn out.

How fast and how far?

You can't get too carried away here; scooter drivers do need to stick to a maximum speed of 10 km/h on footpaths, shared paths and roads. But if you need to navigate steep hills or travel longer distances, then you will generally want a scooter with a more powerful motor and a larger batter capacity. Be sure to ask how many kilometres you will get out of each battery charge and how long the battery will take to charge.

If you will mainly be taking shorter trips to the local shops and visiting neighbours, you may be happy with a model with a lower maximum speed and a shorter battery life. 

Night-time?

If you plan to be out and about on your scooter any time after the street lights go on, then the scooter must have front and rear lights and indicators.

How heavy?

What kind of weight will your scooter need to carry? This is known as the scooter's 'load capacity'. If you are a larger person, you will need a more robust, heavy-duty model.

What's the next step?

After thinking about when, where and how you want to use your scooter, the next step is talking to someone who will assess your needs and help you decide exactly which scooter is best suited to you.  Make sure that you trial the scooter at your own home where you will use it everyday not in or around a retail shop you you will never ride the scooter.

Knee injuries is a critical disease that each person need pay some attention at, despite whether you are having any knee injuries at this time. This is due to prevention is better than have to undergo certain treatment later. This is particularly vital
for a someone active in sports. Discover more regarding knee pain symptoms, causes and treatment at this really helpful site http://www.kneepaintreatment.net

Hi, fabulous blog, many thanks for taking your time and energy to actually make it, it must have to take you quite a lot of time however , highly enjoyed

Have just stumbled on this great site and just wanted to say thank you for being so detailed on the blog post

Well I realize it has been some time since my last blog, and I do apologise. The last few months have been extremely busy with no less than 4 long haul flights, a 16 hour bus ride through 5 countries, 6 international friendly games for Australia and 15 games for my Italian club…. whew!

The highlight was obviously getting our 2012 London campaign underway with the Rollers by hosting the Spanish national side at the Australian Institute of Sport European training facility right here in Italy. It was great to catch up with all the boys again and playing some serious ball as we move towards London and while we didn’t took care of business against Spain I think our best basketball is yet to come.

Totally out of the blue I was invited to attend the ANZAC day memorial here in Rome, it was quite interesting as besides the Australian and New Zealand representatives there were also dignitaries from Germany, UK and Turkey in attendance remembering the fallen soldiers from their countries also. It was perfect morning for the service and the haunting sound of the lone bugle still pulls at you, even in another country as we remembered those that had fallen defending their country. The invitation extended to then attend a morning tea complete with homemade sausage rolls, party pies and ANZAC biscuits at the Australian Consulates home in Italy…. a really great day all round!

Next on the agenda was heading back to one of my ex playing grounds in Istanbul, Turkey for the finals of the European Champions Cup. Having taken away the trophy 3 times previously I know what it takes to win it all and while I like to think we had an outside chance, I think that we performed very well to finish as the 3^rd best club side in Europe. From Turkey it was then on a flight directly to Canberra for a training camp with the Rollers before heading back to Perth for 10 days of rest and relaxation with my family.

As of right now we are coming to a close on the season here in Italy, having qualified for the final and now chasing the ‘scudetto’ (the flag) for the first time in this clubs short history. The finals are a best of 5 series over 3 weekends and are against our arch nemesis and local derby team Santa Lucia. I look forward to recapping in my next blog how we finish the season off as well as looking towards our last few months of preparation before London!

Paralympic Year!

Hi there readers, a lot has happened since my last blog and the last two months have absolutely flown by with games, travel, holidays and getting back to work here in Italy.

Firstly, we reached the midway point of the season before Christmas picking up a good win and a narrow loss to finish equal second on the ladder, which in turn has qualified us for the preliminary rounds of the all important Coppa Italia (Italian Cup). It’s never good going home at Christmas time with your last game being a losing one, but there were some positives to take away from it and I think with the New Year and a focused resolve we will only improve in 2012.

I would like to wish everyone out there a Buon Natale e Cappo Danno and hope that your festive season was as great as mine. Hugo’s first Christmas was always going to be a special occasion and once he recovered from the jetlag of returning to Australia he soaked up every minute of attention from Grandparents, Great-Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and the multitude of friends we caught up with while we were back. The two weeks absolutely flew by and while we all wished we could stay at home for just a little bit longer we bundled back out to the airport (it seems like we live there!!!) and headed back to Italia.

Getting back into the habit of training is always a bit difficult, even after a short break, but with the motivation of losing my ‘Christmas cheer’ I got straight back into it and we have since come away with our first win of the year against Torino, far to the country’s north (read a nine hour bus ride that took us straight to the game because we stopped too long for lunch on the way, priorities right!!??).

My next Rollers commitments are in early February for our first training camp of the 2012 Paralympic year, it will be great to see where everyone is at physically in their preparations for London; however I don’t relish the fact we are travelling again so soon! This trip is not all hard work, as we will get to enjoy the extra special occasion of my younger brother getting married in Melbourne, I am proud to say I will be the best man for the event and can’t wait to help him and his fiancée celebrate in style!

I am sure you have all heard of or seen the Segway personal mobility device (for followers of the Aussie cricket team I believe one of the cameramen at the boxing day test fell off one in the field!), well a friend of mine got the opportunity to try one out here in Italy a Segway made for wheelchair users! I kid you not, the machine utilizes the same principals as a standing Segway, just in a seated position, and has enough support that it can be used by anyone that can manually transfer. The kicker is it costs around 10,000 euro and weighs in at a hefty 70 kilos, but the manufacturer suggests it can fit into the back of a Smart car (I will believe that when I see it!) and is designed to run on a sandy beach. I’m not sure when these will reach an Australian market but I can just see a few of these cruising the beaches of Perth very soon!

Stay tuned and enjoy the Perth summer as we shiver through winter here on the other side of the world!

The machine was reportedly caused a nuisance to residents after it was driven through a field, scaring wild deer and annoying neighbours, the Yorkshire Post said today.

Doncaster Councillor Cynthia Ransome said the machine, which was seized on Sunday with the help of local police officers, was a "feat of engineering" - but that noisy vehicles annoy residents immensely while terrifying both local wildlife and walkers.

The council released a photograph of the supercharged scooter on its Facebook page.

The 24-year-old owner was able to claim the scooter back after paying a fee and agreeing not to cause a nuisance again, the council told the BBC.

Mobility scooters are commonly used by people who, due to age or disability, have difficulty getting about - but the owner of the seized vehicle was not thought to be disabled.