Two elderly women were knocked over at a bus stop by an alleged hit-and-run mobility scooter user in London on Thursday.
The shocking scene is caught on CCTV from inside a convenience store and shows the scooter driver, who appears to be smoking a cigarette, move past the shop before reversing into the two women — both believed to be in their nineties.
Stunned pedestrians rushed to help the stricken women as the driver casually drives away without a care in the world.
Local shop owner Ian Gooch, 59, captured the event on his in store camera. Taking to Facebook he wrote: “This incident happened at 12.00 Hrs today in Upper Wickham Lane, Welling. It was either deliberate or accidental, please watch and decide yourself. Either way the person in the wheelchair didn’t stop.”
And this isn’t the first time this week mobility scooters have made headlines — on Tuesday, Brisbane City Council backed calls for speed limit reductions and further restrictions on mobility scooter drivers across the country.
The council wants the scooter speed limit reduced from 10 kilometres per hour to a fast walking pace of 6km/h, and has demanded the Queensland state government introduce “basic licences” to ensure riders are physically and mentally fit to be behind the handlebars.
The push comes amid a federal parliamentary investigation into the safety of the vehicles, sparked after Senator John Williams pushed for a lower speed limit after his wife was injured in a collision with a scooter in 2017.
Earlier this year, an elderly man was spotted on his mobility scooter cruising down the middle of a Melbourne road with no regard for the car behind him or other drivers trying to pass. Footage of the man was captured by 3AW producer Michael Hill. According to Hill, the man appeared to be be visually impaired.
In April, research from Monash University revealed at least 129 riders and three pedestrians were killed in accidents involving mobility scooters between 2000 and 2017, The Advertiser reported. The findings prompted fresh calls for elderly and disabled Australians to undergo compulsory training before using the vehicles.