For those times when you need to take a mobility scooter in a vehicle, maybe for a day out somewhere or travelling long distances to see relatives or friends, you need a safe way of having your mobility scooter lifted into and back out of the vehicle that will be transporting it.

Even a lightweight mobility scooter can be difficult to manage in and out of vehicles for many people, let alone trying to lift one of the more heavy duty ones, and it could cause an injury for the person or people lifting the mobility scooter if doing it by hand.

This is where hoists come in very handy, they dont take up much room in your vehicle and they are built specifically for use with vehicles and to lift mobility scooters and wheelchairs in and out for you.

They take the brunt of the work for you making it safe and ensuring that you can always load and remove your mobility scooter.

Hoists are fitted to the back of the vehicle on the inside, and many can be folded down or out of the way so that they dont take up excess space in the boot area.

Hoists wont be suitable for all cars or sizes of cars as well as some other various sized vehicles as the ability to have a hoist fitted and carry a mobility scooter too within the vehicle is dependant on vehichle size, shape and capacity to be able to fit them in.

For larger and heavier mobility scooters there are hoists that actually have a platform, this allows the mobility scooter and the platform that it is situated on to both be loaded into the vehicle and safely positioned so that when the time comes to unload, its a simple process of operating the hoist to unload the mobility scooter while still on the platform, all securely and safely for you with the only effort being the operating of the hoist and removing the scooter from the platform.

Its essential that the hoist that you purchase is suitable for the size and weight of the mobility scooter that you intend to use it for, so that you dont put excess strain on a hoist possibly not built to take certain amounts of weight.

But theres no worry of not being able to find one strong enough to handle the loading and unloading of your scooter as even the heaviest category of mobility scooters can be handled by the right hoist.

Most people will be familiar with the look and operation of a standard walker (zimmer frame) and the basic design that they have but there is also one designed that can be moved forward one side at a time, so rather than moving the whole frame forward you move the side forward that you are taking a step with at the time, then the other side for your other foot so that you move in tandem with the walker.

You still have the benefit of the frame being lightweight enough for easy movement, and full control over the frame but with the advantage of being able to move forward one side at a time meaning that you always have a side of the frame touching the ground and giving you an added feeling of stability.

A reciprocal walker will give extra balance and stability to a user that is more unsteady on their feet and gives them the feeling that they have something secure and in place to help them balance and provides good support when they need to rest.

Fortunately some people only need the temporary use of mobilty aids and investing in an item like a mobility scooter, wheelchair or other product that requires a significant outlay will be less appealing to many people as they find themselves with a possibly expensive mobility aid on their hands that they no longer need.

At the same time the person may not be in a position to do without the aid until they have recovered, the recovery may be from a road accident or an operation or any other matter that has left the person requiring temporary use of mobility aids.

An option in this type of situation are mobility rentals, for smaller items rental will not be neccessary where the outlay is small but for items like adjustable beds, mobility scooters, wheelchairs and rise and recliner chairs it can be useful where you just take on the use of the aid and pay a rental charge for as long as you need it, once you find yourself not needing the mobility aid any longer you are able to easily hand the aid back and stop payments to the company that you rent from.

You’re not left with trying to sell on the aid that you had used or looking for somewhere to store it once you’re finished with it.

Many mobility rental companies will have short and long term options with different products that each may be more suited to different lengths of time hired.

When hiring you will usually receive suggestions on the best type of product for you depending on your intended use and the amount of time that you will be hiring for, for example with wheelchairs and mobility scooters if you may only need occasional use then a lightweight one may be all that you need but if  you are going to need daily use over an amount of time them it may be suggested to you to hire a heavy duty aid, depending on your needs.

Another advantage of hiring is to use the time as a trial, you may not be ready to purchase yet but would like to see if using any particular mobility aid is the right type for you, and you can do this by hiring the product for a couple of weeks or a month maybe and get a feel of whether you would like to invest into buying one, in the cases of an individual needing permanent use of a mobility aid.

The primary advantage with hiring is being able to hand it back once you decide that you want to, and if it leads to a purchase then thats good, at least you have had time to try out and see what suits you best.