Depending on where you live you might occasionally encounter the problem of parked vehicles on pavements, this can vary from a car or other vehicle being parked half on the pavement and half on the road but in some cases the whole car will be parked on the pavement, all four wheels leaving little to no space for people to pass.

This is a problem for anyone, even an individual with no disabilities will struggle to get past or be forced to walk into the road to get past, but it is even worse for people that are using a mobility aid, whether you are using a mobility scooter, wheelchair, crutches, walking stick, walking frame or holding onto a friend or relative who is providing support for you, it is an inconvenience for you to have to walk into the road in order to carry on your way.

Often there is no particularly obvious reason for a driver to do this, you will see this in streets where there is ample space on the road, it is inconsiderate as it doesn’t give people the choice other than to try and squeeze past or walk onto the road where they otherwise wouldn’t need to.

As there are complaints at times about some mobility scooter users not being considerate of others i feel that it is also important to point out how some drivers are inconsiderate by parking their vehicles in this way.

It is always important to mention that these types of problems are from a very small number of drivers, just in the same way that it’s a small number of mobility scooter users who dont operate theirs as safely as they should.

Sometimes im suprised at drivers parking their cars fully on the pavement when the road is wide enough for them to park it on the road without narrowing the road enough to cause problems, i feel that there is more risk of a car actually getting the paint work scratched and scuffed by people trying to squeeze by.

Without a lack of respect for using the roads, pavements and anywhere else in a safe manner i feel that avoidable problems will continue to occur, pedestrians, mobility scooter users, cyclists, motorcyclists, car, van and truck drivers, even bus drivers, joggers and all others that use public pavements, roads, paths, tracks etc need to be as responsible as possible, everyone needs to think about how their actions and their behaviour affects other people, in ways that are not always obvious or immediate because understandably people dont always see straight away how something may be problematic.

When many people think of mobility aid use they might think of a person needing either one or the other but not both, for example crutches or a walking stick.

If you’re talking to a person without disabilities they might automatically think that you need only a walking frame, or only a wheelchair or mobility scooter as without knowing enough about the disability that you have it can be difficult for them to imagine what you experience as you progress through each day.

Apart from experiencing pain there can be issues with balance, numbness and a whole range of difficulties that can change hours later which of course then leads to you having to swap what you may have been using earlier in the day for something else to help you get by until its time for bed which for some people brings even more problems.

Unlike an individual who doesn’t need to use any mobility aids at all, you literally have to adapt to how your body is reacting as the day goes on, that itself can be exhausting as you deal with it all, or the change might be spread out throughout the week but all the same it can make for a challenging time for sure.

What people can see is the fact that you need to use a mobility aid, but what they dont see is how you might have to constantly adapt and be ready to switch to a different aid depending on how you are feeling and what your plans are for the day.

Hi everyone, just a quick update to say that i will soon update the site with new posts, although there were none published during march, but i hope to get some new content up soon, sorry for the lack of new content to read recently, i have been very busy, i hope that you continue to visit the site regularly and continue to contribute with your comments and questions.

Best Regards

John