Most of you will have heard of or read about the elderly couple in Rugby, Warwickshire where an arson attack involving a mobility scooter outside their home was set alight, spreading to their home and sadly resulting in the loss of their lives.

No one ever expects a mobility scooter to be used as a tool within any type of selfishness and cruel act like this but i imagine that had something else been situated there, that it would of been set ablaze, no matter what it was.

There is a suggestion that the couple had dealt with a problem in the area involving teenagers, and if this is the outcome because of that happening then its not only alarming that an individual or a group might go to this extent to retaliate but that they dont even look far enough ahead of their action to take on board that it leads to the actual loss of these two lives, which the police are now treating as a murder.

A mobility scooter outside a persons home should be safe, unfortunately it can be seen as a risk to leave one unattended for very long, but for one to be used as a tool within an arson attack is something that cannot be foreseen.

Its very sad indeed to know that this couple have died this way.

You can read more about the story here murder probe after elderly couple die in fire

Everyone gets nervous about doing something for the first time, even when we dont want to admit to others that we feel a little nervous about something  thats completely new to us, inwardly we still feel that bit of anxiety.

The fact that you feel that way though is actually a good thing, it just means that you are concerned enough about doing things properly and that you care for your own safety and that of others too.

Before long, any nervousness soon fades as you get used to using your mobility scooter and become comfortable with it.

Until you get used to it though, it can help to follow a bit of advice which i will provide here in order to help build your confidence so that you become fully comfortable with using your mobility scooter.

Also remember that how long it takes will differ for each person, it might just take all of 5 minutes for you to lose your nerves, a day or maybe a few weeks, thats fine, because eventually you will no longer feel nervous about using your mobility scooter and can get on with enjoying the mobility and independance that a mobility scooter provides.

Follow these tips and advice to lose your nervousness and build your confidence using your mobility scooter.

1. Familiarise yourself with the controls and how to stop the mobility scooter before using it.

2. Have an experienced person with you to help get you used to using your mobility scooter, if at all possible.

3. If you can, have a relative or friend take you and your mobility scooter to a quiet, flat grounded area that will allow you to practice using the mobility scooter, possibly a disused area of tarmac that is without debris.

4. If its your very first time, try to choose a dry day so that you dont have the worry of wet ground to concern yourself with.

5. Make sure that you feel comfortable, make any necessary adjustments, being positioned properly and being comfortably seated can make a huge difference to how in control you feel.

Once you have got used to the basics and get used to the feel of the steering, the speed and starting and stopping safely, then its a good idea to practice things like going from pavements onto the road to cross over a road and back onto a pavement on the other side.

Do this when you feel more confident and more at ease, dont force yourself to do anything too soon and before you’re really ready to.

You might suprise yourself though and be comfortable and confident using your mobility scooter sooner than you expect to.

When we look at this question, its easy to see that we can be referring to two separate expectations, those being 1. The amount of user time that one might expect from their mobility scooter after having fully charged the battery for example or 2. The life that a mobility scooter battery may have before needing to be replaced with a brand new battery.

We will look at both here:

With regards to the first, when you take ownership of a mobility scooter, you should be able to find out quite quickly and easily how much use you can get from a fully charged battery.

If it isn’t stated in the documentation that comes with the make and model that you purchased, then the retailer where you bought it from should be able to advise you and then of course you can find out for sure by taking out your mobility scooter and using it for as long as it will allow you to before it needs to be fully charged again.

If you do try that, just make sure that you dont go out alone and find yourself stranded with a battery that is unable to get you back home.

Now looking at the life expectancy from your mobility scooter battery, this can depend on a few things.

The way in which you choose to charge the battery can have an effect on how long it will serve you before needing to be replaced.

One of the first things to do is to read and strictly follow any battery charging and maintenance advice that is provided within the documentation.

Keeping the terminals and the battery itself clean, making sure its secure, that the connections are secure and that you follow any charging instructions properly, also using what is supplied and not trying to charge the battery too quickly or taking risks with anything regarding this can not only mean a longer life for your battery but also greatly minimizes any risk of injury to yourself.

You can read more about how to charge a mobility scooter battery and when you reach the stage of needing to replace it with a new one you can read about purchasing a new mobility scooter battery which should not need to happen too often if you take care of it.

Even when a mobility scooter is brand new, and of course its battery and everyting else is brand new, there can sometimes be problems with it holding the charge properly from when you first start using the mobility scooter.

This may be no fault of your own and may be an issue with the battery itself, even though its new, or there can be a fault somewhere else on the scooter that may interfere with the battery being able to charge properly or to get the expected time of use from it.

Sometimes matters like this may be a little bit frustrating at first as you are probably doing everything as you should and may even take it back to the place that you bought it from a couple of times before they find out what the actual problem is.

The life expectancy of your mobility scooter battery and how far a distance you can travel before needing to fully recharge can both be estimated if you have a good healthy battery and everything else is in good working order and maintained well.

But as with most things in life, its not always possible to figure out how long you may get from either as there are always the exceptions to both the manufacturers and retailers expectations and your own.