Aged Care Insite Issue 92 | December 2015 - January 2016 | Page 20

practical living Roll on – safely W Mobility scooters can safely restore freedom for many older users with proper care and regulation. Jennie Oxley interviewed by Dallas Bastian ith frequent media reports on mobility scooter accidents and deaths, and an ageing population, experts are taking a closer look at road safety. Earlier this year, The Blue Badge Mobility Scooter Safety and Insurance Survey, from mobility insurance specialist Blue Badge Insurance revealed that 30 per cent of scooter users in Victoria had been involved in an accident at some point and 50 per cent were involved in a near accident at least once a year. Blue Badge said there were 120,000 mobility scooter users in Australia, with numbers growing 9 per cent annually and expected to reach 280,000 in 10 years. The deputy director of Curtin-Monash Accident Research Centre, associate professor Jennie Oxley, suggested that older road users remain in the car for as long as possible, but added that at some point in many older people’s lives they might have to consider reducing or stopping driving. She said motorised mobility scooters could start to replace shorter car trips. “They provide a great mobility option for people,” Oxley said. “It’s more than just transport. It’s mobility, it’s health, it’s active living, it’s healthy ageing.” Oxley co-authored a conference paper in 2013 in which the researchers highlighted emergency department presentations for injuries related to motorised mobility scooters in Victoria, tracing them back to 2004 or 2005. 20 agedcareinsite.com.au The data revealed an increase in injuries amongst mobility scooter users up until the year prior to the paper’s release. The report also highlighted that there are significant issues related to the integration of the scooters in the existing transport network and the safety of users. Oxley said: “Maybe government needs to be looking at the regulation of the design, but also regulations in terms of who really should be using mobility scooters.” Here, Oxley discusses what still needs to be don H˜Y