Grandmother dies after speeding down hill on mobility scooter with no emergency brakes
A senior coroner has issued a warning over the lack of emergency brakes on mobility scooters after a grandmother died when she helplessly sped down a hill and flew out in front of traffic.
Coroner Martin Fleming called for an urgent review after Angela Carney, 65, was killed when she could not stop her scooter hurtling down the steep slope.
The “loving” grandmother had put her Monarch mobility scooter in “freewheel” mode, which allows users to push or pull their scooter.
However, Ms Carney could not turn freewheel mode off and the scooter did not have an emergency brake to stop her speeding down the hill by her home.
She suffered “severe” injuries and died in hospital after she travelled onto a junction and into the path of a Nissan Navara pickup truck in Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire.
Mr Fleming, senior coroner for West Yorkshire, said he fears more mobility scooter users in Britain will die due to models not having emergency brakes.
In a Prevention of Future Deaths report, he called on the Department for Transport to carry out a review of existing regulations.
Britain has previously been dubbed the “mobility scooter capital of Europe”, with an estimated 350,000 to 400,000 currently in use.
An inquest heard Ms Carney died on Sept 26, 2023, after she accidentally placed her scooter in “freewheel drive” outside her home.
Some newer scooters have secondary emergency brakes that stop them if they go too fast in freewheel mode, however, Ms Carney’s 2005 model did not have this feature.
‘No fail-safe’ brakes
A report said: “On the afternoon of [Sept 26], Angela left her home address on her 2005 model Monarch Compact special edition, four-wheel single-seater mobility scooter.
“Before setting off she moved her scooter out of her front garden and onto the footpath on Westcliffe Road by activating the freewheel mode via a lever near the rear wheel.
“Westcliffe Road has a 4.7 per cent downward gradient on the southerly approach to a give-way junction with Westgate.
“Angela, contrary to the instruction manual, did not take the scooter off the freewheel drive by engaging the engine with her ignition key.
“As a consequence, she was unable to stop the scooter because the brakes could only be activated by engine engagement.
“This resulted in the scooter proceeding down the footpath of Westcliffe Road at speed towards the junction with Westgate and directly into the path of a Nissan Navara pickup, resulting in her suffering severe injuries to which she sadly succumbed notwithstanding treatment at the hospital and died.
“It was found that the circumstance of the collision was such that it prevented the driver of the Nissan from taking evasive action.
“I was concerned to find that there was no fail-safe braking mechanism on the scooter to enable an emergency stop to take place in the event of the negligence of the rider.”
‘Second-hand market’ dangers
Mr Fleming continued: “Although it is my understanding that more recently designed and manufactured mobility scooters are manufactured with a secondary braking system by way of a fitted handbrake mechanism, I am concerned that other manufacturers may be producing scooters without such an independent braking mechanism.
“I also have a concern that there may be many other older second-hand models on the second-hand market that are being used, which all combined has worrying safety implications for the riders and members of the public.”
Mr Fleming wrote to the Department for Transport and Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
He called on them to “review the adequacy of the existing guidelines and regulations and to consider the appropriateness of fitting secondary braking systems by way of a fitted handbrake mechanism to all mobility scooters”.
The authorities have until March 7 to respond.
Following her death, Ms Carney’s family said: “Our dear mum, also loving nana, great-nana, sister and auntie was tragically taken away from us.
“Angela was a kind and loving soul whose door was always open to anyone; she will be sadly missed by her family and everyone who knew her.”