Road tax on a mobility scooter?

[Mottie]

My dad turned his one over when he tried to take a corner too fast. He was on the pavement at the time. He was lethal in it.

 

[mattylad]

Thar's exactly like my daughter when I take her shopping.
We get into B&M and away she goes, it's like watching an F1 race, one second I'm walking with her the next she has disappeared from sight
Hers is only a 4MPH fold up scooter, seems fast enough to me.

 

[Avocet]

Certain types of mobility vehicles and powered wheelchairs are exempt from tax provided they meet the following criteria:

• They have been fitted with a limited device that stops them going over 4mph on footways
• While on the road, they have a maximum speed of 8mph

How can the limiting device work out if on a footway?
And it seems they need to be registered, so that's another hurdle.

But I fail to see how any device can stop them doing over 4 MPH on footways? If manually switched, it clearly does not stop them doing over 4 MPH.

As others have said, they rely on the user switching them to the 4 MPH setting when not on a road. Tax is rarely an issue, as most will qualify for DVLA's "disabled" tax category. The government recently consulted on amending the law for "powered mobility devices" and it's a knotty and nuanced problem!

Reviewing the law for powered mobility devices

www.gov.uk

One of the most thought-provoking responses was from a campaign group - "wheels for wellbeing"

Campaigning for inclusive cycling, Wheels for Wellbeing

Wheels for Wellbeing is an award-winning charity supporting disabled people of all ages and abilities to enjoy the benefits of cycling.

wheelsforwellbeing.org.uk

 

[ericmark]

My mobility scooter has the batteries dismantled so I can charge them in doors, as the design only allowed them to be charged on the scooter, and so needed the whole scooter to be taken in doors to charge, so at the moment scooter is not being used.

I do however use a folding e-bike, which is far better for me at the moment, I do have a parking disc, so can show I need the scooter, but the problem is getting the scooter to where I want to use it. Easier to carry the e-bike specially on the train. Can get a wheelchair on the train, but the mobility scooter would need dismantling to get it on, and not sure, I could even with the wheelchair lift, get it on the train. One of the carriages has an extended entrance

but could not leave the scooter on the veranda and likely will not go around the corner to get it into main carriage area.

The e-bike folds up and can be put in the corner of the veranda, so a better option.