10.00 - 11.00 • Thursday 7 November

Mobility scooter users have been broadly overlooked as road users, despite their prevalence, vulnerability and despite the fact that many of us will become mobility impaired at some point in our lives and use one. This may partly be because data on incidents involving mobility scooters is relatively scant.

Even so, recent casualty data analysis reveals they are over two and a half times more likely to be killed in a road crash than any other group, and worryingly, casualties are increasing each year.

In this workshop Dr Duncan Guest from Nottingham Trent University, alongside Richard Hannan, from mobility scooter insurer Surewise, will explore mobility scooter safety, what the issues are, what the data says and how road safety teams across the UK can equip themselves to take effective action.

Dr Duncan Guest, Head of Psychology, Nottingham Trent University & Richard Hannan, co-founder of Surewise

Dr Duncan Guest is Head of Psychology at Nottingham Trent University and an applied cognitive psychologist. He has been conducting research on mobility scooter users and their safety for several years as well as exploring broader aspects of accessibility.

This has included the largest study to date on mobility scooter safety and the development of a training resource.

Richard Hannan is a co-founder of Surewise, a UK insurance intermediary specialising in mobility scooter insurance. He has over 20 years' experience in insurance and technology and is responsible for marketing and communications.

Since the company formed in 2014, Surewise has insured more than 130,000 mobility scooters in the UK and is a leading provider in the sector.

In April, Surewise launched its Safer Mobility campaign after becoming increasingly concerned about the apparent increase in mobility scooter user casualties.

After analysing the casualty data, Surewise was horrified to discover that mobility scooter riders are more than two and a half times more likely to be killed in a road crash compared to other road users. And over the last decade, mobility scooter casualties have increased by an average of 20 per cent, year on year.
Workshop