Today is  Friday 29th Mar 2024   ~ a better place to be 

  the "Access Denied" FAQ (Frequently Answered Questions)

Problem #8 - Overgrown Paths

Overgrown paths such as this are awkward enough to negotiate when two people attempt to pass one another other on foot. How much worse then when one of those people is on foot and the other is excercising their perfectly legitimate right to use the same footpath on a mobility scooter?

the scooter in this picture is a relatively modest Class 3 version less than 25 inches wide. Bearing in mind that Class 3 vehicles can be up to 12 inches wider than this... what are the chances that you'd be able to pass one on this footpath without having to take to the brambles? I use the above footpath regularly and know that in winter (when all the vegitation has died off) the tarmac path itself is more than wide enough to pass even the largest invalid carriage without undue inconvenience... but you would not know that in the height of summer when the brambles are scraping your arms and you end up at your destination with blackberries in your shoes.

the solution (in some areas at least) could be surprisingly simple. Why not call for disabled scooter-owners themselves to motitor the accessible footpaths in their area and offer them the use of a small strimmer-style attachment with which they can clear the vegitation on their own "patch"?

Many disabled people would be only too happy to be of service to their communities in this and similar ways. We don't want to be an inconvenience to you. We don't want you to resent our presence and see us as nothing but a burden. We don't want to feel terrible for encountering a young woman laden with shopping and pushing a baby buggy and forcing her into the brambles through being unable to reverse perhaps half a mile of footpath safely.

Some of us may even be downright grateful for the opportunity to put some small thing back into our communities for a change!

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