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Why Are So Many People Buying Mobility Scooters?

Gene | Apr 29, 2010 |

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Mobility scooters are becoming a very common sight. While once a luxury for a few, mobility scooters are now becoming popular for many people with disabilities and senior citizens. What are the reasons behind the ever increasing popularity of mobility scooters?

With the aging of the population, the market for mobility scooters is exploding. Within 40 years more than half the population will be in or past their middle-ages. Because more people are living a longer, the demand for mobility scooters is increasing. Mass production of mobility scooters is also bringing the prices down to levels which are affordable by most people. Mobility scooters are now inexpensive and so are available to a wider population than many other types of mobility devices. For example a new mobility scooter can start at $500, significantly less than a power wheelchair or even a lightweight manual wheelchair. Not only are new mobility scooters getting less expensive, but also as the demand for mobility scooters increases, the secondary market for used mobility scooters is increasing. Buyers of used mobility scooters find that they can save more than half off of the cost of a new mobility scooter. Buyers of mobility scooters save money in other ways as well. Mobility scooters use electricity. There is no gas to purchase and mobility scooters have very little maintenance costs. Compared to other forms of transportation, mobility scooters get you around very inexpensively.

Another factor is image. A mobility scooter does not seem like disability equipment. Mobility scooters have more of a sporty image compared to other mobility equipment. People do not associate mobility scooters with disabilities and people who drive mobility scooters do not feel the negative stigma often connected to disability equipment.

Another reason for the popularity of of mobility scooters is that mobility scooters let people with mobility limitations get out of the house and into a world that is increasingly becoming accessible to people with disabilities. New regulations are now requiring that buildings open to the public must also be accessible to people who have disabilities. Some mobility scooters are made so that they can be driven from the living room, out the door, to the local shopping mall, inside the store, up and down the aisles and again back home. Airplanes, trains, even cruise ships are opening their doors to mobility scooter owners. In many countries, such as the USA, people are even allowed to take a mobility scooter onto an airplane for free. Mobility scooters are allowed to be driven right to the departure gate. Some mobility scooters are built to be dismantled into small units which are lightweight. These transportable mobility scooters can be easily loaded into the trunk of a car and go almost anywhere.

Due to the combination of decreasing costs, improved accessibility and increasing numbers of seniors and people with disabilities we can anticipate seeing an increasing number of mobility scooters in the future.