Disabled woman crashes in East End street as mobility scooter splits in two
A disabled woman has had a narrow escape after her mobility scooter suddenly split in two and crashed into a wall while she was driving along the street.
Coral Hope, 37, who has had MS since she was 21, was furious over the �3,000 machine she says is still under guarantee.
The steering column buckled once before when she careered into a passing van, injuring her arm.
This time, Coral was unhurt after her Quingo scooter hit the wall in St Stephen’s Road, Old Ford, on Sunday.
She was on her way back from her weekly therapy session at Ability Bow gymnasium when she says it collapsed under her feet.
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“The steering handles suddenly came off while I was driving,” she told the Advertiser. “I tried pulling the steering column back to avoid crashing when it just snapped off. All that was holding the machine together was a cable.”
She was travelling alongside her mother Joan, 64, who also uses a mobility scooter, and the two managed to get a taxi to take Coral and the stricken machine back to their home in Hawthorn Avenue, off Old Ford Road.
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Joan had previously been in touch with lawyers after the steering column buckled when her daughter was on her way for an appointment at Mile End Hospital last July—soon after buying the machine.
Joan revealed: “We stopped payments last time and the company came and fixed the steering.
“But now the machine has split in two—my daughter could have been hurt. Last time she was badly cut and bruised.”
She added: “The company promised to replace it—but who’s to say it won’t happen again?”
Engineers are due to call tomorrow (Wed) to examine the broken scooter and bring a replacement from their warehouse in Luton, Beds.
