A Coalition senator has called for tougher regulations of mobility scooters typically used by pensioners and the disabled after his wife was forced to have a hip replacement when she was hit by one at high speed on a footpath.
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Nationals Senator John Williams said state governments and local councils should consider on-the-spot fines or a registration regime to ensure pedestrians are safe.
Senator Williams' wife owns and runs The Bingara Advocate newspaper in the New England region of NSW.
"She took one step outside and this old fella who apparently has Alzheimers was on his gopher speeding down the footpath," Senator Williams said.
"He hit her and she went flying through the air, hit the ground and smashed her hip.
"She had to have a total hip replacement.
"She was in excruciating pain.
"What if she had smashed her head?"
Senator Williams said his wife could have died if she was older and in worse shape.
"We have so many rules on our roads – seatbelts, fines, double demerit points," he said.
"We need rules to keep these machines away from the point of entry to businesses and offices.
"Some people who wouldn't pass a driving test are going around on gophers."
Senator Williams said he had also seen a scooter drive out in front of a semi trailer.
According to the NSW Government's Centre for Road Safety, motorised wheelchairs do not require registration, a licence or third party insurance. They cannot travel over 10 kilometres an hour.
Senator Williams said he did not believe there was anything the federal government could do so he was talking to his local council.
"As more of our population ages we will see more of these machines on the footpath," he said.
"I don't want what happened to my wife to happen to anybody else."