Skip to main content

Need for speed

Two British men have set a new world land speed record for a mobility scooter. During timed runs to meet with official requirements, the heavily modified mobility scooter proved capable of hitting a speed of 172km/h. This tops the previous mobility scooter speed record of 131km/h by some margin. The mobility scooter is however not suitable for road use, despite having working lights and indicators, as it does not possess front brakes. Power comes from a 600cc Suzuki motorcycle engine that has been squeezed
January 14, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
RSSTwo British men have set a new world land speed record for a mobility scooter. During timed runs to meet with official requirements, the heavily modified mobility scooter proved capable of hitting a speed of 172km/h. This tops the previous mobility scooter speed record of 131km/h by some margin. The mobility scooter is however not suitable for road use, despite having working lights and indicators, as it does not possess front brakes. Power comes from a 600cc Suzuki motorcycle engine that has been squeezed into the strengthened go-kart chassis upon which the mobility scooter has been constructed.

Two car occupants in China had a narrow escape when a mixer truck toppled onto their car, crushing it in the process. Despite the car being flattened in the incident, the woman driver and her younger male relative managed to escape relatively unscathed with only minor injuries. Passersby first tried to lever the mixer truck off the crushed car using a tree trunk. When this failed a passing crane was stopped and brought in to tackle the tricky task. After being rescued from the car the occupants were taken to hospital, but medical checks showed that they had escaped serious injury.

Related Content

  • Hole in one
    September 26, 2013
    An American woman in the US state of Ohio had a lucky escape when her car fell into a huge hole that appeared in the roadway. The emergency services were called and she was rescued from her stricken car with only cuts and bruises. The vehicle was later recovered from the 3m-deep hole. Reports suggest that the incident was caused by the flow from a broken water main, which had scoured away the ground under the road.
  • Helmet wearing a key priority in road safety
    February 27, 2012
    Politicians can be an easy target for criticism. Their job involves making decisions that affect the lives of others, whether popular or unpopular, which they believe are nevertheless for the common good. But every once in a while politicians; international, national or local, do something so unutterably stupid it defies explanation. And in the US state of Michigan, the Senate has done just that by approving the repeal of the motorcycle helmet law.
  • Research shows young male drivers pose safety risk
    December 18, 2013
    Research from the UK reveals an alarming picture of road safety amongst young male drivers. This data is likely to be replicated in other European drivers as well as further afield. According to the UK’s Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), some 30,850 male drivers aged 17-20 have up to six points on their driving licences. However, only 9,758 female drivers aged 17-20 have up to six points on their licences. Drivers are awarded points for motoring offences in the UK, with more serious offences resulting
  • Efficient truck loading to optimise operations
    September 14, 2017
    Specialist supplier LASE commissioned the LaseTVM tool on a road construction site for contractor EuroTransStroy at a construction site in St Petersburg, Russia. The laser-based measurement system is able to determine the volume of bulk materials such as sand and crushed stones with high accuracy. This can be used to prevent differences in loads from one truck to another, so as to ensure consistency. The system also identifies truck license plates and the load area, providing comprehensive data collation.