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

  • Report on cost of US crashes
    March 11, 2016
    A comprehensive analysis of crash statistics in the US reveals the shocking cost of vehicle crashes. The report has been collated by the by the US Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and is based on details collated for 2010. The report states that in 2010 there were 32,999 fatalities, 3.9 million injured, and 24 million vehicles damaged following crashes in the US. The economic costs of these crashes totalled US$242 billion. Included in these losses are lost
  • Poor pedestrian safety in the US
    October 5, 2018
    The US road network features poor pedestrian safety, a problem the authorities are struggling to tackle. According to data from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), 5,977 pedestrians died on US roads in 2017. Of concern is that this is the second highest figure since 1990, with 2016 having seen the peak with a figure 2% higher. Worryingly, pedestrian deaths are some 46% higher than they were in 2009. Of note too is that road deaths increased by 3% for occupants of SUVs and by
  • Research reveals UK drug driving risk
    August 13, 2013
    Research carried out on behalf of an insurance firm reveals a worryingly high level of drug use amongst the UK’s drivers. The study was carried out for the insurance company Confused.com and shows that up to 20% of British drivers admit to using drugs while at the wheel. This contrasts strongly with official police data for drivers caught under the influence of drugs in 2012. This information shows that only 1,132 people were caught drug driving in 2012, down by 12.5% from the 1,294 in 2011. The data reveal
  • Giving four hours back to the day… and much more
    October 7, 2019
    A 20km long elevated expressway in Dhaka will be one of Bangladesh’s first Public Private Partnership transport projects – words and pictures by Ruby Kitching, on behalf of Mott MacDonald.