A freak accident happened a few days ago. While driving her so-called Scootmobiel an elderly lady bumped into the doors of the elevator. The doors opened after the impact and she fell into the shaft. She died. It was the fourth accident of this nature in but the first with such dramatic effect. Apparently elevator doors are not designed to take such forces.
Scootmobiels are a novelty: they are hybrid of car and wheelchair. The small, electric vehicles allow people with ‘limited mobility’, (elderly and the disabled) to live their life independently and to break out of the confinement that comes with their condition. The world is within reach again.
The number of cars increase enormously. Partly because of technological advancements and cost reduction and partly because of new legislation that allows local governments (that are responsible for the distribution) and insurance companies to give out more and more vehicles. On a population of 16 million there are now about 120.000 Scootmobiels. According to www.scootmobielinfo.nl it is likely that in a few years the number will explode to 600.000: a density of 26 Scootmobiels per 1000 inhabitants.
We don’t have the figures yet, but it could very well be that the Netherlands are front runner in the number of Scootmobiels per capita: the flatness of the country combined with compactness and relative wealth create the right biotope…
The sizes of the cars force us to reconsider dimensions of the build environment.
There are many different types available, either with three wheels or four. The dimensions of the Booster Tetra with an extra large luggage carrier:
Length: 1315 mm
Width: 640 mm
Turning circle: 2640 mm
Required space for turning: 1650 mm
Weight with batteries: 117,6 kg
Reach: 35 km
Speed max: 12 km/h
NL Architects Blog 
July 27, 2009 at 7:31 pm |
waiting for dare-devil grannies jumping rows of schoolbuses, walls of fire, through billbords, riding on two wheels of either possible combination, doing handstands on it. riding in barrels. the Hipness would increase! 14year olds would adapt them and make the age link to those 35year old fat ones that also need one and the seniors. tuning would become a market. Spinners, spoilers, four wheel drive, extra batteries – those they use in apple notebooks now… Disabled ramps could be more then 5 percent! Hell!! a Big foot scootmobil would climb the stairs directly! What an dynamic new city we would live in! The granny that fell in th shaft has not died invane!
August 21, 2009 at 10:37 am |
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