Battle on the highway: Shocking moment when a pensioner drives a mobility scooter the wrong way down a highway
- The moment was captured on the outskirts of Dublin
- The retiree seemed unconcerned about the disruption he had caused
This is the shocking moment a cheeky pensioner was spotted driving the wrong way down a busy highway – in a motorized wheelchair.
Footage shared yesterday shows the unnamed man staggering along a motorway on the outskirts of Dublin, against traffic.
While observant motorists seemed to give the random road hog plenty of credit, the pensioner himself seemed completely unfazed by the disruption he was causing.
The video appears to have been filmed by a stationary road user in the left lane.
The man is initially not visible due to the heavy flow of cars, but soon appears in a gap in the traffic.
A cheeky pensioner was spotted driving the wrong way on a mobility scooter on a busy highway on the outskirts of Dublin
The pensioner seemed completely unfazed by the disruption he caused
As he drives in the opposite direction, inside the white line at the concrete central barrier, you see him sitting in the seat, folded with a coat, hat and blanket.
As traffic crawls along, it appears as if the wheelchair rider is going as fast as the traffic and makes no attempt to stop.
The images were posted to social media, where they have been viewed more than 322,000 times.
One said: ‘No one called Gardai for him? That guy could have caused a major closure of the M50 on his way to his heavenly abode.”
Another commented: ‘The vehicle should be seized and the man banned from owning it.
“See these guys on mobility scooters riding with impunity on sidewalks, roads and wherever they want.”
A third wrote: ‘I’ve heard of people dumping their pets on the side of the road but it’s a sign that times are getting tough when they dump their parents.’
Another said: ‘Probably sick of his carer talking behind his back and pushing him around all the time.’
The images were posted to social media, where they have been viewed more than 322,000 times
It comes after a disabled pensioner caused an accident while drunk on his mobility scooter earlier this year.
The father of one Stewart O’Neil, 65, who lives in a care home and has never had a driver’s license, had been given the 8mph electric car so he could regularly visit his son who lives a mile away.
But after visiting his local nail salon for a pedicure, O’Neil was so delighted with the results that he started knocking back vodka to toast his new-found freedom to roam.
On the way home, he was seen riding along the sidewalk at high speed on his Sunrise medical mobility scooter before zigzagging into a tree and almost falling over.
He then swerved uncontrollably onto the road and crashed into the back of a car as the driver watched in horror through her rear-view mirror.
Police who responded to the scene in Southport town center in Merseyside found he was more than twice the alcohol limit. No one was injured in the impact.
According to a recent report, mobility scooters are involved in accidents almost every day, with analysis showing more than 100 injuries and nine deaths each year.
The alarming figures show that scooter drivers were involved in 334 accidents in 2022 – the most recent year for which data is available – an increase of 77 percent in two years.
In addition to nine deaths, there were 109 accidents in which victims were seriously injured, some of whom were hit by out-of-control drivers.