That Time I Rented a Scooter and Suddenly DISAPPEARED!

As someone who uses a rollator, I sympathize. However, I have also nearly been run down by ECVs, strollers, thundering herds of teens, and when I used a cane I had it kicked out from under me a few times. I think part of the problem is that people are looking everywhere but where they're going, and the other is that ECVs and strollers are below eye level, so people tend to zone out on their presence.
 
I too use a rollator. I think people are really caught up on trying to get where they want to go and just not thinking. Of course there is a huge “me” mentality along with it. I personally have had more strollers dif into my heels than any problems with people on ECV. In fact never once had an issue with an ECV. The battering ram strollers are quite painful not to mention my increased fall risk. It is too bad people aren’t more aware of their surroundings.
 
I think we all need to watch here we are going i was standing off the side leaning ageist the wall and someone in a ECV ran into She looked up and started yelling something at me. I can not count the times people just plan run into me. Like someone else said most of the time we are looking st our phone.
 
I use a manual wheelchair, not a scooter, but I find sometimes I'm "invisible" and at other times extremely noticeable. There are people who walk backwards, walk while looking at their phone, or otherwise just not pay attention. Then there are people who leap needlessly out of way, grab their children, yell "watch your back!" or "wheelchair coming through!" even when there is plenty of room. There are people who want to help and grab my chair handles and start pushing without asking first (scary). There are also plenty of people who don't do any of these things. I know how to operate my chair, judge the amount of space I need, and how to maneuver through a crowd. I am always on the lookout for people who are not paying attention so I can dodge them. Haven't run over anyone yet. Another way you can "disappear" in a wheelchair or scooter is when you are with someone who is walking. Most people will address that person, hand them the check at a restaurant (thankfully nobody has ever said "what will she have for dinner?")
 
You do get to look at a lot of butts, LOL, but that's no fun.


Your head is also at prime kicking level for little kids being carried by Dad or Mom.

And if you happen to find a place in front for Illuminations (which is important because in the back you'd only see fireworks if they were tattooed on the butt of the guest in front of you) your ECV and body become a jungle gym, ramp, and viewing platform for the kids sent elbowing away to the front by their parents in the back. One little girl kept standing on my broken foot that was in a walking boot and proppedby the footrest. She completely tuned out my cries of pain.
 
And can't believe they made you turn your lights off! After the sun goes down, you always see tons of people walking around either carrying bright, flashing LED lights or wearing them around their necks. That kind of light is painful to me and temporarily blinds me, but it's maddening that they chose to single you out just because your lights were attached to an ECV.
 
My mother is invisible in her scooter as well. Last time we went, we tried as much as possible to have her drive along a wall or curb with me on the other side and my husband in front. It never ceased to amaze me how many people honestly thought they could squeeze into the 6inches of space between her and us or her and the wall. Then, they get mad at her for bumping them.

The worst was when she and my youngest got caught in an absolute downpour in Animal Kingdom. She grabbed him (yes, I know he wasn't supposed to ride on the scooter, it was the only time it happened) and tried to get under a canopy in front of one of the stores. People kept pushing in front of her so that she couldn't move an inch. My SIL finally saw what was happening and got them out of the rain but seriouly, who sees an elderly woman with a toddler stuck in a downpour and just pushes past them.
 


There is so much packed into this whole subject, it can make your head spin. When I was in school, some of my courses overlapped with the business school students and I ended up taking a couple 'business management' classes. One of the things we covered is posture during negotiations and there was so much about the deeply wired behavior we all tend to exhibit based on relative posture. So that's one part of it.

Then there is research on simple object recognition and the things a person has to see before the inner workings of their brain decide that they are looking at a human being. Apparently, when a standing person is looking down at a seated person, the parts of the brain that normally light up on a fMRI when we see a person just stays dark.

I spend most of my free time working on a collision avoidance system for a friends power-chair. I hope to sell the system eventually. But my favorite part of it is a little bobble head looking thing about 4" diameter I have mounted just about eye-level on a mast coming up off her seatback. There's a little plastic face on it that serves as a cover for some electronics but one of its jobs is to rotate to make 'eye-contact' with people who are walking towards the chair. I built this into the system just to see how people would respond. I'll be honest, most don't pay attention but some do and it's weird. Some people who would have strolled right by (or into) my friend have that little face turn to look at them and they stop dead.
 
My mother is invisible in her scooter as well. Last time we went, we tried as much as possible to have her drive along a wall or curb with me on the other side and my husband in front. It never ceased to amaze me how many people honestly thought they could squeeze into the 6inches of space between her and us or her and the wall. Then, they get mad at her for bumping them.

On one of our first trips with extended family my aunt was having knee problems. She was using a cane. She called the cane her “ninja cane” because it collapsed in on itself, and when you needed it you did a whipping motion and it was unfurl.

So we’re walking in AL and her knee started acting up. She moved all the way to the right side of the path, with only foliage next to her. There was NO reason anyone should have been expected to be there. She moved specifically so she could whip out the cane.

Just as she did the motion to release the cane, a *cast member* suddenly appeared to her right, rushing along the foliage-covered path, trying to get backstage (we were right near a gate to something), and nearly got hit with that cane.

It was crazy. There was no way the cm should have been there. And yet she was.

There is so much packed into this whole subject, it can make your head spin. When I was in school, some of my courses overlapped with the business school students and I ended up taking a couple 'business management' classes. One of the things we covered is posture during negotiations and there was so much about the deeply wired behavior we all tend to exhibit based on relative posture. So that's one part of it.

Then there is research on simple object recognition and the things a person has to see before the inner workings of their brain decide that they are looking at a human being. Apparently, when a standing person is looking down at a seated person, the parts of the brain that normally light up on a fMRI when we see a person just stays dark.

I spend most of my free time working on a collision avoidance system for a friends power-chair. I hope to sell the system eventually. But my favorite part of it is a little bobble head looking thing about 4" diameter I have mounted just about eye-level on a mast coming up off her seatback. There's a little plastic face on it that serves as a cover for some electronics but one of its jobs is to rotate to make 'eye-contact' with people who are walking towards the chair. I built this into the system just to see how people would respond. I'll be honest, most don't pay attention but some do and it's weird. Some people who would have strolled right by (or into) my friend have that little face turn to look at them and they stop dead.

All of that is very interesting!!

You should install a camera in the face, too, to see who notices it.
 
On one of our first trips with extended family my aunt was having knee problems. She was using a cane. She called the cane her “ninja cane” because it collapsed in on itself, and when you needed it you did a whipping motion and it was unfurl.

So we’re walking in AL and her knee started acting up. She moved all the way to the right side of the path, with only foliage next to her. There was NO reason anyone should have been expected to be there. She moved specifically so she could whip out the cane.

Just as she did the motion to release the cane, a *cast member* suddenly appeared to her right, rushing along the foliage-covered path, trying to get backstage (we were right near a gate to something), and nearly got hit with that cane.

It was crazy. There was no way the cm should have been there. And yet she was.



All of that is very interesting!!

You should install a camera in the face, too, to see who notices it.
Funny you say this. The plastic face is actually part of the outer cover for a spinning camera. These days they have 360deg cameras without moving parts but for now this is how my software gets its video of the world around it. Then the computer thinks about what it sees using an open source library of software called OpenCV (Computer Vision) and plots out where all the faces are (among other things).

The system also gets input from 24 ultrasonic distance sensors, 12 microwave radar sensors, and 2 micro 3D LiDAR systems. Oddly enough, all my highest tech stuff was bought off the shelf, cheap, it's all developed for automating UAVs, drones, quadcopters and such. The LiDAR units were only $150 each. The hardest part has been learning the Python (never much of a software guy) and getting a microcontroller and computer system than can handle the video and sensor inputs in realtime. I've got it to a point where it is impossible to drive this thing into a stationary object or into a moving object that isn't varying its speed or direction much. It's predicting and alerting for every imminent collision when the chair is stationary and about 75% of them while the chair is in motion.

And it can recognize people and turn to smile at them.

For the basic 'kid steps in front of the power chair' it will brake and stop to avoid a collision every time as long as you give it about a foot for every 5mph speed the chair is moving. It seems like if we can keep a Toyota Corolla from hitting pedestrians, a wheel chair should be easy.
 
Driving an ECV is nothing comparable to pushing a stroller. A stroller is way easier to turn and can pivot 360 with ease. Also, an adult is pushing a stroller from behind and a full standing adult is easier to see than someone sitting in a scooter. My mom would drive it along with a curb or wall and I would walk ahead on the opposite side as a buffer.

After coming back from our Disney trip I have concluded that some people are either dumb or rude. People would look at the 8 inches of space between my mother and I and proceed to push their stroller right through it and are shocked when my mom almost hits them like what did you think was going to happen?

We did Rockin Rollercoaster during extra magic hours. For this ride, my mom had to go into a standard push wheelchair and I had to push her through the line. We went into the room where they do the little clip and then the doors open and you move into the next part of the line. Because the ride was such a high demand they were letting the next group enter the room before it was cleared. I could not get over how many people pushed in front of us. I am not kidding when I say that at least 40 people pushed their way ahead of us. Finally, this dad and young daughter helped us out. He was holding her hand and they spread out really wide almost forming a barrier for us to finally go through. We were so thankful. He later told me that his daughter and him use that trick often to help people they see in wheelchairs. That is a parent who is raising their kid right! I was disgusted to see how many parents looked at my mom in her wheelchair and pushed and encouraged their kids to push in front. Parents like that are doing an injustice to their children. Then people wonder why youth these days are so insensitive and entitled.

I also had to push my mom in a wheelchair through the Haunted Mansion line. A lot of it is on an incline and it is very tiring to push someone up a hill. People were walking past us and cutting us while I was pushing a wheelchair. I am not someone that is confrontational but I did yell out "Hey!! You know we are online too!" and they look at you with the deer in headlights look. The wait time was 45 minutes also, no need to speed ahead so we can be packed like sardines. We are all going to the same place!
 
Just returned from the world. While at AK at opening, I had scooter set at a fairly low speed due to the crowds at regular opening. We had just a few minutes head start as we were resort guests for EMH. A guy was walking (!) beside me, barely was past my wheel and crossed in front. Of course, I clipped his heal hard. I did not change my speed!! He never looked back. Probably knew he did the error. Idiot!

As far as cutting in line, while in line at the Navi River Ride, DH stopped for a drink at a drinking fountain within the ride line. I was beside him on said scooter, taking a photo of a sign on the ride's line rope. Two women walked past us to get two whole people in front of us! I WAS P'dO! My husband was not too happy about it either. I called them on it! "Oh, we were gonna let you back where you were!", they said. Yeah, right! They did, after I called them on it. They ended up on the boat in front of us, only because they squeezed into the front seat with two other people. They were smooched in that front seat like sardines. Some people!!!
 
Just returned from the world. While at AK at opening, I had scooter set at a fairly low speed due to the crowds at regular opening. We had just a few minutes head start as we were resort guests for EMH. A guy was walking (!) beside me, barely was past my wheel and crossed in front. Of course, I clipped his heal hard. I did not change my speed!! He never looked back. Probably knew he did the error. Idiot!

As far as cutting in line, while in line at the Navi River Ride, DH stopped for a drink at a drinking fountain within the ride line. I was beside him on said scooter, taking a photo of a sign on the ride's line rope. Two women walked past us to get two whole people in front of us! I WAS P'dO! My husband was not too happy about it either. I called them on it! "Oh, we were gonna let you back where you were!", they said. Yeah, right! They did, after I called them on it. They ended up on the boat in front of us, only because they squeezed into the front seat with two other people. They were smooched in that front seat like sardines. Some people!!!
I have walked by people taking pictures and getting water in line ( when there is no one infront of them) a number of time. Dose not mater to me if you use a mobility device or not if you are going to stop and there is not people stoped infront of you ( or close to you ) I will pass you. No one has ever said anything too me. I have stoped in line too to take a picture of something and people pass me and I have said nothing
 
I have walked by people taking pictures and getting water in line ( when there is no one infront of them) a number of time. Dose not mater to me if you use a mobility device or not if you are going to stop and there is not people stoped infront of you ( or close to you ) I will pass you. No one has ever said anything too me. I have stoped in line too to take a picture of something and people pass me and I have said nothing

My issue is there were people stopped in front of us. Within 3-5 feet of my scooter. It's not like we were stopped in the line where we board and holding up the ride. It was a 20-minute wait. I do not expect to be passed when there are water fountains in the line for guests' use. Only takes maybe 15-30 seconds to get a drink. Same with the photo and he was drinking while I was taking photo. We still had to wait in the line for 20 or so minutes. Why do people feel it is okay to go past others in line??
 

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