Young ECV Users

[Cheshire Figment]

Today I happened to be driving by the new Randy's Mobility store (in downtown Dundee) and stopped in to visit. I was talking with Randy, including about some of the differences in policy between what he does and the other rental companies do.

The discussion got around to age of driver. He stated that he will allow children as young as 12 to drive his ECVs.

However his requirement is either that the child is a regular ECV user and the family did not bring down the ECV for logistical reasons, or it is an older child with a leg in a cast. He will require the parents to sign a liability form accepting full responsibility for the child's actions on the ECV, and will also require a credit card imprint in addition to the regular rental.

He said one of the reasons they like to actually deliver the ECV to the user is they will get a chance to see how the person drives it. He told me that once in a while (very rare) he will refuse a rental. And, if it is needed for a child, he will see if the child is actually able to handle it.

He did give me permission (at my request) to publicly post this information.

Also, he does allow the person to drop the ECV off at Bell Services on departure, but says they are less likely to lose an ECV if he picks it up directly from the renter.

 

[OneLittleSpark]

Well that's interesting! I can understand the regular user clause, but why only if their leg is in a cast, otherwise? Is this just to weed out 'joy riders'?

Thanks for posting that, it's good to know!

 

[SueM in MN]

He said one of the reasons they like to actually deliver the ECV to the user is they will get a chance to see how the person drives it. He told me that once in a while (very rare) he will refuse a rental. And, if it is needed for a child, he will see if the child is actually able to handle it.

I don't know that I would be real confident of the driving ability of most 12 yr olds who had never driven an ECV before, but at least by seeing the child, Randy's has some way of judging.

We rented one from Randy's for my FIL (who refused to use it, but that's another story). The person from Randy's wanted to make sure that someone who was signing for it actually did know how to drive it and demonstrated that they did. Our friend, Jeff, has a bad knee and was an experienced driver, so he was our expert. He did demonstrate that he knew how to drive forward, steer, back it up, turn before the guy from Randy's left.
I think by doing that, Randy's probably has a much lower rate of damage and because of the lower damage rate, probably pays less insurance on his ECVs.

Also, he does allow the person to drop the ECV off at Bell Services on departure, but says they are less likely to lose an ECV if he picks it up directly from the renter.

Again, I think that impacts his insurance.
Personally, I liked it that the guy came directly to our room. We could see before we accepted that there was no damage (I think there was something about that on the contract, that we inspected it and noted no damage). It also means that after we were done with it, we knew there was not going to be any damage done while it was waiting for pick up - the guy who picked it up noted on the pickup sheet that there was no damage.
On one stay at BCV, we did see an ECV sitting outside of the entrance to BCV our whole stay from another company. It had an envelope that I assume held the keys and there was some paperwork on it that showed it was sitting there after use, for pick up. I don't know if it ever did get picked up, but it was still sitting there when we left. I would not want to be the renter of that 'lost' unit because they would probably be responsible for it.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Well that's interesting! I can understand the regular user clause, but why only if their leg is in a cast, otherwise? Is this just to weed out 'joy riders'?

The "leg in cast" applies to "older children", not adults.

 

[OneLittleSpark]

Sorry, I wasn't being too clear earlier (blame the brain-fog). I was just wondering why older children could only rent for broken legs, rather than other medical conditions (unless they use them at home, of course).

Also, could your average 12 year old steer a full-sized ECV comfortably? I don't know how adjustable the seat is, so maybe I'm talking rubbish, but I couldn't see my step-brother (12) being able to reach the handle bars and sit back in the seat.

These are just my random musings, feel free to ignore them

 

[Talking Hands]

A teen could steer a full size scooter just as well as I can. There are very few middle and high school kids shorter than I am and I am an adult. A few years back when my daughter was 16 is injured her ankle and could not walk easily. I rented a scooter for myself and she used my personal scooter. We were able to accommodate both are needs on that trip this way. I'm glad Randy is allowing this with restrictions.

 

[mechurchlady]

Maybe Randy also lets older kids with other disabilities rent. At least now there is a place for kids to get an ECV. This is good news and thanks for the info. Every time I rent a car or ECV there are no instructions just get in and drive. If I was every to get to florida, doubt it, I would rent from Randy's.