Reminder, no dragging trees round the local streets this year for collection…………

Info from Croydon Council

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Residents can recycle their real trees for free this Christmas as the council aims to make this the borough’s greenest festive break. Real trees will be collected and recycled between Monday 13 January and Monday 27 January 2020 inclusive.

Trees should be placed as close as possible to the front boundary of residents’ properties on Monday 13 January. It must be visible from the kerbside without blocking access or the pavement. Decorations must be removed from the trees, which should also be taken out of any pots.

Residents should note, their tree may not be collected on the same day as normal recycling and refuse collections.

Alternatively, residents subscribed to the council’s garden waste collection service can cut up their tree and put it in their bin and it will be collected as part of the normal garden waste collection.

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and, from a member, regarding Mobility Scooters (abridged)

“I do all my food shopping using my self-propelled wheelchair in shops on Addiscombe High Street. Every so often I encounter big Mobility Scooters, driven by owners with a total lack of awareness of other pavement pedestrians or shopping aisle users. Unlike the cyclists who ride on the pavement, ringing their bells or sounding horns to notify me of their presence Mobility Scooter drivers appear to presume that they have an absolute right of way wherever they may be and, more than once I have had to take evasive action to maintain my own safety.

Recently a National newspaper covered the story of an 88-year-old pensioner struck down by another pensioner riding a Mobility Scooter. The driver of the Mobility Scooter had never driven a vehicle before and this was his first Scooter. CCTV evidence presented to the Coroner’s Court showed that the driver, travelling at 4mph, had hit the 88-year-old from behind throwing him headfirst onto the pavement.  

Investigators working on behalf of the Coroner had sought to charge the Mobility Scooter driver with ‘Death by dangerous driving’ however Mobility Scooters are not covered by the Road Traffic Act 1998. The Coroner concluded that it was an ‘unlawful killing’ and she would be writing to the House of Commons calling for legislation to protect pedestrians from Mobility Scooters.

I would like to urge those ASPRA members concerned by this case to join the Coroner and write in to their own MP calling for the introduction of new legislation to protect pedestrians from Mobility Scooters”.