A wave of backlash compelled an Alberta governmental spokesperson to take down an early November video of her grandfathers mobility scooter, given to him after he lost his license, driving down a residential sidewalk in Calgary.Samantha Peck is the Press Secretary to Albertas Associate Minister of Natural Gas, and in a now-deleted November 1 Twitter post, shared what she thought was an uplifting message about her grandfather, who had lost his drivers license two years ago following a car accident.The loss of his independence had devastated him, she wrote. This week, my dad surprised him with an enclosed electric scooter so he can travel around. No license needed, concluding with a heart emoji.However, the video, apparently shot from the left side of a car driving on the street, received so much backlash she felt compelled to delete it.A barrage of Twitter users took issue with the idea of someone having been determined unfit to drive a motor vehicle instead taking to sidewalks in something that looks very much like a small car. Others noted it might be awkward navigating around other pedestrians for example, wheelchair users in the motorized device, or called out the filming-while-driving in the video.The scooter is built by Toronto company Daymak specifically, it seems to be a Boomerbuggy X. With a top speed of 13 km/h, its hardly quick, but its still about three times faster than walking.At 41 inches wide, its not much wider than a standard wheelchair, but does have features more like a car, including a heater, air conditioning, lights, a horn, turn signals and even a backup camera.However, Twitter users coming to Pecks defense noted Alberta winters get cold really cold and an elderly person might not be able to withstand those conditions in an open scooter. The Boomerbuggy X arguably provides a level of safety in winter other scooters cant.👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼 people’s inability to understand situations without explicitly being spoon fed the context is astounding. https://t.co/B0PEJz5ghx Samantha Peck (@samanthajaypeck) November 4, 2019Others noted the video was taken in the suburbs of Calgary, Alberta, which, having seen snow for two months already, were likely to have been barren of pedestrians anyway.Who do you think is in the right on this issue? It is, really, just a scooter, after all, one designed for sidewalks does it really pose a risk to other users? Or is there an issue with someone unfit to drive cruising toward pedestrians at 13 km/h?Take Our Poll
Origin: Scooter tweet earns Alberta gov’t spokesperson backlash