Christmas Shopping with your Mobility Scooter

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Most stores will pull out all the stops for customers at this time of year and a shopping trip can be just the thing to get you in the festive mood and if planned right, Christmas shopping can be a lot of fun. 

One of the best places to go that is mobility scooter friendly would be a shopping centre that is indoors, flat, has accessible shops via lifts and ramps which will help make your trip run smoothly. Quite often the size of the shops inside shopping centres are big meaning there will be enough room for you to get through in your mobility scooter. 

However it is a very busy time for shopping so you may want to think about what day and time in the week that you go. Perhaps swap the weekend shopping for a morning mid week when the shops are quieter as most people are at work and the kids are at school. 

Something key to think about is how are you going to get your shopping home if you came on the bus or drove in on your mobility scooter as you may max out your mobility scooter's load capacity.

What is load capacity?

Load capacity refers to the maximum demand, stress, or load that may be placed on a given system under normal or otherwise specified conditions for an extended period of time. In other words, it refers to the capacity of a system to continue to perform its intended function when supporting a specific amount of weight.

This will be an extremely important step to check before setting off on your shopping trip to ensure you can get home safely. 

Another important check would be how are you going to carry your shopping? Have you got a bag attached to your mobility scooter or have you got a trolley with you that you can put on the back? These questions are really useful for keeping in mind before your trip. It may be worth splashing out for a taxi on the way home if you have a folding mobility scooter that can go in the boot of the car.