Safety Issues Regarding Motorized Shopping Carts

Abstract

As the elderly population grows, the need for personal mobility devices such scooter and wheelchairs increases too. Most of these devices are used in uncrowded environment except Motorized Shopping Carts (MSCs). MSCs are operated by elderly or by people with disabilities in very confined and in times very crowded environment. In a first glance, it appears that there are no safety issues in operating MSCs due to their misleading low “walking” speed. On the contrary, there are quite a few safety issues related to MSCs operation in supermarkets, department stores and other retail facilities. This paper attempts to present some of the safety concerns which include high accelerations and jerks, Impact forces with by standers, manoeuvrability and others.