Disabled Man On Scooter Struck And Killed By Vehicle

April 12, 2021

A disabled man riding an electric scooter was struck and killed by a vehicle in Escambia County early Monday morning.

The crash happened about 12:10 a.m. on Muldoon Road south of Cerny Road.

The Florida Highway Patrol reported a silver Ford Focus traveling northbound on Muldoon Road near Cerny Road struck the rear of an electric scooter traveling in the same direction. The scooter did not have lights or reflectors.

“At this time the male on the scooter has not been identified, but he is an approximately 50-year old year old white male with no hair and was a paraplegic,” FHP said.

The 21-year old female driver of the Ford and her 22-year old male passenger were not injured.

Comments

13 Responses to “Disabled Man On Scooter Struck And Killed By Vehicle”

  1. Aaron on February 1st, 2022 11:49 am

    It was 5 am on a dark morning in Colorado. I was driving my usual 37 mile trip to work. Was driving the same road I always drive doing the speed limit. Car in front of merges and when I saw him it was too late, I tried to turn left to dodge him but front right corner hit him. He was wearing a black sweater driving a mobility scooter with no lights on the road (sidewalk was an option there was a sidewalk right there he could have used). I immediately pulled over dialed 911 and ran out. I felt awful. I am having a hard time coming to terms with this. He was an 87 year old man, he is in the hospital and I don’t know the status on how he is doing. I am sitting here in shock, my car in the shop, my heart pounding. I am praying for this man. I don’t know why he was on the street. This is something I am having issues with, I feel remorse and guilt one second. The next second I get angry, why were you on the road!! Then I get sad imagining how awful this must be for his loved ones. I pray he makes it, I really don’t want to have blood on my hands, even if it was his actions that was at fault. This is really difficult to process

  2. Marcus on April 14th, 2021 12:37 am

    You dont go out traveling on a scooter after dark without any type of reflectors or lights!! This was asking for trouble!

  3. Disabled vet on April 13th, 2021 10:21 pm

    If you think everyone can afford Uber, you’re out of touch, particularly with the life of the disabled. Most people on disability draw $700-$900 a month, there’s no money for Uber. Even if they could get an Uber, how do you think a paraplegic will get around at their destination, I haven’t seen a scooter friendly Uber, yet!

    As for Sidewalks not being the issue, you are wrong and so is the law if it prohibits the disabled from using scooters on Sidewalks. The disabled are people, we have needs, sometimes at 12:30am and not all of us have family or friends that are willing to help.
    It’s asinine to think that this man wouldn’t have used the Sidewalks if they were available, we are not ignorant nor do we all have a death wish. All you healthy, ambulatory folks and/or disabled with money, seem to forget that not everyone was so fortunate!!! I couldn’t imagine how hard my life would have been if I wasn’t on active duty when I was suddenly struck down, I had a wife with our 3 young children and Social security would have paid me exactly $700 a month. Some of you really need to step back and think about how someone could possibly end up like this man, you don’t know his story or reasons, he died in terrible tragedy that possibly would have been avoided if Sidewalks were available to him.

  4. Panhandlers on April 13th, 2021 7:42 pm

    Pensacola continues to be the league leader in these types of events. Geeeez!

  5. Mary Mattheiss on April 13th, 2021 5:49 pm

    I am very sorry the person riding the scooter was killed but it isn’t due to lack of sidewalks . The person driving the truck can’t be blamed for not being able to spot a motorized scooter without lights on a dark unlit road. This is a very tragic accident that could easily have been avoided if the person riding the scooter would have used lights or even a reflective vest. Stop trying to blame it on lack of sidewalks. Responsibility lies with the person who now is unfortunately deceased because of a terribly bad decision that he made himself.

  6. Mrs.Ellis on April 13th, 2021 12:10 pm

    I’m just so sad. I knew the deceased and to learn this is the way his life ended is heartbreaking. I also am praying for the driver of the vehicle as memories of this accident will be with her always.

  7. StraightShooter on April 12th, 2021 8:22 pm

    JTV you are correct. The trend today is to blame everyone but the reason. Scooters are not road legal and should not be on public road, especially at night.

  8. BPD on April 12th, 2021 6:58 pm

    Lingo, The money used for the Grover Robinson boat ramp came from Oil Spill funds specifically designated for public water way access. Those funds couldn’t have been used for sidewalks or anything else. If Escambia County hadn’t used it for that purpose, another county would have gotten them.

  9. np630ss on April 12th, 2021 4:12 pm

    I agree that pedestrians mobile at night need brighter clothing and some sort of flashlight. The newer high energy headlights can be blinding for oncoming drivers, especially if they are in lifted vehicles. More than once I’ve passed pedestrians that I couldn’t see until I was almost on top of them. In addition – pedestrians failing to cross at intersections and not using crosswalks only exacerbates the problem.
    Reflective safety vests are cheep and available at most big box stores.
    Been seen. Be safe.

  10. A Alex on April 12th, 2021 3:02 pm

    Sidewalks, NOT APPLICABLE
    motorized scooters on sidewalks not allowed to my times. Man was wrong for riding at night with no lights.

  11. JTV on April 12th, 2021 1:56 pm

    12:10 AM, driving in the middle of the road in an electric mobility scooter, WHY? Lack of sidewalks aren’t the problem. Ridiculous decisions by 50-year old human beings are. We are in the day and age of Uber and one makes the decision to travel in the dark, in the middle of the road, on a non lit, very slow, electric scooter. Let’s blame lack of sidewalks.

  12. William Lingo on April 12th, 2021 12:57 pm

    Could not agree more!!! That side of town has paid in enough taxes over the years to have paid for sidewalks ten times over. There needs to be more accountability to how our tax dollars are spent, the 3 million dollars wasted on the Grover Robinson boat ramp could have paid for sidewalks, especially when a boat ramp already existed not more than 2 miles from the one built next to Ruby’s. Why didn’t the county improve the Sand landing ramp instead of wasting money on a new ramp?

  13. EMD on April 12th, 2021 11:43 am

    It would be nice to have sidewalks here. This type of accident keeps happening. Just not right. Also, often people out at night do not have on light clothing and do not have reflectors and lights.