A pensioner left police bemused after he was caught travelling down a 70mph road in a mobility scooter.
The man, identified by police only as "Dennis", was spotted near an entry slip road that leads onto the A38 in Mickleover, Derby, tootling down the dual carriageway on a vehicle that reaches top speeds of just 8mph.
It is unclear where the pensioner was trying to go, DerbyshireLive reports.
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The Derbyshire Roads Policing Unit rushed to the scene and Derby City Police closed off the slip road, allowing Dennis to turn around and travel back up the road against the flow of traffic to safety.
The police discovered the man had been a driver for 63 years – he had even travelled across the world with the Merchant Navy.
However, despite more than six decades on the road and worldly experience, the man didn't seem aware that he was putting himself in danger by travelling so slowly down the 70mph road.
Derbyshire Roads Policing Unit tweeted that they had answered "a call out to assist young ‘Dennis’ who mistakenly thought he could roll down the A38 on a mobility scooter".
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The tweet read: "Despite driving for 63 years, travelling the world with the Merchant Navy and his mobility scooter having a max speed of 7 knots we went to his rescue."
The government website specifies that class 3 mobility scooters – which can reach maximum speeds of up to 8mph – can be driven on roads as long as they meet a particular set of criteria.
Some of these requirements include having a maximum unladen weight, a maximum width, a speed limiter, an efficient braking system, front and rear lights and reflectors, indicators, a horn and a rear-view mirror.
The website adds that class 3 scooters such as Dennis' must have "an amber flashing light if it's used on a dual carriageway", meaning that while using a scooter on a dual carriageway like the A38 is allowed, Dennis' may not have been fitted with the appropriate hardware.
Class 2 scooters, which can reach speeds of just 4mph, can only be used on pavements.
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