Public Transport

Taking your Quingo on a ferry

In the fourth of a series of articles about taking your scooter on different forms of transport, the Quingo team today want to talk about taking your Quingo on a ferry.

Traveling the sea with your Quingo

At Quingo, accessibility and mobility are major concerns of ours, which is why we’d like to discuss the practicalities of taking your Quingo 5 wheel scooter across the sea.

In the past it was often difficult for those with limited mobility to travel by ship or ferry, but newer and more modern boats have started to make journeys much more accessible.

The rights of passengers travelling by sea and inland waterway are spelt out by EU Regulation 1177/2010, which was introduced in December 2012. The regulation states that ships and ferries are obliged to carry any disabled person that wishes to travel on them, as long as it’s safe to do so.

Furthermore, the European regulation stipulates that assistance must be provided for free, including any help with boarding and accessible information. These rules apply to all services with the exception of sight-seeing tours and very short-distance ferries.

What to consider?

There are no specific regulations regarding taking mobility scooters on ferries, as such not all ferry companies necessarily have the same polices regarding mobility scooter users.

Here are a few points of consideration for taking your mobility scooter across the sea:

  • Quingo suggest that you contact the individual ferry company well in advance to check their procedures, as well as any size and weight requirements.
  • Often, ferry companies will insist that a disabled passenger be accompanied by an able bodied companion when aboard the ferry, depending on the nature of the disability. One reason for this is that in the event of rough seas, some passengers may encounter difficulties. If you’re planning to take the journey alone you should discuss this with the ferry company first.
  • On most ferries disabled cabins are available, but it’s advisable to book these early as there are only a limited number of cabins suitable for disabled travellers.
  • Cabins for the disabled and those with limited mobility are usually placed with better access to all public areas and lifts – particularly on more modern ships. They’re designed with wider doorways, hand bars, low level controls, low door peep holes and specially designed spacious bathrooms.
  • Disabled Motoring UK offers concessions to its members with selected ferry companies on specific routes. You should check with individual ferry companies to see if they offer any discounts for blue-badge holders.

Have you been anywhere interesting on your Quingo?

If you’ve been anywhere interesting on your Quingo for your holidays and travels then we’d love to hear from you about your experiences.  You can email your pictures and comments to [email protected] and we’ll put them up on our blog.