Dutch launch scooter racing for the elderly

A team led by an 82-year-old pensioner Tuesday won the first Dutch championship for battery-powered electric scooter racing.

The race across an obstacle course in rear-wheel-drive buggies, fitted with comfortable seats, armrests, handlebars and shopping baskets, was all about skillful maneuvering, with top speeds of just 7.5 miles per hour.

The Nationaal Fonds Ouderenhulp, a foundation for the elderly, organized the race for people in their 70s and 80s to promote mobility and to fight loneliness in retirement and nursing homes.

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A team of Rotterdam pensioners took the checkered flag at Zandvoort motor racing circuit, beating 12 rival nursing homes over the 250-yard course of speed bumps, wooden ramps and plastic slalom cones.

“I’m 88. In the end my (scooter’s) battery was running out. It was very frustrating,” said contestant Wilhelmus Souren.

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In a country that has one of the highest life expectancies in the world and is home to the world’s oldest woman, demand for electric scooters is high with up to 75,000 people owning one.

Organizers hope the event will not be a one off. “I think a lot more countries will get the idea of a national scooter championship and then we could start with a European or World scooterbike championship. Who knows?” organizer Jan Romme said.