Vatican Celebrates the Popemobile; Perth Mobility Scooter Club Asks for Bulletproof Canopy
The famous papal vehicle is honoured in Rome. In Perth, pensioners point out their scooters face greater daily hazards, mainly bins.
The Vatican, home of the world's most famous small vehicle. Photo: , “Oliver Mark - Mercedes-Benz M-Class Popemobile, Freiburg im Breisgau 2011”, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
The Vatican has been celebrating the popemobile, the famous glass-topped vehicle that has carried popes through adoring crowds for decades.
In Perth, members of a pensioners’ mobility scooter group watched the coverage with professional interest. “That’s a very good canopy,” said one member, an 82-year-old from Craigie. “I’d have that on mine for the rain. And the seagulls.”
The group has written to the Vatican asking for technical specifications, and has also asked whether the popemobile has a basket for messages, as “you can’t be holding a bag of tatties and waving at the faithful at the same time”.
Members say Perth’s pavements present challenges a popemobile has never faced, including wheelie bins left out on Thursdays, A-boards outside cafés, and a 2-inch kerb on South Street that has “taken out” several scooters.
The Vatican has not replied, but the group says it is “praying on it”.
The real story: World news (BBC)
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