Mobility scooters are a great way for people suffering from limited mobility get around. Many people who use the scooters in place of a wheelchair. Motility scooters can be three or four wheeled and are great for going short distances. Some of them are designed to fold up into a compact space if the scooter's owner has to take a long trip.

Travel or portable mobility scooters are designed in such a manner that they can easily be paced in cars trucks. Because most people who use them are only capable of walking short distances, getting back into the scooter is not a problem as long as the they have someone else come along to take their scooter out of a car trunk.

Some mobility scooters can travel up to 25 miles on a battery charge, but mobility scooters are not intended for long trips. Special accommodations may have to be made for a person's mobility scooter if a longer trip is planned.

The electric battery and slightly faster than walking pace of mobility scooters, makes scooters ideal for short trips around town. If the owner does not plan on going more than one or two miles, mobility scooters can easily handle this range. A rider who wishes to take their scooter on the road should check local laws and regulations first. Mobility scooters must meet certain requirements to be street legal.

Unlike gasoline powered scooters, which are just a different form of motorcycle, mobility scooters travel at speeds only slightly faster than a normal walking pace. (The purpose is not to provide fast transportation, merely to provide transportation to people who cannot walk more than fifty feet or so.)

A person using a mobility scooter to do in-town trips does not need to do a lot of planning as long as he or she keeps the scooter's battery charged. Trips of more than two miles require more forethought and a place to store the scooter when it is not in use. If for some reason the scooter cannot travel with its owner to a shopping trip, many malls, department and grocery stores make mobility scooters available to their customers.

Portable or mobility scooters are specifically designed to fold up and be placed in the trunk of a car, but even basic three wheel scooter designs give some thought for an owner's need to take them farther than a single battery charge can take the scooter. Most car trunks can accommodate larger packages without a problem, but it is best to check with bus, train or airline companies first before buying tickets for a trip to see what policies they have in place for making sure a portable mobility scooter arrives at the same destination as a passenger.