ALL I could do was bravely close my eyes, steady myself in the seat and brace for impact.

The elderly woman standing in front of me was only small but I was at the controls of a mobility scooter weighing more than 20 stone.

I knew there was no chance I was going to stop in time. I was negotiating Southampton’s High Street at 4mph in a machine with no brakes.

The woman had walked straight out of a shop and had not looked both ways.

My only option was to release the accelerator lever and hope that the scooter ground to a halt in time.

When I opened my eyes I was thankful to see her still standing.

Instead of being crippled by fear she was properly raging with anger.

“You should have looked where you were going, you stupid man. You could have killed me,” she said.

And that had me wondering whether I should have undertaken some sort of test before being handed the keys to the scooter.

I had been shown how to drive it, but did I know how to drive it safely around other people? It was something I found myself contemplating throughout the morning navigating the high street pavements and weaving in and out of clothes rails.

The scooter, which can be hired for £3.50 a day, was fitted with a speed dial that limited its maximum speed to 4mph.

While inside the shops I decided to turn it down to 1mph – that way any slip of the hand would not see me plunge down an escalator or crash through a shop window.

And that was when I realised the main problem was not just with my driving skills. It was with other people around me.

At one point I found myself held captive in a lift. I had carefully manoeuvred the scooter to one side so other people could get in and out.

But as I arrived at my chosen floor and started to back out, five or so people piled in without a moment’s thought, blocking my exit and tutting at the amount of space I had taken up.

I then had to go to the top floor again before making my getaway on the second attempt.

I had been driving a class 2 scooter, suitable for using on footpaths, around town and in shopping centres.

However the next one I tried – a class 3, costing from £1,000 – was suitable for use on the road.

And as I indicated to go on to the congested Bridge Road in Swanwick, I could not help thinking that people should only be able to get hold these more powerful 10mph road-going scooters if they have a full driving licence. Although salesmen say they would never sell a scooter to someone they thought would be a danger to others, here I was on the road feeling hugely intimidated – despite being 21 and qualified to drive on public roads.

But those thoughts were shattered by the noise of a truck fiercely accelerating around me as I made my way up the hill.

Slowly crawling up the gradient I kept looking back at the convoy of cars behind me, while trying to contain my fear.

I had been trained twice that day – once by Shopmobility and then again when I picked up the road-going scooter – but I could not shake off the idea that someone could be let loose on one just on the say-so of a salesman and without any formal driving tuition.

Sure, they are a great tool for helping those who struggle to get around to become more mobile. And using them around town centre pavements and in shopping malls should be relatively straightforward if common sense and caution are exercised.

But with reported mobility scooter accidents increasing, isn’t there a case for testing users before they take to the pavements and shopping malls?

And when it comes to using them on the road, where there are bikes and cars and articulated lorries, shouldn’t a formal test be compulsory?

In my view a test is simply essential for those who drive mobility scooters on the road without a full driving licence.

The police do not currently log accidents involving mobility scooters, but from next year they will.

If things do not change, the buggies that are meant to help people enrich their lives could ironically claim them – and others.