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| Kate Legg |
McDonald’s is being criticized after an employee prohibited an old woman, who gets around with a mobility scooter from entering the drive-thru.
After the public outcry, a British McDonald’s branch has apologized to the woman, who was told not to use the drive-thru window while riding on her scooter.
The McDonald's restaurant in Bedhampton, England, apologized after Kate Legg, 76, said they did not allow her to use the drive-thru while she was riding her scooter despite the fact that it is registered to travel on roads.
Legg said she gave her order at the drive-thru, but was told that she would not be allowed to use the lane again due to "health and safety".
"I told the employee that health and safety was implemented to protect people working in the mines and doing dangerous things, not to prevent children from playing or to prevent old ladies from purchasing a smoothie at a drive-thru," Legg said.
"Health and safety is used for all kinds of stupid reasons and it makes me very angry," she said.
A McDonald's spokesperson said that only small mobility scooters, which are not allowed on the roads, are banned from the drive-thru lanes.
"The health and safety of our customers and employees is our top priority and for this reason we cannot serve pedestrians, cyclists and mobility scooters through our drive-thru lanes," the spokesperson said. "We however can serve customers on mobility scooters that are allowed to drive on the road, but unfortunately, in this case, the staff did not recognize the scooter as such. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused," the spokesperson also said.