She was "concerned about mobility scooters around the town and the safety of the users and the poor old pedestrians".
"I'm not against them, it's just there does not seem to be much in terms of guidelines or rules about how they are managed," she said.
She aired her concerns at the Mosgiel Taieri Community Board meeting earlier this week and suggested "prominent signage" should be erected in the town to "remind pedestrians that mobility scooters are present".
Footpath rules for scooter users would also be useful, as would a competency test.
"We heard of a woman who failed her driver's licence test and promptly went out and bought a mobility scooter," she said.
Mosgiel was a "high usage" area for scooters, which commonly had a top speed of 10kmh, because it was so flat.
New scooters came with a safety manual, but refresher programmes which had been held in the area were "poorly attended".
"We've heard of people being knocked over, run into, and scooters crowding shop doorways.
"They are so silent and they come up on people; they are evil little things, really.
"Wider footpaths would be ideal, as once you get scooters careering down the middle of the footpath there is not much room for other people."
The white textured pads on crossings also seemed "a bit of a hazard" for some scooter users, as one man she knew of "nearly capsized" when the "little wheels" of his machine got stuck.
As the proportion of elderly in the population continued to increase, Mrs Deuster believed the problem would get worse.
Dunedin City Council senior traffic engineer Ron Minnema said those "kerb crossing ramps for the disabled are built to a particular standard ... to allow those mobility scooters to go through them".
The council worked with CCS Disability Action and the Disabled Persons Assembly on safe routes for mobility scooter users and to ensure crossing ramps were usable.
The crossings Mrs Deuster referred to could have been new ones, or old ones, but Mr Minnema would wait until a directive was given by the community board before investigating.
The council also had a "minimum footpath width" for new construction, but much of Mosgiel was "a historical network".
In terms of installing signage, Mr Minnema believed the council would be more likely to run a publicity campaign, if anything.
Safety rules for mobility scooter users were covered by the New Zealand rode code and included being careful and considerate of other footpath users, and not driving at a speed which posed a hazard to other users.
