Enclosed mobility scooters spark debate in small northern Ontario town, about where they can be driven
The mobility devices should legally be driven on sidewalks or road shoulders
At a recent public meeting in the small northern Ontario town of Sturgeon Falls, debate erupted over enclosed mobility scooters and where they can legally be driven.
One man said an Ontario Provincial Police officer warned him she should drive his mobility scooter on the road, instead of the sidewalk, even though the vehicle isn't licensed.
In fact, the scooters, which look like tiny cars but are designed to be mobility devices, limited at maximum speeds of 30 kilometres per hour, should legally only be driven on sidewalks in Ontario or on the road shoulder, against incoming traffic.
"It's still considered a pedestrian unless it's been somehow modified to change horsepower and speed capacity and that sort of thing," Howard Lightle, an associate lawyer with Orendorff and Associates in Sudbury, told CBC News.
"It is not insured under an automobile policy typically."
Cindy Penasse used to drive one around Sturgeon Falls and told CBC News she's angered people driving her enclosed mobility scooter on the sidewalk.
"They had a bit of road rage because I was riding on the sidewalk where there were some people walking on the sidewalk," she said, referring to one particular incident.
But if she drives the scooter on the road, that upsets people as well.
"In their eyes it's a slower moving vehicle and they are annoyed by that," she said.
WATCH| The CBC's Warren Schlote test drives an enclosed mobility scooter
Penasse said she sold her scooter and now just gets around using a cane and her father in North Bay has similarly traded it in for an electric wheelchair.
She said more education is needed to inform people who need the scooters, and the general public, about what they are and how they should be used.
"Most people, they don't have a disability, just think it's just a joyride," she said. "Like they don't understand the meaning of why a person purchases that."
OPP Const. Rob Lewis gave a presentation at the Sturgeon Falls meeting to inform those present about the laws surrounding enclosed mobility scooters.
"These vehicles are ahead of the laws," he said in an interview.
"Basically, the MTO [Ministry of Transportation] has not caught up to how to regulate these vehicles."
But during his presentation Lewis had a slideshow that talked about low-speed electric vehicles that can be driven on roads, but had a photo of an enclosed mobility scooter.
That sparked more debate, and confusion, at the meeting.
With files from Warren Schlote