Mobility scooters belong on sidewalk

As technology marches on and our methods of getting around constantly evolve, we can't help but notice the diversity of transportation in the community.

A few weeks back we wrote about the lack of bicycle safety in the community, but failed to touch on a couple of other things.

The E-bike population is growing greatly and so far, it appears they aren't causing any issues.

We wish we could say the same for those rascal scooters.

There is an elderly gentleman who drives his scooter up and down Oak Street West a couple of times a day, right in the middle of traffic.

Oak has a sidewalk running all the way from Heinz to Armstrong, yet motorists have to deal with this on at least a daily basis.

We can understand in the winter time, if these scooters have to ride on the SIDE of the road when sidewalks are covered with ice and snow.

But in the summer time, when sidewalks are clear, these contraptions need to be on the sidewalk.

We would assume that since these motorized devices are used because the person cannot walk, that they should be where the person normally would walk, not in the middle of the traffic lane.

We liken them to motorized wheelchairs and we very seldom see a wheelchair on the road.

Granted bikes and E-bikes belong on the road, because they are vehicles, but the wheelchairs and scooters are extensions of the humans using them.

They belong on the sidewalk.

According to the Ontario Ministry of Transportation website, motorized mobility scooters are considered pedestrians and must use the sidewalk where available. Where there is no sidewalk, the Ministry advises them to use edge of road, against traffic, just as someone walking would do.

Makes you wonder though, have our local OPP forces encountered this brave soul on Oak Street?