The town of Sidney has won support from the Union of B.C. Municipalities in its drive for tough new regulations on personal mobility scooters such as motorized wheelchairs.
UBCM has endorsed Sidney council’s call for regulation, training and testing of people who use these powered chairs — whether they are using them for health reasons or age — after fielding complaints of people driving too fast on the sidewalk or not knowing the rules of the road.
Without regulation, the resolution states, “the safety of all motorists, businesses and pedestrians [is] at risk.”
If the resolution is passed at the UBCM convention in Vancouver next month, it will put pressure on the provincial government to require scooter users to have licences.
Pat Danforth, Saanich-based president of the B.C. Coalition of People with Disabilities, disagrees with the need for regulation.
“My initial reaction is: ‘You’ve got to be kidding,’ ” she said.
Danforth, who uses a motorized wheelchair, said many users already receive training during rehabilitation or through occupational therapists.
Users of motorized scooters and chairs belong on sidewalks or on bike paths, but are frequently forced onto roads by inadequate intersections, she said. She would like to see accessibility improved rather than have increased regulation.
The Sidney resolution was prompted by the death a few years ago of an elderly resident riding a scooter, said Mayor Larry Cross.
“Part of the problem is we’re a senior community,” Cross said. “We’re seeing people who have no idea what they’re doing when they’re driving these machines. … My wife dodged one the other day that nearly knocked her over.”
Motorized wheelchairs and small “mobility” scooters do not require registration, insurance or a licence in B.C. Classic scooters, which are similar to motorcycles, require a driver’s licence and insurance.
Cross said that Sidney, a town of 11,000 popular with retirees, has a high number of mobility scooters and motorized wheelchairs.
“We don’t want to deny people their mobility,” he said, “but we want to make sure they are operating safely.”
The B.C. Coroners Service called for similar changes in 2008, after the deaths of several seniors who were riding mobility scooters on Vancouver Island.
They included a 94-year-old man struck by a car while crossing the Patricia Bay Highway in Sidney, a 90-year-old woman struck by a minivan in a marked crosswalk in Sidney, a 65-year-old Chemainus woman whose machine collided with a truck and a 78-year-old Nanaimo man who collided with a car.
With a file from the Vancouver Sun
