My five-year-old son and I were walking the dog when we heard honking behind us on the sidewalk. It was a small car, about the width of the sidewalk, coming surprisingly fast. We were between a fence and the busy street so we couldn’t get off the sidewalk and out of its way. The driver kept honking and finally drove onto the street without looking, making a car slam on its brakes. After he passed us, he rolled down his window and said he had the right of way because he’s a senior in a mobility scooter. I looked up his car online: it can go 30 kilometres an hour and seat four people (the guy had a dog sitting comfortably in the back seat). Does that really count as a mobility scooter? If it is allowed on sidewalks, are pedestrians expected to leap out of the way? – Georgia, Toronto

When it comes to tiny cars, there are still big holes in the law, experts said.

“The provincial and federal levels of government have not created clear definitions for these types of devices,” Laura McQuillan, a City of Toronto spokeswoman, said in an e-mail.

Although tiny cars – fully-enclosed, battery-powered four-wheel vehicles that range in price from around $8,000 to nearly $15,000 – are often marketed as enclosed mobility scooters, Toronto bans them on sidewalks, she said.

“Unless or until the province provides clarity, such as determining that they are ‘wheelchairs’ for the purposes of the Highway Traffic Act [HTA], these devices are considered a vehicle under [city bylaws] and driving them on sidewalks is prohibited,” McQuillan said.

While Ontario’s HTA doesn’t mention disability or mobility scooters, it defines a wheelchair as “a chair mounted on wheels driven by muscular or any other kind of power that is designed for and used by a person whose mobility is limited by one or more conditions or functional impairments.”

Most traditional mobility scooters – which aren’t enclosed and typically only seat one person – fit that definition and are treated like pedestrians under the law. That means they are allowed on sidewalks.

But some enclosed mobility scooters can seat two or more people – they also have many of the features of a real car, including heating, air conditioning, infotainment systems and backup cameras.

While their top speed is electronically limited to 30 kilometres an hour, depending on the model, most are capable of going up to 70 kilometres an hour. They’re also bigger than traditional mobility scooters.

For instance, the Matrix Nexa 4S, which seats four people, is nearly 1.4 metres wide (to put that in perspective, the Fiat 500 sold in Canada from 2012 to 2019 was 1.6 metres wide) and weighs 410 kilograms. In Toronto, the standard for new sidewalks is 2.1 metres.

While Ontario’s definition of a wheelchair is vague and doesn’t include a maximum size or speed, these enclosed scooters shouldn’t count, a safety expert said.

“They are not mobility scooters by any stretch of the imagination,” said Sean Shapiro, a traffic safety consultant and former Toronto police officer. “If you can’t drive it inside Walmart to get your groceries, then it’s not a mobility scooter. It’s a motor vehicle.”

Mystery machine?

So where can you drive these tiny cars? Good question.

On its website, for instance, Matrix says the two-seater Nexa is designed to be driven on the side of the road “in some cities and towns” and is “perfect for those who want reliable, eco-friendly transportation without the need for a driver’s licence.”

We reached out to Matrix and several other manufacturers that sell the vehicles in Canada to ask whether they meet federal safety standards and where they’re allowed to be driven. We didn’t receive a response from any of them.

In 2017, Ontario launched a 10-year pilot program that allows low-speed vehicles (LSVs) on public roads with speed limits up to 50 kilometres an hour in some municipalities. The vehicles can’t be capable of going faster than 40 kilometres an hour. Drivers must have a valid licence, insurance and registration.

Also, the vehicles need a sticker showing that they are in compliance with federal safety standards.

But if the scooter isn’t classified as an LSV, it’s not allowed on public roads, Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation said in an e-mail.

The rules vary by province. Often, the devices aren’t specifically banned, but they don’t fit the definition of a permitted vehicle.

For instance, both British Columbia and Quebec said the devices aren’t allowed on public roads or sidewalks under current laws.

In Alberta, enclosed mobility scooters are considered to be disability scooters and are allowed on sidewalks for now, unless a local municipality has specifically banned them, the RCMP said in an e-mail.

“If the device is designed to assist a person with a disability it is a mobility aid and is allowed on the sidewalk,” Corporal Troy Savinkoff, an Alberta RCMP spokesman, said in an e-mail. “It’s important to note that as technologies advance, so can the Traffic Safety Act in addressing any potential safety concern.”

Last year, RCMP in the Alberta town of Olds charged a woman with cerebral palsy for riding an enclosed mobility scooter on the sidewalk and street, but the charges were dropped.

“That’s the thing – there are no clear rules where they can and they cannot go,” said Jolene Semenchenko, owner of Ride the Wind Ebikes in Mount Albert, Ont., which has sold enclosed mobility scooters for the last two years. “We advise buyers that they should be on the side of the road. We do not support them being on sidewalks.”

Semenchenko, who sold 150 of the devices last year, said she sells mainly to customers with disabilities.

“I would say 80 to 90 per cent have medical issues,” she said. “There’s always going to be some bad eggs who ride on sidewalks or [rig them to go faster than 30 kilometres an hour], but these enclosed mobility scooters are giving people the freedom and the right to transportation that everybody deserves.”

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