When Did the Sidewalk Become a Roadway?

A few years ago when my mother was in her late 80s and needing to use her wheelchair more and more, she wondered if she should buy an electric wheelchair. I discouraged her from doing so. My mother had never, ever driven any sort of wheeled vehicle including a bicycle. She had no sense of traffic rules and she would not have taken kindly to any instructions. She had as well occasionally demonstrated a rather callous disregard for cars while crossing the street.  The thought of her being out in public, driving a motorized vehicle was just a bit too frightening to think about.

In the past twenty or so years, on the sidewalks of our towns and cities there has been a remarkable increase in the number of individuals who use wheelchairs. Long gone are the times when city planners said that there was no need to make the downtown accessible as " no one downtown uses a wheelchair" (forgetting of course that people didn't use the downtown because they could not get around). Various pieces of legislation and city by-laws now make it mandatory that all new structure are accessible. It is  the law, it is morally right and it is also good for business.

However in our rush to do the right thing, we have not developed the appropriate social rules as to how and where the plethora of personal motorized mobility devices interact with people who are sharing those sidewalks and roads. With the ever increasing number of seniors, and at least for some of them, their healthy pensions that leave them with some disposal income, there are lots of motorized vehicles on the sidewalks. It is difficult to know whether they use their power devices because the they need to, or because the devices make their lives a little bit easier and they are fun. Either way, it is not my place to question why.

However, when three individuals all of whom are driving abreast on a downtown sidewalk, chatting away to each other and totally ignoring the pedestrians that are having to dance out of their way - it is well with the community's rights to question if they really need to be doing what they are doing. While cities have adapted sidewalks for mobility devices by  getting rid of the curbs at street crossings,  for most cities, increasing the width of the sidewalk is not a realistic option. While we should all respect the rights of individuals who require the use of a wheelchair, those rights do not supersede mine. I should not have to walk on the road to make room for careless drivers on the sidewalk.

 At the market a week or so ago, there was a gentlemen driving an electric trike ( one wheel in front, two in the back). It was a big machine and took up a lot of space. He cruised slowly along the row, frequently stopping to look at someone's product. If he was blocked in front by people stopping to shop at a particular booth, he would turn sharply to go around, making no attempt to see if he was cutting off a child, a parent pushing a carriage or anyone else. We are trained that it would be wrong to yell at a disabled person or for that matter at a senior - but someone should have yelled at this person. Regardless of his age or his disability (or lack thereof) he was being disrespectful of, and dangerous to others.

On the other hand, as someone who drives a car, I get very nervous when I see someone driving their power chair along the road beside SUVs and trucks. Power chairs probably should not be competing for space with vehicles whose drivers cannot even see them. I am not suggesting that motorized wheelchairs be banned from public places but rather that perhaps new drivers should have to participate is some sort of activity that would encourage good driving.  As well I think there needs to be a public conversation as to what is okay and what is not. Which would really just be a conversation about good manners.

As a matter of fact - we need to have the conversation about good manners more often - the world would work better if we did.