A state official admits the state law “is not clear” when it comes to the legality of motorized wheelchairs being used on city streets and sidewalks. Police in the northwest Iowa town of Laurens threaten to ticket a 14-year-old boy with muscular dystrophy who uses such a chair to get around — apparently in violation of the law. Dena Gray-Fisher is a spokeswoman for the Iowa Department of Transportation. She says “I think the intent would be that those persons needing that type of equipment for medical reasons probably should be excluded but that is something for the legislature to determine.”Gray-Fisher says the law says the only place you can ride motorized scooters, electrified bicycles and other types of personal transport vehicles are private property and with permission. They are illegal on city streets and sidewalks, but she says it’s not clear if wheelchairs fit under that category. Police say they don’t wish to ticket the boy but they’re only following the law and have warned the boy he’ll face a 15-dollar fine for each subsequent violation. The boy, Bryce Wiley, has said he’ll ignore the warnings and will continue to use his chair to get around to places like parks, the football field and the grocery store. Gray-Fisher says she’s surprised this legal issue hasn’t come up before now.Gray-Fisher says “We expected that there would be some questions raised about this as we’ve looked at the law and tried to define it. There’s actually a type of wheelchair called a ‘Scooter’ so there’s not a lot of clarity even on that term.”
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