Scooter law gives leeway to disabled
Thanks to the efforts of a North Jersey family, they will be allowed to ride on public roads.
TRENTON - Legislation that allows disabled people to ride motorized scooters on public roads has been signed into law by Gov. Corzine.
The measures were inspired by Matthew Tempe, a 15-year-old from Hamburg with muscular dystrophy who was stopped by police while riding an electric scooter in 2005.
A ban on such vehicles on public roads was passed later that year, but Tempe's parents fought to change the law so their son could legally get around on his scooter.
"I'm very happy that this law passed because now I can ride my scooter again," the 10th-grader told the Star-Ledger of Newark for yesterday's newspapers. "It feels so good that I actually did something about it, too."
His mother, Jeannette, said that the family learned it could change a law - but that keeping on top of the proceeding took a lot of time and energy.
Under the new law, which will take effect May 1, a disabled person wishing to ride a motorized scooter on a public road must get a handicapped-person identification sticker from the state Motor Vehicle Commission. Insurance will also be required.
Some members of the Multiple Sclerosis Society's Greater Delaware Valley Chapter oppose the law. They said that although it was well-intentioned, the law was discriminatory for imposing its new requirements only on disabled people.