I received 2 tickets for parking my scooter on Market street back in August (on consecutive days).

I went to ticket court this week and the lady said:
"It says you were parked on the sidewalk"
I said, "Yes"
She said, "Well you know it is illegal to park on the sidewalk"
I said, "Yes, but I was riding a scooter"
She said, "Ohh. Well where else would you park it then"

Both tickets DISMISSED.

-UC

If it uses gas, PPA will ticket it.

They'll ticket a riding lawnmower if it was encroaching the sidewalk.

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I was looking into getting one, but can't find a clear answer to this question. At what point do you need a motorcycle license? I understand tags, registration and insurance for all size scooters, but if it is under 50cc do i need a license?

Check on PennDot's site, but I am pretty sure if it is under 49cc you do not.

Also, stop by Philadelphia Scooters on Passyunk and ask them.

-UC

I have had several tickets dismissed for my scooter. Each time it was as easy as saying "It's a scooter" and they said "Sorry, you should not have gotten this ticket"

However, this morning I went down for my semi-annual "Two wheels on the sidewalk" hearing, expecting a brief meeting including "Oh, it's a scooter, sorry" and got a cranky hearing officer.

She said that I should know by now, with all the tickets I've received (6 over 2 1/2 years) that it's illegal. I was friendly and said that every time these have been dismissed it has been as a mistake, not a courtesy with a "never do it again".

She upheld the fine and now I have to appeal in writting and see what happens next.

Just got back from traffic court where my two tickets for parking my Yamaha Vino on Rittenhouse Square were dismissed without even an argument. (I was parked near the new bike lockups on the street side of 18th st.). My friend contested a ticket last week for her Vespa (not sure where it was parked) which was also dismissed without an arguemnt. In both our cases the person hearing the case just said "oh this is a scooter, you shouldn't have gotten the ticket."

So I just wanted to let people know that for the moment anyway the trend in thinking at PPA is that these tickets are ridiculous.

To the person asking about a motorcyle license, scooters under 50 ccs seem to fall into a grey area. The last time I scoured the PennDot website for an answer to this question it said that "motorized pedecyles" under 50 ccs did not require a license. My Yamaha Vino is 49 ccs but it does not have pedals. I've had it for 4 years now with no motorcycle license.

KIM

Not really a gray area, but is a bit confusing. Mopeds (motorized pedecycles) and Scooters (motor driven cycles) can both be ridden with a regular Class C license. The main difference is that mopeds don't require inspection, have to have pedals, and have lower horsepower limits.

Put simply. A scooter under 50cc can be ridden without a motorcycle license, but must be registered and inspected.

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My appeal for the tickets is next week so hopefully the good mood at PPA will last until then.

The frustrating part is that we just got a new parking attendent in our neighborhood, so naturally we got 2 more tickets in the last 2 weeks for "Two Wheels on the Sidewalk" - $41. It usually takes a little while for the PPA people to learn. My guess is that they get feedback about how many of their tickets are mistakes or overturned.

This scooter has been parked in the same exact place (3rd + Fulton) for the last 900+ days (2 1/2 yrs.). I guess a dozen tickets isn't so bad, just a huge annoyance.

I spoke to a lawyer who said the law or policy needs to be made available to the public and that this should be the main point of our appeal. I have yet to find the rule about scooter parking ANYWHERE. Anybody have any ideas?

I'll let you know how I make out...

Ken:

It looks like you're right. The last time I checked the Penndot site the language was really unclear. But it now clearly says "the holder of a Class C license is authorized to drive a motor-driven cylcle which has an automatic transmission and a cylinder capacity that does not exceed 50 cubic ccentimeters." So, good news for my Vino...

KIM

I thought Councilman DeCicco was working on some sort of proposal/compromise for this issue some time ago? I guess nothing came of it?

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