Mobility car user pushes for Matapihi Bridge access

Bill Biehler says mobility cars can share the Matapihi bridge with other users. Photo/John Borren

The owner of a mobility car is pushing to be allowed to cross the Matapihi Rail Bridge.

Barriers erected by Tauranga City Council prevent the fully-enclosed scooters- which users and sellers say fit the legal definition of a mobility device - from entering or exiting the bridge at the CBD end.

The council, however, says the "oversize" scooters are too big for the bridge and has asked the Ministry of Transport and police to look into them.

Mount Maunganui resident Bill Biehler, JP, was one of the mobility car users interviewed for a recent Bay of Plenty Times article about the vehicles' arrival in Tauranga.

Biehler said his vehicle fit the legal definition of a mobility device and that allowed him to drive it on footpaths, cycleways and the far left side of the road.

Bill Biehler wants the barriers gone that prevent his mobility car from exiting at the CBD end of the Matapihi Rail Bridge. Photo/supplied

The council was "impinging on democratic rights" by preventing mobility cars from using the bridge without showing it was against the law, he said.

"If they change the law then we'll deal with that when it comes."

He said the other paths in Tauranga had barriers too tight for his vehicle, but the bridge was important as it was the only safe path to the CBD.

"I feel like I'm on a shortcut to the cemetery on Hewlett's Rd. It scares the **** out of me."

Bielher said he understood pedestrians' reservations about mobility cars on footpaths, and he used roads wherever possible.

"You're liable to get killed by people roaring down their driveways on the footpath."

He has crossed the bridge twice in his vehicle, only to have to reverse back "feeling like a right chump".

The first time he did not know about the barriers, but the second time he set out to make a point: Vehicles like his could share the bridge with other users.

He said there were bays he could pull into to let cyclists and pedestrians pass, as per common courtesy.

In a June letter responding to Biehler's concerns, council chief executive Garry Poole said the council designed the gaps to a "recommended mobility access code of 850mm".

He said width was set for wheelchair access and not specifically to cater to mobility scooters.

Poole said Biehler's 1m-wide vehicle was "oversize for footpath use".

The council was awaiting clarification from the Ministry of Transport and police around rules for footpath use by "various width vehicles", Poole said.

"Once this guidance is received we will review the need for removing any staples or street furniture."

Meanwhile, the NZ Transport Agency has started writing to businesses selling the mobility cars, asking them to explain how they comply with the legal definition of a mobility device.

Garry Stanley, director of NewAge Vehicles Limited, where Bielher bought his vehicle, said his vehicles complied with the standards and were designed as mobility devices, being adaptable to a variety of disabilities.

Estimated widths required for mobility devices

Traditional mobility scooters: about 600mm
Wheelchairs: about 800mm (including room for arms)
Mobility car: 1000mm+