Ohio Code 4511.513 – Operation of personal delivery device on sidewalks and crosswalks
(A) As used in this section:
Terms Used In Ohio Code 4511.513
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Crosswalk: means :
(1) That part of a roadway at intersections ordinarily included within the real or projected prolongation of property lines and curb lines or, in the absence of curbs, the edges of the traversable roadway;
(2) Any portion of a roadway at an intersection or elsewhere, distinctly indicated for pedestrian crossing by lines or other markings on the surface;
(3) Notwithstanding divisions (LL)(1) and (2) of this section, there shall not be a crosswalk where local authorities have placed signs indicating no crossing. See Ohio Code 4511.01
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- highway: means the entire width between the boundary lines of every way open to the use of the public as a thoroughfare for purposes of vehicular travel. See Ohio Code 4511.01
- Operate: means to cause or have caused movement of a vehicle, streetcar, or trackless trolley. See Ohio Code 4511.01
- Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
- Pedestrian: includes a personal delivery device as defined in section 4511. See Ohio Code 4511.01
- Person: means every natural person, firm, co-partnership, association, or corporation. See Ohio Code 4511.01
- Property: means real and personal property. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Right-of-way: means either of the following, as the context requires:
(1) The right of a vehicle, streetcar, trackless trolley, or pedestrian to proceed uninterruptedly in a lawful manner in the direction in which it or the individual is moving in preference to another vehicle, streetcar, trackless trolley, or pedestrian approaching from a different direction into its or the individual's path;
(2) A general term denoting land, property, or the interest therein, usually in the configuration of a strip, acquired for or devoted to transportation purposes. See Ohio Code 4511.01
- Traffic: means pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, vehicles, streetcars, trackless trolleys, and other devices, either singly or together, while using for purposes of travel any highway or private road open to public travel. See Ohio Code 4511.01
- Vehicle: means every device, including a motorized bicycle and an electric bicycle, in, upon, or by which any person or property may be transported or drawn upon a highway, except that "vehicle" does not include any motorized wheelchair, any electric personal assistive mobility device, any low-speed micromobility device, any personal delivery device as defined in section 4511. See Ohio Code 4511.01
(1) “Eligible entity” means a corporation, partnership, association, firm, sole proprietorship, or other entity engaged in business.
(2) “Personal delivery device” means an electrically powered device to which all of the following apply:
(a) The device is intended primarily to transport property and cargo on sidewalks and crosswalks.
(b) The device weighs less than five hundred fifty pounds excluding any property or cargo being carried in the device.
(c) The device has a maximum speed of ten miles per hour.
(d) The device is equipped with technology that enables the operation of the device with active control or monitoring by a person, without active control or monitoring by a person, or both with or without active control or monitoring by a person.
(3) “Personal delivery device operator” means an agent of an eligible entity who exercises direct physical control over, or monitoring of, the navigation and operation of a personal delivery device. “Personal delivery device operator” does not include, with respect to a delivery or other service rendered by a personal delivery device, the person who requests the delivery or service. “Personal delivery device operator” also does not include a person who only arranges for and dispatches a personal delivery device for a delivery or other service.
(B) An eligible entity may operate a personal delivery device on sidewalks and crosswalks so long as all of the following requirements are met:
(1) The personal delivery device is operated in accordance with all regulations, if any, established by each local authority within which the personal delivery device is operated.
(2) A personal delivery device operator is actively controlling or monitoring the navigation and operation of the personal delivery device.
(3) The eligible entity maintains an insurance policy that includes general liability coverage of not less than one hundred thousand dollars for damages arising from the operation of the personal delivery device by the eligible entity and any agent of the eligible entity.
(4) The device is equipped with all of the following:
(a) A marker that clearly identifies the name and contact information of the eligible entity operating the personal delivery device and a unique identification number;
(b) A braking system that enables the personal delivery device to come to a controlled stop;
(c) If the personal delivery device is being operated between sunset and sunrise, a light on both the front and rear of the personal delivery device that is visible in clear weather from a distance of at least five hundred feet to the front and rear of the personal delivery device when directly in front of low beams of headlights on a motor vehicle.
(C) No personal delivery device operator shall allow a personal delivery device to do any of the following:
(1) Fail to comply with traffic or pedestrian control devices and signals;
(2) Unreasonably interfere with pedestrians or traffic;
(3) Transport any hazardous material that would require a permit issued by the public utilities commission;
(4) Operate on a street or highway, except when crossing the street or highway within a crosswalk.
(D) A personal delivery device has all of the rights and obligations applicable to a pedestrian under the same circumstances, except that a personal delivery device shall yield the right-of-way to human pedestrians on sidewalks and crosswalks.
(E)(1) No person shall operate a personal delivery device unless the person is authorized to do so under this section and complies with the requirements of this section.
(2) An eligible entity is responsible for both of the following:
(a) Any violation of this section that is committed by a personal delivery device operator; and
(b) Any other circumstance, including a technological malfunction, in which a personal delivery device operates in a manner prohibited by divisions (C)(1) to (4) of this section.
Last updated April 14, 2021 at 7:30 AM