Is there a speed limit for motorized vehicles on the sidewalk?

I almost got run over by an electric scooter. Is there a speed limit for motorized vehicles on the sidewalk?—Zsuzsi Molnár, Upper Beach

Despite the fact that so-called “mobility” scooters can nip along at up to 11 kilometres per hour—about twice as fast as most people walk—they’re considered to be in the same category as pedestrians, meaning there’s no legal limit on their speed. (If it helps, this also means you’ll never get a ticket for power walking.) However, the Ministry of Transportation is not so permissive with Segways, the novelty transporter that motors along at up to 20 kilometres per hour with riders standing upright. The only people allowed to use them on sidewalks are people with disabilities, mail carriers and police officers (they’re otherwise approved for use only on private property). At the moment, neither Canada Post nor the Toronto Police has any plans to use the contraptions, al_though police patrol isn’t unheard of: cops in the Windy City are already driving them on duty.