(a) As used in this section:
(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 250 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. The phrase 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. The phrase 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 ($100,000) 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 500 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 (c)(4) of this section.
(ORC 4511.513)
(a) (1) A low-speed micromobility device may be operated on the public streets, highways, sidewalks, and shared-use paths, and may be operated on any portions of roadways set aside for the exclusive use of bicycles in accordance with this section.
(2) Except as otherwise provided in this section, those sections of this title that by their nature could apply to a low-speed micromobility device do apply to the device and the person operating it whenever it is operated upon any public street, highway, sidewalk, or shared-use path, or upon any portion of a roadway set aside for the exclusive use of bicycles.
(b) No operator of a low-speed micromobility device shall do any of the following:
(1) Fail to yield the right-of-way to all pedestrians at all times;
(2) Fail to give an audible signal before overtaking and passing a pedestrian;
(3) Operate the device at night unless the device or its operator is equipped with or wearing both of the following:
A. A lamp pointing to the front that emits a white light visible from a distance of not less than 500 feet;
B. A red reflector facing the rear that is visible from all distances from 100 feet to 600 feet when directly in front of lawful lower beams of head lamps on a motor vehicle.
(c) (1) No person who is under sixteen years of age shall rent a low-speed micromobility device.
(2) No person shall knowingly rent a low-speed micromobility device to a person who is under sixteen years of age.
(3) No person shall knowingly rent a low-speed micromobility device on behalf of a person who is under sixteen years of age.
(d) No person shall operate a low-speed micromobility device at a speed greater than twenty miles per hour.
(e) (1) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor.
(2) Unless a mens rea is otherwise specified in this section, an offense established under this section is a strict liability offense and Ohio R.C. 2901.20 does not apply. The designation of that offense as a strict liability offense shall not be construed to imply that any other offense, for which there is no specified degree of culpability, is not a strict liability offense.
(f) Notwithstanding subsection (a)(1) of this section, the municipality, may do any of the following:
(1) Regulate or prohibit the operation of low-speed micromobility devices on public streets, highways, sidewalks, and shared-use paths, and portions of roadways set aside for the exclusive use of bicycles, under its jurisdiction;
(2) Include low-speed micromobility devices that are adapted to expand access for people with various physical limitations into a shared bicycle, shared electric bicycle, or similar vehicle sharing program, under its jurisdiction;
(3) Require the owner or operator of a low-speed micromobility device rental service or low-speed micromobility device sharing program to maintain commercial general liability insurance related to the operation of the devices, with limits of up to one million dollars ($1,000,000) per occurrence and two million dollars ($2,000,000) per aggregate.
(ORC 4511.514)