It should go without saying that a wheelchair is not a bicycle.

Sure, they have features in common. Wheels, obviously. Tires. There is a seat, and there are handles. Stripped down, they perform the same function: moving someone from one place to another.

But use these kind of very elementary definitions, and dogs would qualify as dependents on tax returns. Additional context is important when drawing the lines that say what is allowed and what isn’t.

That’s an idea Latrobe needs to consider closely.

The city is considering a new ordinance that would update its references to wheeled devices. The purpose was to address things such as bikes and skateboards, spelling out where they could be used. Neither is allowed in parking garages, and skateboards are forbidden on streets or alleys or on the sidewalks in the business district.

This makes sense because the restrictions are in keeping with the purposes of the items and the needs of the locations. Skateboards are meant to be primarily for recreation and, therefore, using them in a busy downtown area meant for people coming and going from businesses is inappropriate and potentially detrimental. Bicycles are legally recognized as vehicles, and their riders are allowed to use roads other than freeways and must obey traffic laws. A sports car wouldn’t be allowed to spin in circles in a parking garage, and a bike shouldn’t either.

The problem is that Latrobe leaders are thinking of taking their guidelines a step further to apply to motorized wheelchairs.

“My main concern is safety,” police Chief John Sleasman said. “The safest place for them to be is on the sidewalk when one is available. We’ve seen more and more of these wheelchairs around town. It would be a lot safer if they were restricted to the sidewalk.”

Safer, perhaps. The question is whether it’s reasonable or fair.

A wheelchair, motorized or otherwise, is not a recreational object. It isn’t used for fun. State law identifies motorized wheelchairs as not being vehicles and requires cars to treat them as pedestrians, yielding accordingly. This is because the purpose of the wheelchair is to approximate the mobility someone would have with a body unrestricted by disability.

To demand that people restrict the motorized wheelchairs to sidewalks, as proposed, places a burden on the user and the city.

People using wheelchairs already deal with the challenges of getting from here to there, over edges and around obstacles, encountering complications the able-bodied don’t realize exist. The city could box itself into an obligation it doesn’t realize.

While Latrobe and PennDOT have updated and improved handicapped accessibility in areas downtown, a demand that wheelchairs stick to sidewalks can easily become complicated by more than curbs and ramps. Snow, for instance, can be a much bigger challenge for a wheelchair than a pedestrian in a pair of sturdy boots.

If the city is going to make this requirement, it better be prepared to not only make all sidewalks handicapped accessible, but maintain them that way — although they should be doing that already.

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