While children and adults alike clamor for the hottest new toy or gadget, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) is warning consumers to be careful when purchasing motor-driven scooters because they are not legal on Pennsylvania streets.

Motorized scooters, which closely resemble skateboards with handlebars, and motor scooters, which resemble mini-motorcycles, are illegal on Pennsylvania streets, according to state vehicle codes, because they lack safety precautions to pass inspections.

Officer Tony Lopinsky of the State College Police Department said many people wrongly assume motorized scooters and motor scooters can be driven on the sidewalks.

"People are saying 'oh, they're legal,' because that's what the salesman is telling them," he said.

However, he said scooters would not pass most vehicle inspection requirements.

"They don't have headlights, they don't have taillights," Lopinsky said. "There isn't enough safety equipment for them to be registered."

Users must also have a valid driver's license to operate scooters. If an unlicensed user is cited for using the vehicle, he or she could face charges of driving without a license, driving an unregistered vehicle and driving a vehicle without inspection.

"You can't have them on the sidewalk in the downtown business district," Lopinksy said. "It's not just State College; it's everywhere. It could be on campus; it could be out in Ferguson Township; it could be in Philadelphia."

Penn State Police Services Supervisor Bill Moerschbacher said Penn State police do not normally see Penn State students driving motorized or motor scooters from class to class. "We see a couple of them now and then, and when we do, we tell them to take it off the road," he said.

PennDOT spokesman Anthony Haubert said the laws are particularly aimed at teenagers and children, with whom the scooters are becoming very popular.

"That is not to say that others who ride them don't risk potential safety hazards," Haubert said.

However, the concern over scooters is not new.

"We've realized the danger of these vehicles since they've become popular," he said. "However, what I think what is becoming more and more public is that there is more and more of them surfacing."

Motorized and motor scooters are permitted on private property.