When considering the multiple ways to travel across campus at Indiana University, students have a lot to choose from. One of the most cost-effective ways is to ride one of the public electric scooters scattered across Bloomington.
However, students fail to recognize the potential dangers of riding a scooter. While they can seem like a fun activity or an easy to learn challenge, scooter accidents continue to rack up on campus.
The Bloomington city council opted to place restrictions on when students can purchase a ride. The scooters will be unavailable between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. This means the nights of riding a scooter home from the bar are over. Statistics indicate when alcohol is involved, the risk of accidents significantly increases, especially when riding on the street.
Since the start of the 2022-2023 school year, two students died while riding public scooters. A car struck one student in downtown Bloomington at the intersection of North Walnut Street and East 12th Street. The other died when he fell off the scooter across the street from the Wells Library. While the city claims the laws have nothing to do with the accident involving a vehicle, the event still lingers in the minds of students.
Graduate student Jack Peterson speaks on the ease of using a scooter on campus along with the benefits of scooter travel.
Jack Peterson found the scooters to be so useful, he decided to buy his own.
“It’s really great for getting around quick. When you don’t want to pay to get an Uber or the bus is taking too long, it’s just a super quick option,” Jack said.
While the public scooters are cost effective, using them on a regular basis can add up. Also, finding a scooter to ride nearby can be a challenge, as there are no set locations guaranteed to have an available one. Jack found the infrastructure throughout campus and the city to be scooter friendly, with plenty of bike lanes and wide sidewalks perfect for scooters.
“I’ll only occasionally get dirty looks from drivers or people walking on the sidewalk. For the most part I can get by pretty easily,” Jack said.
Jack’s only regret involving scooters during his time at IU is that he did not purchase one sooner.
Alec Hines in a cast after an electric scooter accident.
Hines' drum kit he regularly uses.
Hines crashed while in a bike lane on campus.
A singular brake is the only safety feature on the scooters.
Junior music major, Alec Hines, was a freshman at IU when he decided to ride a scooter for the first time. It was late at night and Alec could barely see the bike lane in front of him.
“I remember coming back from a party and I didn’t see the curb in front of me. Next thing I knew I was on the ground,” Alec said.
Alec broke his wrist, and for many students this would be a significant annoyance. However, Alec is a percussion student in the Jacob’s School of Music. His entire schooling revolved around the use of his hands.
This took place during the 2020-2021 school year, when many restrictions were placed on the university due to COVID-19. Alec felt even more isolated by not being able to access his own personal escape, drumming. Instead of fully participating in classes and practices, Alec played with one hand.
“It definitely made the whole year a lot worse. I couldn’t even do the thing I was there to do,” Alec said.
The accident freed up a lot of hours Alec spent in practice rooms, giving him more time to contemplate his decision to use a scooter that night. He recommends all students consider other forms of transportation before using the scooters after a night out.
