Scooter collides with moving car on campus
A crosswalk on campus became the scene of an electronic scooter-related accident on Tuesday, Sept. 15.
According to the Troy University Police Department (TUPD), a student crossing the street on an electric scooter behind Hawkins Hall collided with a vehicle driving down John M. Long Drive.
Nate Henderson video
TUPD said the crash happened Tuesday afternoon when a scooter operator, who was driving a Onewheel, or electric skateboard, struck the side of an oncoming car. Officers say the pedestrian walked away from the scene with only minor scrapes on their hands.
According to TUPD Police Chief George Beaudry, he has seen a huge increase in the use of electric scooters this school year, and he wasn’t surprised when he got a notification that a person operating one had gotten into an accident with another vehicle.
“Our drivers need to be aware and be mindful and keep their eyes open [as well as] those on the scooters and e-bikes and such have to be mindful of the reaction time,” Beaudry said. “When someone’s walking and they step into a crosswalk, […] a driver is able to make that connection and that stop, but if they’re on these scooters, they’re moving so much faster and the reaction time of the driver can’t always keep up.
“At the end of the day, I think the most important part is if the people who are on the scooters and the people who are driving all start paying a little more attention, understand that risk is there and try to be a lot more cautious.”
TUPD Emergency Manager Trey Ingram said the police department is aware of the potential dangers of motorized scooters and is working to make sure students are aware as well.
“When I started this position last year, [scooters] were pretty high on my list of things to tackle because we do have a large number of people who are using [electronic scooters],” Ingram said. “I’m meeting with media relations later this week where I’m going to also do a safety reel on how to safely operate these types of devices on campus.”
Ingram also said he is working on creating a policy surrounding scooters and scooter safety that he said would put more teeth into TUPD’s enforcement of scooter misuse.
TUPD is logging every scooter-related accident that happens this semester. So far, this is the third accident, and the only accident involving another vehicle.
Comments