By Anthony Covino
Sports Editor
Electric scooters are an up-and-coming way of easy, fast transportation. Some big colleges, such as the University of Texas, have already brought in electric scooters to get across campus as quickly as possible. Could FDU students soon be e-scootering along our paths and driving lanes instead of hopping in their car to get from Rothman to the SUB?
“I think electric scooters would be fun on campus, as long as it doesn’t cause more traffic,” said junior Essence Lopez. ‘We’ll have more time to eat and get from class to class.”
“I would say yes to electric scooters, but not on the bridge since it’s so narrow, so there has to be some limitations on where you can go with the electric scooters.” FDU Regional Center Specialist Ronnie Thompson said.
A study titled “Injuries Associated With Standing Electric Scooter Use” found that of 249 people admitted to two urban emergency rooms over the course of the year for scooter collisions, 92% were riders, but the rest were not; 30% had fractures in their body; and 40% suffered head injuries, according to Tarak K. Trivedi, the study’s author and researcher at the University of California at Los Angeles. She also said that the 94.3% of the observed riders in the community were not wearing helmets.
This reporter asked 10 students about electric scooters on the FDU campus. Eight students did not like the idea because of the new footbridge and the potential cost to rent the electric scooter. The new footbridge on campus has a walkway that is narrow and off limits to bicycles and skateboards.
This story part of The Equinox’s participation in a statewide climate reporting collaboration by members of the NJ College News Commons, a network of campus media outlets working together to cover the climate crisis in New Jersey.
