Many students on the University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s campus have felt the familiar breeze of an e-scooter zooming past them on the sidewalk. Some unfortunate students have even been hit by one as they shoot across the campus crosswalks.
E-scooters have become a popular form of environmentally-friendly transportation, being used to cut down on travel time across campus. This increase in popularity in turn means more opportunities for accidents.
According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s (CPSC) National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) e-scooter injuries rose from about 30,000 in 2020 to more than 118,000 in 2024.
Byron Gibson, a junior majoring in business finance, said he got a scooter because he was tired of walking around campus. “And then all the elements, you know. It be raining. Sunny. It be a lot, so I just wanted to hurry up and get a scooter,” he said.
Gibson said he got into an accident the day after he got his scooter. While accelerating on a sidewalk, Gibson ran into a student who abruptly stopped in front of him, causing Gibson to run over the student’s leg.
While accidents on the University’s campus have not been widespread, according to Carl Winiger, the director of environmental, health and safety, there have been accidents reported involving e-scooter negligence. Winiger is also a part of the Insurance and Risk Management Association, where discussions took place about managing e-scooters across campuses nationwide.
According to the Louisiana State Legislature, e-scooters may operate on sidewalks, bicycle paths or highways. Every person operating an electric low-speed scooter on a highway is granted all of the rights and subject to all the duties applicable to the driver of a vehicle.
At the beginning of the spring semester, the office of environmental, health and safety sent two emails detailing the rules for scooter usage on campus. According to the email, scooters should not be operated in University buildings, breezeways, ramps, stairways or on sidewalks with heavy pedestrian traffic.
The email advised students to wear helmets, avoid distractions while driving, keep low speeds and yield to pedestrians since they always have the right of way on campus walkways. Students should also only park their scooters in a designated rack or other approved areas.
Though the email restated the rules, Winiger said his office would not consider banning scooters at this point. “I have to respect the students of UL. We are all adults here on this campus,” he said. “But I thought that a good reminder to be good stewards of your fellow walkers and pedestrians here on campus was to put something out.”
Gibson said that after that initial incident, one way he likes to ensure the safety of himself and other pedestrians is by not trying to predict what pedestrians are going to do. “So what I just do is, I try to stay a little in my own type of lane. And if I do go in between people, I make sure that they could at least hear me coming.”