Lamar University’s Police Department is implementing a new campus policy on electric scooters. Chief of Police Hector Flores said safety is the first priority in creating the policy.
The new policy states that riding scooters in any campus building is prohibited. Scooters should not be parked inside buildings and should be left in bicycle racks. Scooters must also be registered through Lamar’s parking office. There is no cost associated with registration.
If a student is in violation of the new policy their scooters will be confiscated and may held for up to 90 days.
Flores said the policy is a response to the increased traffic on campus.
“We saw an influx of scooters, and anytime we see a large number of things coming to campus, we try to make sure that we mitigate risk,” Flores said.”A lot of campuses that have a high volume of scooter use have policies in place. So, we’re trying to just follow the best practice.”
LU President Jaime Taylor is often seen riding a scooter and said they are a great help for transportation around campus.
“There’s lots of students now that are buying scooters, which is awesome, because I think it’s a really nice way to get around campus, especially for athletes,” Taylor said. “It’s a pretty large campus, and it’s hard to get back and forth from different spots.”
Taylor said the main issue was scooters inside campus buildings.
“One of the issues was, I think students were riding them right up to the classroom door,” he said.” They’re going into buildings and parking them outside the classroom. You can’t really do that.”
Flores said LUPD plans to expand scooter parking so students do not leave them in hallways.
“We’ll be adding the scooter racks, and they’re kind of like the ones we have at the Rec (Center), the round ones that you see outside,” Flores said. “They look nicer than regular bike racks.”
Taylor said he wears protective gear while riding his scooter and encourages all users to take safety measures.
“I want to be safe and encourage people to wear a helmet, so I try to set that example,” he said.
Flores said he sees the scooter influx as a positive thing.
“It’s kind of cool to have scooters around,” he said. “The president has one and we just bought four police scooters.”
For more information on the new policy and registration, visit lamar.edu/finance-and-operations.
