Scooters Elude VGA
Crackdown... So Far
Despite several high-profile scooter acci
dents involving athletes—and debate about
whether scooters are "vehicles" that should
be barred from some areas of campus—UGA
has no plans to limit scooter use, says Tom
Jackson, UGA's VP for public affairs. "In the
last couple of years, there's been a great
increase in the number of scooters, and par
ticularly they're popular among our athletes,"
Jackson told Flagpole. "The best we can tell,
they've proven to be dangerous."
In 2009, UGA second baseman Chance
Veazey was partially paralyzed when a car hit
his scooter; others accidents have been less
serious. Jackson added, "I think the percep
tion has been raised because of the high-
profile athlete accidents... People pay more
attention to athletes when they're involved."
"We've had a number of [scooter] acci
dents," UGA Police Chief Jimmy Williamson
told Flagpole. "But we have accidents with
automobiles and bicyclists and pedestrians,
too," he said. But because scooters under
50cc don't require a motorcycle license (just a
regular driver's license), "they see them more
as a toy," Williamson said.
By contrast, motorcycle riders must pass
special tests to get their licenses. "You never
see a motorcycle rider going from white line
to yellow line, going back and forth, because
they're worried about dropping the motor
cycle. I think that scooters are small, and
people feel they can control them completely,
Williamson said. "At 18, we all think that
nothing's going to happen to us."
But scooters raise other issues, too, VP
Jackson said—like parking. "They're too big
to go into a bike rack. That's another reason
we may have to look at special policies for
scooters. People drive them down through the
closed parts of campus, but yet that part of
campus is closed to vehicles... There's been
some debate about that." Jackson hears com
plaints from both sides: "The owners want a
place to park, and other people think scooters
are a hazard on the road."
John Huie
Lake Chapman Bridge
to Traverse Wetlands
A long-planned pedestrian bridge over
Sandy Creek, which feeds Lake Chapman at
Sandy Creek Park, was approved last week
by commissioners and will soon allow hik
ers to walk all the way around the lake.
Existing trails on both sides of the lake will
be extended somewhat to reach the new
bridge, providing an eight-mile loop trail. An
anonymous donor will cover up to $160,000
of the bridge's cost (estimated at $275,000).
Commissioners unanimously rejected a recom
mendation by county staffers that no bridge
be built until money could be found for a
more expensive bridge that would cross a
portion of the lake itself (providing a shorter
loop trail and, staffers said, a more attractive
destination).
But local naturalists favored putting the
trail across the creek and its wetlands. So did
the anonymous donor, who saw the wetlands
as an "educational opportunity" Completion
of the bridge could be "measured in months,"
according to Deputy Manager Bob Snipes.
John Huie
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SEPTEMBER 14, 2011 • FLAGP0LE.COM 5
