Fresno State students are responding with mixed reactions after the university announced it will ban motorized vehicles on campus beginning August 19, the first day of the fall semester.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The policy applies to motorized scooters, electric bicycles, mopeds, motorized skateboards and Segway-style devices. According to Fresno State\u2019s transportation information<\/a> page, the change is intended to improve campus safety, especially in areas with heavy pedestrian traffic.\u00a0<\/p>\n Non-motorized bicycles, scooters and skateboards will still be allowed.\u00a0<\/p>\n For some students, the ban raises concerns about how long it will take to get between classes.<\/p>\n \u201cI understand why they\u2019re doing it, but it\u2019s going to make it harder for students who have classes that are far apart,\u201d said Addison Perez, a freshman majoring in animal science. \u201cSometimes you only have five minutes to get across campus.\u201d<\/p>\n Other students said that they support the university\u2019s decision because of safety concerns.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve almost been hit a few times walking to class,\u201d said Megan Allen, a sophomore majoring in biology. \u201cPeople ride really fast through crowded areas.\u201d<\/p>\n The university\u2019s decision follows ongoing safety concerns on campus. The Fresno Bee<\/a> reported that Fresno State\u2019s Student Health and Counseling Center has seen 159 scooter and skateboard-related injuries since Fall 2023.<\/p>\n Some students said they would have preferred stricter enforcement instead of a full ban.<\/p>\n \u201cI think scooter lanes would have been a better idea,\u201d said Olivia Martinez, a freshman majoring in math. \u201cBanning them completely affects everyone, even the people who ride safely.\u201d<\/p>\n Another student said the policy could be especially hard for students who rely on motorized devices to save time.<\/p>\n \u201cFor students who park far away or have back-to-back classes, scooters are useful,\u201d said Matthew Jenkins, a junior majoring in chemistry.<\/p>\n Fresno State previously had \u201cWheels Off<\/a>\u201d zones in high-traffic areas, where students were expected to walk bicycles, scooters and skateboards instead of riding them. The new policy expands those restrictions by prohibiting motorized vehicles on campus, including in parking areas and near residence halls.<\/p>\n Still, some students said the ban could make walking around campus feel safer.<\/p>\n \u201cI get that it\u2019s frustrating for people who use scooters, but students walking around campus should feel safe too,\u201d said Steven Hernandez, a sophomore majoring in civil engineering. \u201cThere are a lot of people walking between classes, and it can get crowded fast.\u201d<\/p>\n Under the new policy, motorized vehicles found on campus after the effective date may be confiscated by Traffic Operations<\/a> and turned in to campus Lost and Found<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fresno State students are responding with mixed reactions after the university announced it will ban motorized vehicles on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":311662,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-311661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=311661"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311661\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/311662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=311661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=311661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=311661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}