More universities set to ban e-scooters on campuses

Electric scooters are parked on Yonsei University campus, Seoul, in this Nov. 3, 2020 file photo. Korea Times photo by Lee Han-ho

By Bahk Eun-ji

More universities are banning the use of electric scooters on their campuses for safety reasons.

Some campuses with many hills and narrow roads had already banned the personal mobility devices, while others designated separate parking spaces so that the e-scooters didn't block pathways, creating an inconvenience for pedestrians.

Hanyang University's dean of student affairs recently issued a letter to its students not to use electric scooters on campus.

In the letter, the dean said, “We have decided to restrict electric scooters on our campus. Currently we are planning to come up with safety guidelines that will be announced soon.”

According to an official from Hanyang University, the restriction came after large and small accidents involving electric scooters occurred on the campus, including a fire which broke out from an overheated electric scooter battery that exploded in May last year; a wheelchair rollover caused by a randomly standing electric scooters in April this year; and cars crashes with e-scooters in May and July, respectively.

In particular, in the case of the July accident, a student was seriously injured resulting in hospitalization in an intensive care unit, the university official said.

“We have recently decided on the restriction, but if students express great inconvenience over this, we will come up with other measures with the student council,” the school official said.

In addition to Hanyang University, Ewha Womans, Sungshin Women's, Dongguk and Soongsil universities in Seoul have previously banned electric scooters. All these universities have many hills and narrow passageways on their campuses.

As such, there is a risk of accidents, but it is difficult to police them because university campuses are not categorized as public roads under the current Traffic Law.

Because they are on private land the responsibility for management rests with the university, not the police.

Even if an accident occurs, the police will not investigate it unless it results in death or serious injury.

“Police have no authority over the users of electric scooters on campuses because they do not fall under the Traffic Law, so we have been trying to raise awareness of safety measures for university students,” an official from the National Police Agency said.