Brake Check: My first (and last) scooter ride

I’ll admit it: In theory, electric scooters are convenient for getting around campus. They’re supposed to save time, cut down walking distances and make campus life easier. Since 2018, electric scooters have become increasingly popular on college campuses, with shared models from companies like Bird and Lime being the first to gain widespread use, before students began to own personal electric scooters from brands like Hiboy. But after my first (and only) ride, I swore I’d never touch one again.

I’d walked to the bus stop earlier that morning, an hour ahead of my meeting. I needed to make it to the other side of campus, but every time it came to my stop, the bus was already full, and I’d have to wait for the next one. After letting two full buses go by, I texted my roommate, asking her if I could borrow her electric scooter for a few hours. She said, “Of course,” but she wasn’t home, so I had no one to show me how to use it.

I figured it was simple enough, but I had never ridden one before, and I certainly didn’t expect hers to be such a death trap. 

I try to give myself the benefit of the doubt because I found out later that her scooter had a screw loose that made it feel especially unsteady and different from a typical ride. 

Except it was mostly my fault.

I unknowingly set myself up for failure by draping my hoodie over the handlebars, covering the main brake. To make things worse, the emergency brake looked so much like a regular bike brake that I assumed I had everything figured out. 

I pushed off, and as I started to speed up, I felt like I had everything under control from here on out. 

That couldn’t have been further from the truth. When I came up to my very first turn, I attempted to slow down slightly (not that I was going very fast to begin with), and suddenly, the scooter jolted me forward aggressively, throwing me completely off balance. I stepped off the scooter, but it was still rolling, so I held onto the handlebars and jogged alongside it for a few steps. 

I had no desire to get back on, but I was on a mission to make it to my meeting on time, and now I only had 15 minutes. 

It was probably one of the most humbling experiences of my life. Every stoplight I came to, where other students waited to cross, I would continue the cycle of slowing down, stepping off and running alongside the scooter until it stopped. 

My next struggle was the path I took.

As an avid walker, I would always walk the same route to my classes, and it was practically the only route I knew or even considered taking when riding the scooter.  

What never occurred to me was that my path was not scooter-friendly. There were stairs and uprooted uneven sidewalks, and worst of all, downhill slopes with what I thought was just a very sensitive brake. 

Determination can only get you so far when you carry a 30-40-pound Hiboy up multiple flights of stairs, while other students walk past you, looking at you sideways. 

At this point, it had probably been 20 minutes, and I wasn’t even halfway across campus. Somehow, the thing that was supposed to help me be on time for my meeting was part of what made me late.

For most students, though, scooters are a quick and easy way to get around campus. I know plenty of people who use them without crashing dramatically (even though I know plenty who have). 

Of course, scooters come with their own set of risks. In 2024, electric scooter injuries skyrocketed, with over 115,000 incidents reported across the U.S. alone. A UCLA study found that the injury rate for electric scooter users in Los Angeles surpassed that of motorcycles and even cars. Outside of riding the scooter, I’ve had experience with a roommate’s scooter charger exploding in our living room.

But, if you’re looking to invest in a scooter for easy college transportation or want to trick people into thinking you’re an athlete for a second, as long as you know where the brake is, it will probably work for you. Even with my scooter disaster, I can see why people like them; they are fast and convenient if you know what you’re doing. 

My advice: If you’re considering a scooter or an e-bike, check your brakes, plan for a flat route and maybe practice somewhere discreet before tackling high-traffic campus streets.