Students react to Notre Dame's ban on PEVs

 

NOTRE DAME, Ind. -- E-scooters, or PEVs are officially no longer allowed on Notre Dame’s campus, and some aren’t too thrilled about this new policy.  

The university says it invited written feedback from the Notre Dame community on the topic of e-scooters on campus before this ban was put into place, receiving about 580 responses. 

With less than 600 responses yet over 13,000 students enrolled, some could argue the sample size doesn’t accurately represent all students. 

Adding to that, it's also not specified how many respondents have ever owned or operated an e-scooter before. 

Between fall 2021 and 2023, 104 e-scooter incidents were reported to campus police with 90% requiring medical attention, though that could have been something as simple as a band-aid. 

While students are of course mourning the convenience of the e-scooters when it comes to getting around campus, one Notre Dame senior says the ban could put a damper in one of his favorite hobbies. 

Known around campus as ‘The Bike Doctor’, Kaden Smesko loves repairing bikes and scooters in his free time. 

The university says the charging and storing of the scooters poses “serious fire hazards”, but Smesko says he didn’t see as many issues with batteries. 

He says he repaired more than 20 e-scooters per week sometimes, often for water damage, which he says could be a result of the university’s charging policy. 

At the start of the year, the university reminded students that PEVs are not allowed in any campus buildings aside from residence halls and private offices. 

So, for students riding to class, their scooters had to wait outside of the lecture hall building, which became a problem when it rained or snowed. 

For now, the ban stands. 

Students are encouraged to take their e-scooters home the holiday break and will return to a scooter-free campus for the rest of the semester. 

You can read the PEV Safety Report from Notre Dame here.