‘Unprecedented’ rise in violations prompts police note on scooters, skateboards indoors
‘Unprecedented’ rise in violations prompts police note on scooters, skateboards indoors
The fall semester has seen “an unprecedented increase” in the number of people riding scooters or other “wheeled devices” to get around inside buildings on campus, according to MIT Police.
The trend prompted an email reminder Tuesday from Cheryl Vossmer, administrative captain at MIT Police, that all forms of wheeled transportation are banned indoors and in parking garages — with the exception of medical mobile equipment like wheelchairs and certain scooters.
Many students get to class by bicycle, skateboard, or scooter. Occasionally people can be spotted riding Segways and other motored personal vehicles on campus.
The email said that violations of the policy were especially common in the basements of academic buildings, and that violators would be fined $25.
It was not immediately clear whether “chairing,” the student pastime of rolling down inclined basement corridors on swivel chairs, would also be penalized.
The message from Vossmer also took the opportunity to remind cyclists that they would have to pay a $50 fine to retrieve bicycles removed by MIT Parking and Transportation for being “illegally parked or attached to stairwells, handrails, HP Ramps, light posts or fire chains.”
“A lack of knowledge will not be accepted as grounds for dismissal of citations or enforcement actions,” the MIT Police warned. “It is the responsibility of all individuals operating bicycles and non-pedestrian devices on campus to make themselves familiar with MIT regulations.”
—Gabriella Studt