University Police Officer Chad Holway helped Alex Waler, a 21-year-old UF biology junior, put on a black helmet as she got on his parked motorcycle on Turlington Plaza on Monday.
This is how Holway taught students the importance of wearing a helmet while on a bike, scooter or motorcycle as part of Student Government’s first scooter safety week. Scooter companies also participated by donating more than 25 helmets to be raffled off Wednesday.
SG members handed out fliers, stickers and T-shirts to students with the week’s theme: Helmet hair is hot.
Sen. Carter Long (Impact, District A) worked to highlight the issue of not wearing helmets. She said this topic is important to her because her Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority sister, Gabriella Molden, was injured while riding her scooter without helmets over the summer.
"My hope is to change the culture on campus," Long said.
While there is no law requiring students to wear a helmet on a bicycle or scooter, it’s important for students to protect themselves, Holway said.
When students fall off of a bicycle or scooter, their first instinct is to protect their bodies, not their heads, he said.
"They think they’re invincible," he said.
The number of bike crashes rose from nine to 14 over the last year, according to UPD. No statistics on scooter accidents are kept.
Erica Eldayrie, 19, rides her bike around campus but doesn’t use a helmet most of the time. The UF criminology sophomore said she feels it’s necessary to wear a helmet when riding a scooter. Following the event, she said she might consider wearing a helmet when she bikes.
She said SG should have had statistics telling students the number of bicycle and scooter accidents UF has each year.
"Sometimes the fear can change people’s perspective," Eldayrie said.
Faith Percival, an 18-year-old UF nutritional sciences freshman, mounts a University Police motorcycle on Oct. 19, 2015, on Turlington Plaza. UPD helped raise awareness during scooter safety week by encouraging students to wear helmets.
