FAYETTEVILLE, Ark — It's the weekend before the first week of school for the University of Arkansas and Fayetteville High School.
The use of electric scooters has picked up over the past few months and they can be seen all along Dickson Street and across Fayetteville.
U of A Police says these scooters can be dangerous though.
Police say Thursday (Aug. 21) night a person riding a scooter collided with a pickup truck at the intersection of Dickson and Duncan.
The person was injured in the crash and taken to an area hospital.
Police say that's why it's important for drivers to watch out for scooters as the new semester begins.
“They can be dangerous because they can be in your blind spot, they move fairly quickly,” said Sgt. Tony Murphy with the Fayetteville Police Department.
Scooters can be seen driving night and day in downtown Fayetteville and around the university campus.
“I usually go to Dickson Street and there’s always like a slew of them to pick from,” said scooter rider Daniel Johnson.
Johnson says he rides scooters ofter and usually goes with a friend to ride the bike path that goes throughout the city.
“You can go for miles, hours on end on those trails over there,” Johnson said.
There is a small headlight on the scooters for nighttime but if driven on the streets they can be hard to see.
“The trails would be a safe way to travel with those, you’re not encountering vehicles and stuff like that,” Murphy said.
Johnson says he has seen people ride down Dickson Street in the middle of the road. He says that's probably not the best idea.
“They're adrenaline junkies for sure, I think they’re crazy. It makes me anxious and uncomfortable to see that,” Johnson said.
Fayetteville Police say there has not been an increase in scooter accidents sine they arrive in town.
Two E-scooter companies launched in Fayetteville at the end of 2019.