Whether it is to land a decent parking spot or to avoid $45 fill-ups at the pump, many students have chosen to drive scooters and motorcycles to and from campus.

With the number of students choosing this method of transportation, the question may arise: How safe is driving a scooter or motorcycle?

About 19 motorcycle and scooter accidents occurred on the Brigham Young University campus from 2004 to 2005, according to the most recent information available from the Utah Department of Transportation.

Of the 19 accidents, only three are in the category of broken bones or bleeding wounds, and zero motorcycle or scooter accidents on campus were fatal. Twelve of the 19 accidents resulted in bruises and abrasions, and the rest resulted in possible injury or simple property damage.

The data did not include information on whether the drivers were wearing helmets.

Currently, Utah has no general helmet law on the books, but it does have a law that "prohibits a person under age 18 from operating or riding on a motorcycle or motor-driven cycle ... on a highway unless the person is wearing protective headgear," according to the law.

Utah doesn't have a mandatory helmet law because there is a lot of public resistance to general helmet laws, a lot like the resistance to the seat belt laws, said Sgt. Joseph Vasquez of the Utah Highway Patrol.

"People are too pro-choice," he said.

Vasquez said he hates to see motorcycles on the roads and is afraid they will become more popular because of high gas prices.

"They are very dangerous and when accidents happen, the injures are very serious," Vasquez said. "I would never [own] a motorcycle, but if I did, I would have one in a small city."

Gian Piertti, a junior majoring in ceramics, just bought a new scooter - a Buddy 125.

He traded in an old Honda Elite 150, from the 1980s, for the new scooter. Piertti said he hopes scooters become more widely used.

"I see them more and more," he said. "It may be just because I have one, but I like to think it is a growing trend."

Just like Vasquez, Piertti cited gas as a reason to buy a scooter.

Piertti said his scooter gets 100 miles to the gallon. It costs him $3 to fill his gas tank, and he only fills it up twice a month.

Piertti has found other benefits to owning a scooter.

"First of all, they're fun," he said. "Scooters are inexpensive to insure and license - $117 for insurance per year, as a high, and $40 to license."

Now that he is married, he said owning a scooter is a convenient, effective and inexpensive way to own a second vehicle.

Concern for the environment is one of Piertti's main motivations for his scooter use.

To preserve his right to be angry with people who own a Hummer, Piertti sold one of his cars and bought the Honda, which he then traded for his new scooter.

Piertti said he has made a conscious effort to ride his scooter only to his place of residence, to work, to school and places in close proximity to help preserve the environment.

He has owned a scooter for almost his whole time at BYU and has never been in an accident.

"I haven't really been in any close calls," Piertti said. "But I am pretty slow and careful."

Jenni Cutler, a senior majoring in English, has been riding her motorcycle to school for the last year.

"It is easy to find parking, it's faster than walking and it makes me look cool," Cutler said.

Cutler, just like Piertti, has never been in a wreck on campus.

"I tipped the motorcycle at a stoplight once," she said. "It was because there was a large amount of rocks on the road because of construction, and it was raining."

She said her foot slipped out from under her because of the gravel on the road.

While tipping a motorcycle does not qualify as a wreck, Cutler's story highlights the fact that six of the 19 accidents that occurred on campus happened when obstructive road conditions - including loose material, constriction, holes and ruts - were present.

Despite the increase in students, scooters and motorcycles during fall semester, Cutler still finds parking to be one of the biggest benefits of driving a motorcycle to campus.

Most motorcycle and scooter parking passes are given in August and September, said Lt. Greg Barber of the BYU Police Department.

The traffic office gave 206 passes in September 2005 alone. Because of the large increase in students fall semester, September has been the most dangerous month.

The most accidents year-round occurred on Campus Drive. There were seven accidents there 2004 to 2005. Campus Drive, which travels north of the new Hinckley building and curves right, to pass just east of the Wilkinson Center, is also the longest route through campus, at a little less than a mile and a half.

In two of the five motorcycle accidents that happened in 2005, and in two of the 14 in 2004, speed was a contributing factor. Another three accidents were attributed, at least partially, to unspecified improper driving.

Copyright Brigham Young University 17 Jul 2007