Fair will promote safety on scooters

FAYETTEVILLE — A scooter safety fair will be held Tuesday in remembrance of Cole Pangburn, a student who died in September after sustaining a head injury in a campus scooter accident.

Pangburn, 20, was not wearing a helmet, police said. Five helmets will be given away to students at the midday event outside the Arkansas Union at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.

“It is a rare sight to see students wearing a helmet,” said Connor Flocks, president of UA’s Associated Student Government, which is organizing the fair.

He said the goal is to increase helmet usage on a campus where, according to a university report, the campus parking authority issued 1,331 scooter permits in fiscal 2016.

The Associated Student Government senate in November approved the Pangburn Safety Awareness Act of 2016, with $2,600 in student government funds — derived from an activity fee paid by students — going toward a large banner, T-shirts, stickers and other items for the Tuesday event, Flocks said.

By law, anyone younger than 21 must wear a helmet when riding a scooter or motorcycle. Flocks said a student-produced scooter safety video could be launched this fall, possibly as required viewing for students seeking a scooter permit.

For 2016, UA police tallied 11 campus scooter accidents. In addition to the fatal accident, one other last year involved an “incapacitating” injury, police said. The rider in that accident was wearing a helmet but not protective eye gear, Captain Gary Crain said in an email.