FAYETTEVILLE -- Student government leaders are working to establish a new scooter safety program and increase the use of helmets after a 20-year-old student died from a head injury suffered in a September scooter accident on the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville campus.
Cole Pangburn was not wearing a helmet when he lost control of the scooter he was riding while traveling south on Razorback Road shortly after midnight, police said. After the Sept. 2 accident, Pangburn died Sept. 6.
University police said it was the first on-campus scooter accident to result in a death.
UA's Associated Student Government Senate voted unanimously at a Tuesday night meeting to pass the Pangburn Safety Awareness Act of 2016 as Pangburn's mother, Lynn, observed in the audience with friends of her son.
"I just think it's a great way to not only honor Cole's life but also to truly raise awareness of the importance of wearing helmets on campus," said Lynn Pangburn, who traveled from the Little Rock area to attend at the invitation of student senators.
Scooters have grown popular on the hilly Fayetteville campus, with 1,331 scooter parking permits issued in the 12-month period that ended June 30. UA has an enrollment of 27,194 as of this fall.
But while state law requires anyone younger than 21 to wear a helmet when riding a scooter or motorcycle, few students wear them. Police say they cannot stop students solely on the basis that they might be younger than 21.
On campus, Capt. Gary Crain said university police have become more vigilant in watching for scooter traffic violations. He said he knew of more scooter accidents on campus since Pangburn's death, but none involved a serious injury.
Elsewhere in Fayetteville, Grant McCoy White, 19, of Fayetteville died last month in a scooter accident on Wedington Drive about 4 miles west of campus. He was not wearing a helmet, police said.
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It was the second scooter-related fatality in Fayetteville in November after 18-year-old Hailey King died in an accident on Crossover Road several miles north of campus.
Mary Aitken, director of the Arkansas Children's Hospital Injury Prevention Center, said wearing a helmet while riding any type of motorcycle reduces the likelihood of death.
Scooters and mopeds travel at lower speeds, but "speeds are enough to cause a serious injury or death," Aitken said. "It is certainly important that head protection is worn because brain injuries are so difficult to treat."
The UA student legislation leaves details to be worked out later, authors of the act said.
Ideas include a week or day to promote scooter-safety awareness across campus and using university funds to defray the cost of helmets for students, student leaders said.
Connor Flocks, president of the Associated Student Government, told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that another idea is to partner with the university's parking and transit department so that students would be required to take a brief online training course before receiving a scooter permit.
"Whatever it may be, we just want to make a commitment on behalf of the Associated Student Government to put students first and remember Cole and what a great guy he was," said Trevor Villines, a sophomore finance major and one of several student senators listed as authors of the act.
Pangburn's mother received a framed copy of the legislation named for her son.
"A lot of good's going to come of it, I know," Lynn Pangburn said.
Metro on 12/01/2016