Annie Worth lives in Rieber Vista, but is often at her sorority house until late at night. The walk back from Hilgard is usually long and sometimes uncomfortable, but Worth said her scooter makes her feel safer.
“You’re used to walking during the day, but when it’s late at night, (the scooter) makes it really nice to go back,” Worth, a second-year psychology student, said.
She got her Yamaha Vino 125 scooter at the beginning of this year, and said it is a convenient and efficient way to get around the area. Though it is not permitted on the freeway, Worth said she takes streets to various locations such as Santa Monica and Venice Beach.
More students are turning to purchasing scooters, as they are gas-efficient, easy to park and offer a quick way to get to class. But they can also be expensive to purchase and easy targets for pranks.
Jordan Smith, a second-year sociology student, said her Vespa scooter saves her time, energy and money.
“I (purchased) one because I was an athlete and you usually have 15 minutes or less to get from practice to class,” Smith said. “It’s convenient to just hop on your scooter and go.”
But while more students have scooters, the pranks and theft associated with them has increased as well.
“Sometimes people at night think it’s funny to knock over scooters, and that’s a bummer,” Smith said.
Worth had someone move her scooter as part of a prank.
She walked out last Friday morning to find her scooter missing from the Saxon parking lot, where she usually leaves it. She called the police and filed a report for theft, but as she was walking to class later that day, she saw it parked by De Neve Plaza.
“You get really attached to it ““ it’s not like you get lazy, you get emotionally attached to it like you would a car,” Worth said. “I was really glad I recovered it and found it.”
She said she believes this incident was a prank because the scooter was moved to a place where she received a ticket, and next to her scooter was another one that had a ticket as well.
“They probably thought it was funny to get us parking tickets,” she said. “It’s OK because I have it back, so I’m happy again.”
Worth now takes two precautions to ensure her scooter will not get stolen: She locks it to a pole with a U-shaped, metal tire lock.
There are an array of reasons students choose to use scooters.
For one, students turn to scooters because parking on campus and around Westwood can be both expensive and difficult.
The ease of parking is one of the things that prompted Dustin Deleo, a third-year sociology student, to buy a Viza scooter.
“It’s good, especially around here where parking is hard to find,” Deleo said. “You can park anywhere with it.”
Students with scooters can park in campus parking lots for free without a permit. In Westwood, students are usually able to find parking between and behind cars, Smith said.
Also, with gas prices constantly on the rise, scooters can be a cheaper alternative to cars. Smith said she spends about $3 on gas for her Vespa every two weeks, and she uses it to go to and from class about three times a day. The Honda Elite 80, another popular scooter, gets about 100 miles to the gallon.
Though scooters save students money on gas, they can be pricey. A new Vespa costs between $3,000 and $5,000. Certain types of Viza scooters can cost less than $1,000, while the Honda Elite costs a little less than $2,000.
To get a discount on his Viza, Deleo went with five other friends to purchase the scooters together at Viva Motorsports in Los Angeles. They walked out of the dealership with six new scooters at a discounted price.
Rob Smith, sales manager at Honda of Santa Monica, where the Honda Elite 80 is sold, agreed that the popularity of scooters is increasing. Students typically purchase scooters at the beginning of the school year or in January at the start of their second quarter, at which time scooter sales increase about 40 percent, he said.
“Sales have increased significantly,” he said. “There’s a lot of sales with new students. Parents are looking for relatively inexpensive transportation.”
Though students such as Smith and Deleo said there are many benefits to driving scooters, they agree there are also some setbacks.
“A con is that you can’t drive it when it’s raining, and if you get into an accident you wouldn’t have a lot of protection,” Deleo said. “But the pros outweigh the cons.”
Smith said other than the pranks pulled on scooters, the other major setback for her is driving when it is very cold outside.
In order to drive a scooter, students need a permit, which can be obtained by taking a written test at the DMV, but no actual driving test. This permit does not allow people to drive with a passenger or at night.
“It’s an easy test,” Deleo said. “It’s a 30-question test ““ it wasn’t that hard.”
Other students, however, may want a full California moped license, which allows them to drive at night and drive others. The license can be obtained through the DMV, but requires people under the age of 21 to take a three-week motorcycle-safety class. Students over the age of 21 can either take the class or take a driving test to get the license.
Though Smith is happy with her Vespa, she recommended that students look into other scooters before purchasing one.
“Research your options before settling with just one,” she said.