NEWS
Police ramp up moped enforcement
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by Darryl Schnell
Friday, October 7, 2005
The University of Wisconsin Police Department's increased enforcement of moped parking and traffic violations has left many students frustrated.
UW Dean of Students Lori Berquam said a number of students have spoken with her about parking warnings or citations they have received.
"Students stop me and complain all the time when I'm walking around campus," Berquam said.
UW senior Anna Trinidad said she recently received a warning for parking her moped illegally.
"I got [my warning] up by Bascom," Trinidad said. "I parked my moped where there used to be parking."
Trinidad said limited moped parking undermines the reason for owning a moped. Sometimes she is late to class because she can't find a close parking spot, she added.
"If I didn't have a scooter now and was thinking of buying one, I wouldn't buy one," Trinidad said. "Now there's really no point. The point of having a scooter is getting there and not having to walk."
Berquam said the reason parking is limited is because moped numbers have increased greatly on campus in the past few years.
"It seems like there's been an exponential increase of mopeds on campus recently," Berquam said. "This is not only because of students, either. A number of faculty members also ride mopeds now."
Lance Lunsway, director of UW Transportation Services, said greater moped numbers not only create parking problems, but traffic problems, as well.
"What we're really running into now is problems with the management of the mopeds because we're seeing so many more," Lunsway said.
The approach UWPD has taken to deal with these problems is education, followed by compliance, Lunsway added.
According to Officer Kristin Radtke, UWPD conducted a concentrated moped and bicycle-enforcement effort the last two weeks of September. However, officers tried to educate — rather than enforce — the week and a half prior to that.
"The weeks before the concentrated enforcement, we focused on education," Radtke said. "Instead of issuing citations, we issued verbal warnings and educational pamphlets."
Radtke said UWPD gave out more than 700 warnings and pamphlets during its education weeks. During concentrated enforcement, she estimated officers issued 75 citations for traffic violations. According to Lunsway, officers have issued 113 citations since the beginning of fall semester.
UW senior Katie Knutson said an officer issued her a traffic citation for not stopping at a stop sign while she was driving on her moped.
"I was driving to the Memorial Union on Park Street," Knutson said. "I slowed down at the stop sign on Park and Langdon and there was nobody at the intersection, so I kept going."
Knutson said a bike cop stopped her and issued her a ticket. The citation for running a stop sign is $160 and three points from the violator's license.
Radtke said UW officials have encouraged UWPD to take a hard-line approach to enforcement.
"In the past, we've offered safety classes to people with citations, but the university has had enough with all these mopeds," Radtke said. "Mopeds are motor vehicles and will be treated that way."
Knutson said her citation has certainly changed the way she rides her moped.
"I know I broke the law for failure to stop at a stop sign," Knutson said. "But seriously, now I always stop at every sign. I'm afraid of getting another ticket."
— John Potratz contributed to this report
