By Marisa Loranger, News Editor.
Hoverboards are a big ticket item and Delta College is in the process of figuring out how to deal with the new consumer fad on campus. There are some existing regulations that would apply to hoverboards, but not directly. Robert Battinkoff, Delta College Chief of Police and Public Safety Director, is instrumental in coming up with the school’s rules.
“If you were racing through here on your bicycle we would probably say, ‘just because we don’t have a specific rule that says you can’t ride a bicycle, that’s disruptive and you can’t do that,’ ” explains Battinkoff.
Hoverboards became the ‘must have’ item of 2015 after celebrities like Wiz Khalifa and Jamie Foxx were spotted using them. The vehicles utilize the same technology popularized by the Segway. Riders lean toward where they want to go, and the hoverboard’s gyroscopic mechanism sends them in that direction while maintaining balance.
There is currently discussion to make hoverboard use permissible when outdoors. Paved portions like the parking lot and sidewalks would be fair game, but inside use would be off-limits, according to Battinkoff.
Any rules about hoverboards are still under speculation, but the school plans to have new rules in the near future.
Delta student Cassidy Stoneburner, 19, says, “I think it would be cool to see people going to class on their hoverboards. I wouldn’t find it disruptive.”
