Why Skateboarders Are a Problem in Washington Park – Arlington Heights Neighborhood Association

The need for an effective response is obvious. The most common concern I hear is that it is just a matter of time and one of these kids is going to get killed or maimed, most likely by accident by a resident, who along with the kids family will be haunted for a lifetime by the memory.

The heart of the problem is that the boarder’s adolescent brains are not sufficiently developed for them to be capable of making a rational risk/reward calculation. This is a fact of life we cannot change.

I completely agree that some form of ride surface modification is probably the only affordable solution. I strongly recommend that proponents do a thorough web based search for alternatives.

The video clips confirm the skill and abandon of these riders. The surface alteration width may need to include the sidewalks and curbs and extend far enough down the street that a boarder with 50 mph momentum can’t jump it. My thought is a surface that will not impede bicycles with large wheels but will stop skate wheels in their tracks. The East-side Esplanade is a good example of how surface treatments targeted at the particular type of skating that is problem causing can be quite effective. My guess is that the same could be true here. The main question is cost and how many surface treatment areas would be necessary. My guess is that strategic placement such as at the bottom of Fairview before Kingston would minimize the number required..

Has this been sent to the police

Not yet, we expect this to be the start of a lengthy process involving various city departments. We’re working on getting representatives from both the Bureau of Transportation and the Police to an upcoming meeting and will certainly announce that when it gets scheduled.

If you put rumble strips down on the road, people ARE STILL GOING TO SKATE THERE. PLUS, MORE INJURIES WILL OCCUR. I guarantee if you watch skaters on this hill, more than half of them follow traffic laws. Don’t just try to bust the ones that don’t.

I happen to live on Fairview and see skateboarders coming down most every day. I have to disagree with you on the majority of them following traffic laws. The vast majority of skateboarders happily use both sides of the road and completely ignore the Stop sign at the intersection of Fairview and Kingston (as well as the one at Kingston and Tichner) just to mention two common issues.

As far as any possible traffic calming devices are concerned, anyone riding in a safe fashion should be unaffected and they’re unlikely to increase the number of accidents.

I’m sure that when it comes time, there will be public hearings arranged by PBOT on this topic and that will be a good time to voice your thoughts on this matter.

My confusion is your decision to put rumble strips. I personally believe that they will cause more injuries. Skateboarders go very fast on these streets and hitting these rumble strips will most likely cause riders to lose control and crash leading to more injuries. Depending on how dedicated you are to the safety of the neighborhood you may want to consider testing this as to proove your belief that they will not cause more injury. Please enlighten me on what a skateboarder going at the speed limit of Fairview “Stopping in their tracks will look like”?
Since there is a city ordinance legalizing skateboarding on basically all portland streets, skateboarder will continue to skate there along with the rest of Portland.
There are other ways to handle this as previously said.

There has been no decision made to install rumble strips, that’s just one suggestion at the moment.

The first step will be to start discussions with the Portland Bureau of Transportation and the Portland Police Bureau to see what options there might be to encourage a use of the street that’s actually safe for everyone involved.

As for the Portland City Ordinance about skateboarding (16.70.410), it states among other things:

– “All persons under 16 years of age shall wear protective headgear…”
– “All persons using roller skates, including in-line skates, skateboards, scooters, or other similar devices powered exclusively by human power upon any street or sidewalk between the hours of sunset and sunrise must be equipped with and use lighting equipment that shows a white light visible from a distance of at least 500 feet to the front of the device…”
– “Persons using roller skates, including in-line skates, skateboards, scooters, or other similar devices powered exclusively by human power upon any street, sidewalk or premises open to the public shall be subject to the provisions applicable to and shall have the same rights and duties as the driver of a bicycle as provided by the Oregon Vehicle Code, except when those provisions by their very nature can have no application…”

These are all items that are regularly ignored by skateboarders on Fairview (the associated ordinance 16.70.310 states that bicyclists have to follow the same rules as drivers).

Having a skateboarder blow through stop signs, ride in the lane of oncoming traffic and similar actions is no safer than a bicycle or car doing the same actions.

If a skateboarder can’t control their ride and stop and stop signs and responsibly share the streets with other users of the road they have no business riding a steep street like SW Fairview Blvd.

If you have any constructive suggestions for how responsible skateboarding can be encouraged in Washington Park, please feel free to share them with us.

These rules may be not always followed but by the mass majority of the Portland skate community these laws are followed and highly encouraged. An example of this is a local skateboarder, who happens to own a board company based out of portland, holds classes teaching kids, teens, adults, etc, the basics of longboarding including how to stop, the anatomy of a longboard, and how to be safe. Skateboarders can control their boards and stop at stop signs.
The sport is growing, i personally think our sport could come to a downfall because you get skateboarders bombing hills, without learning the basics, and not using helmets. This drives me crazy and makes me highly sad. Like you said responsible skateboarding should be encouraged, and i agree with you there. I personally think a $25 fine is not enough and it should be raised, and enforced more harshly. A bulletin board could be placed near the entrance to one of the most skated streets notifying skateboarders. You could approach the skateboarding community and notify them about the consequences of there choice to run stop signs, exit their lane, etc.

I think the skate community needs to respect the homeowners on the hill, worse than rumble strips would be rethinking the legality of skating in the street. Having escalated to this level shows a lack of responsibilty on those who ride the hill, and a lack of respect for a law they hold dear.

I’m often surprized by the propaganda which comes out of the longboarding camp when other citizens take issue with the increased popularity of this kind of skating: We always obey laws, we never run stop signs, skating is safe, we’re responsible neighbors…

So many places to skate in Portland and from what I read it’s not the skating but the frequency of skating and disregard for those who travel those roads. Sounds like there was no problem with Sunday’s Zoobomb?

I have great respect for the longboard community and even encourage my kids to get more involved and even occasionally make some events and sessions. I’d hate to see the sports popularity be it’s own demise

I was in the beginning of that video in the green helmet and i will admit some of us are a tad reckless, but honestly almost 99% of us can stop on a dime and know our limits. The people filming are not the most experienced.

The problem is that it doesn’t really matter if you can stop on a dime if you consistently don’t stop at stop signs. It doesn’t help when you ride in the oncoming lane of traffic either. That’s the behavior we have a problem with.

I firmly believe that the people who do not obey traffic laws should be punished; however, skateboarding on streets should not be restricted because of irresponible skateboarders.
Everytime you drive a car, it has a risk that goes along with it. There are many ways of reducing risks, but the risks are completely present.
This can be compared to the risk skateboarders take when they step on a skateboard. Drivers are enforced to wear seatbelts and are fined otherwise. Same should be applied to skateboarders. If skate boarders do not use a helmet and slide gloves then they should be given the same consequence. If you look at the statistic of a crashes between the time of 1am and 5am you could reason that driving should not be allowed during those times.
I believe that awareness is one of the most important aspects of this growing sport. Because the speed and weight of a skateboarder is less than that of a car, there is less momentum and therefore skateboarders, if experienced, can stop much quicker. A skateboarder is a tinier object much like a bike, and a form of transportation.
Safety is my number one concern and it is terrible to see kids who do not know the dangers of skateboarding at high speeds with absolutely no skill or protection.
If I was to suggest anything, it would be higher fines for traffic violations, and or a way to license/train people, such as knowing how to stop within 30 feet and take corners both ways and be comfortable going faster than 35 mph. With a license you’d have to right to skate streets legally. This would make beginners learn how to skateboard properlly and safely before taking their untrained skills to the streets with real dangers and threats.

None of these points explain to me why skateboarders seemingly should be exempt from the traffic laws everyone else has to obey. If skateboarders consistently were to actually obey the Portland city ordinance that regulates skateboarding, this wouldn’t be a problem. They don’t so some action needs to be taken to address the issue.

As a skateboarder who rides these roads on almost a daily basis, I have to say I do side with the public… Most of the people who ride down Zoobomb during the day are inexperienced and/or reckless and don’t know what they’re doing. There are many of us who stop at the stop signs and never enter intersections when there are cars present, but the kids who haven’t been around skateboarding very long are the ones breaking the laws.

I’d hate to see the actions of the inexperienced skateboarders ruin something as great as 20.12.205. Anyone who knows anything about Zoobombers knows that they ride with safety as their number one concern – maybe education for the inexperienced is the right answer, instead of ruining it for those that obey the laws with rumble strips or even more drastic action…

Just for the record, those clips were the absolute worst examples of the skating going on there I have ever seen. I do agree that there are quite a few that do not respect stop signs, but most have a MUCH more safe way about it than what they show in the video. I’m not saying it’s ok, but I don’t want everyone to generalize all skateboarders to the ones in this video.

It’s our experience that the number of skateboarders who ride responsibly make up a small minority. The video makes for a very good experience, but perhaps we’ll make a sequel by standing around the Fairview/Kingston intersection one sunny afternoon and get a representative selection…

I don’t believe skateboarders should be exempt from any traffic laws, but I also don’t think it should be banned from the streets.
Sorry if I came across sounding like skateboarding should be wreckless, I definitely feel they should recieve tickets for law breaking actions.

The thing is, if you put down things that will stop skateboarders in their tracks; what happens to them if they are coming down the hill and do not know about it? ..no offense to whoevers idea this was, but it is ridiculous. I live out in fairview, and most skateboarders follow the rules. You are being completely ridiculous. bikes break more laws than skateboarders.

A warning sign or two should be sufficient as long as the skateboarders don’t go to fast to may attention to them of course…

Nobody is exempt. That is silly to assume. It is unreasonable to take away a privilege given to the public from the result of some abusing this. What happens when a motor vehicle disobeys traffic laws? They get a ticket, or proper punishment given the gravity of the situation. They certainly do not alter the road or the situation in a “preventative” measure to ensure that occurrence does not happen again. That, again, would be silly and everyone’s time would be spent on matters such as this. The ratio of dangerous drivers really isnt that bad, its just that we see so many cars that it seems they are popping up out of the woodwork. The same thing is happening with longboarding. There are more of them out there, so naturally one will see more idiocy. But looking at the ratio, I am proud of the community’s safe practices and it shows when one cares to look. We have an almost %100 helmet rate and at least %80 of us wear additional protection. I literally will not ride with someone if they do not have a helmet with them. And I know im not alone on this. We(I am speaking for the seasoned longboarding community) have systems and procedures for situations that can remove all variables aside from the uncontrollable, in which nobody is safe from. We do not need to use the left lane and I do not agree with those that do, just in the way you dont with a driver that, say, drives drunk for instance. Not a lot we can do about it except for what we already do; teach the young to do things right, lead by example, and holding sessions and classes centered around safety.

Regarding altering the road, you have noticed the speed bumps on Fairview and Marconi, right? That’s modifying the road to encourage motor vehicles to obey the speed limits. Same idea applies here.

So the first thing is the use of a few short Clips of a few kids acting like idiots and say “look see ..look at them ” . This is a case of not having enough evedince and still trying to make a case out of it . There are a large number of riders who use the hill on a daily basis and wear the proper saftey gear and follow the laws . You actually don’t see the video’s showing that fact posted along with this arcticle . There are a vast majority of skaters who actually refuse to ride with riders who ride unsafe and are a danger to themselves and others.

*evidence

This is something that has been growing over the past few years and has now gotten to a point that is unbearable not just for us who live in the neighborhood, but also for people who come to visit the park.

As for claiming that the majority of the riders follow traffic laws, that is blatantly incorrect. The stop signs at Fairview/Kingston and Kingston/Tichner may as well not exist for all the attention they get from skateboarders.

As a responsible longboarder in portland I have to take issue with many of the points raised on this topic. First, Youtube is not a good way to get an accurate sample of riders, most youtube videos show extreme runs by skilled riders. Few riders would put a boring video on youtube of riders stoping at signs and waiting at a red light. Most of the riders that I have come in contact with wear helmets and slide gloves. Those that do not would likely not take on a serious hill.
I would admit that there are many skaters that do not obey the rules of the road but I doubt the percentage is much more then bike riders.
It’s easy to pick on skaters because they are typically younger and are not represented by advocacy groups but keep in mind that many of the arguments made on this page were made 20 years ago about bicyclists before it was a popular sport.

What you fail to understand is that the video is an illustrative example of what we see almost every day during the non-rainy season. As mentioned earlier skateboarders by far outnumber other users in terms of violating the traffic laws. Even bicyclists (obviously ignoring the Sunday night Zoobombers) pay more attention to things like stop signs.

i do Downhill longboarding too, we wave at drivers, we are considerate of other drivers and we are sure to look to make sure the driver at the stop sign recognizes us before we ride through, if they dont, we stop. sure some people arent considerate and dont care about drivers and rules but your going punish all of use for a few that dont follow the rules, and just so you know, bikers do the same thing.

A gaggle of skateboarders coming down the street making no appearance of slowing down or stopping will make any responsible driver hesitate to use their right of way at a stop sign.

If you truly make a habit of stopping at the stop signs and respecting the other users of the road, that’s much appreciated. Our issue is with the large majority who fail to do so.

this is a horrible example. Every sport has people who are reckless and stupid. 99% of longboarders know there limits, can stop on a dime if need be, always wear protection, and abide traffic laws most of the time as well. While I admit I have skated through a stop sign or two in my life but I have never done it on a busy road or with out a spotter. Taking a in-experienced skaters actions and grouping us all together is moronic, I hope you have half a brain a do some research on how most skaters promote safety, in all aspects. Most people hate/ are angry about what we do for a few reasons:
1. they have no life and feel the need to control what others do
2. they see examples like this of irresponsible skaters and think that is how it all happens
3. they don’t understand why we do it.

We skate because its our way of having fun, its our adrenaline rush. Some people may not understand but its a way to relieve stress, to just let go off all the stress, pain, and anguish in your life and have a few minutes of pure freedom, and happiness.

You would be surprised at how much our sport is growing, and with every sport comes that bad batch of people. But there actions should not ever effect the entire sport, and don’t jump strait to banning it completely because you would only being ruining part of some ones life. If there is a large amount of people skating reckless, crashing into cars, causing physical damage around town, the best first action to take is the make everyone in the area aware of whats going on, in hopes the skaters will realize there actions are endangering the future of there sport and rectify there ways.
There are multiple things the community could do before they “had” to ban skateboarding.

All in all, its our life, our culture, longboarding is a massive family sport. Its growing, and growing fast. We do our best to make a positive impact on the community around us, while having as much fun we can and being as safe as we can.

And as for this instance, if they come back and are swerving in an out of cars, and being reckless. Stop and talk to them, kindly, just let them know how you feel, unless your heartless bastards you don’t want to ruin there fun, but you don’t want them to have a head on collision with a car. and remind them there not the only people on the street.

honestly(and I say this with respect) there is no way to stop what we do. Its to important to us. Just like religion, or any other sport it to others. When skating began people have been against it, but look at it now. Millions of people skate, whether is be speed, tricks, travel, or just for fun.

“We will always find a way”

-SamP

So what you’re saying is that your sport is so important that your concerns trump those of anyone else who wants to use the roads in the park? You don’t need to show any consideration to others?

It’s not the act of skateboarding itself that’s the issue. It’s the act of skateboarding, ignoring traffic laws and the impact on everyone else who also wants to use the streets that’s the core of the issue.

no, he never said that our sport is more important then others that use the roads. he is saying that we should bring awareness to the committee to show skaters that dont obey the rules are hurting the sport and endangering others. and i dont see why your targeting skaters only? bikes do the same thing, every sport has its reckless and irresponsible people. what do you have against skaters?

WOW!! What a turn out from the PDX skate community! All these people made great points that should be taken in to account when discussing a plan to help encourage safe skating.

How about removing the stop sign?

Considering the amount of traffic passing through that intersection in the summer months, removing the stop sign would be a recipe for disaster and is unlikely to help with the issue of reckless skateboarders and if anything would further increase the risk of a car/skateboarder collision.

I understand why people are concerned with zoobombers. Theres a bunch of idiots that put themselves and others in danger, but can’t that be said for just about every other activity? I’ve almost been hit by crazy bikers on mt tabor and always see dog walkers that don’t use leashes which puts drivers, bikers and skateboarders all at risk. zoobomb has two stop signs which zoobombers run if the coast is clear and you can completely see the turns before you decide to go or not. Since people are being ticketed for this, alot of people have started stopping at the stop signs. It’s also really easy to stay in your lane so im not sure why these idiots are bombing so recklessly. Don’t judge all zoobombers based on this! those of us who take interest in our own lives ride with caution. and that’ IS the majority.

I find it funny that the video picked for this article is of the couple skaters that the PDXDownhill crew refuses to ride with. That video is of some kooks that call themselves “Jesus Boarders” and have no regard for safety.

I’ll admit that a lot of the people who cruise down Zoobomb don’t wear helmets or gloves (particularly the street skaters riding hard wheels), but it’s up to us PDXDH skaters to inform the rest of the community about what is happening.

If you’re a Portland skater and you see someone riding without a helmet, try and talk them into wearing one. If you see someone riding incredibly recklessly like these people, tell them what they’re doing is stupid not only puts them at risk, but the entire skate community. If you see someone blow a stop sign, chase them down and tell them to get a spotter or stop.

There’s a lot we as a community can do to keep our rights alive, but if we let things like this keep happening, ordinance 20.12.205 may not stand much longer.

It seems to me that rumble strips could be potentially dangerous to bicycles (particularly road bikes) in downhill locations near stop signs. Hitting a rumble strip at 25 mph (the speed limit) while braking sounds like and invitation for a speed wobble (bike can get them too), a trip to the pavement, and then a trip to the ER. It might not be those meddlesome kids who get hurt, it might be your husband, wife, or one of your children. Think about it, and decide if it is worth endangering everyone for the violations of the few.

As has been stated before, rumble strips is one idea.

Then again, if you’re slowing down to stop at the stop sign, they shouldn’t be a problem.

They shouldn’t be but they might be. Portland has less than ideal road conditions most of the year, and the combination of rain, sand, an uneven road surface, narrow tires, and braking while going downhill could result in a crash. If you don’t think so then you probably don’t ride a bicycle. I don’t think people that obey the law should be put into a dangerous situation because a few people use the hill for skateboarding.

This is a bad idea to put those strip things it’s like putting speed bumps on the freeway so people won’t speed your punishing everyone instead of just the people who commit the crime

Actually it’s more like putting speed bumps on the streets of a neighborhood to have a calming influence on traffic.

I think that a good comparison to something like this is people drifting cars/speeding. Just because some people choose to drive recklessly doesnt mean that no one else should be allowed to drive.

It’s not a matter of not allowing skateboarding, it’s a matter of ensuring skateboarders actually follow the law as spelled out in the city ordinance that regulates skateboarding in Portland.

I find some of this dialogue to be a little disheartening; but at the same time it is good that the residents of Arlington Heights and skateboarders are able to talk about these issues.

For the last six years I have been skating down the hill known as “Zoobomb” and have thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. Over the last couple years I have started to notice a drastic increase in the number of skaters using the hill. Part of me thinks that it is pretty cool to see more people out on skateboards but part of me is also alarmed by the recklessness that people have while skating.

I agree that the increase in skateboarders and the reckless use of the hill needs to be addressed, but I don’t think that placing rumble strips that will “stop skate wheels in their tracks” is the answer. The main problem I see is a lack of skateboard education amongst the downhill community. I realize that the idea of educating skateboarders may sound silly to some, but it is something that few of us are starting to take seriously in order to maintain a safe/healthy skateboard community.

Portland is the only city in the U.S. (as far as I know) that allows skateboarders to use the streets for commuting. Since this is the case, it is legal for us to skateboard down any street in Portland city limits (except for small sections in downtown). Some skateboarders see this as a green light to race down any steep hill they can find, but as most of this know that is not the case. Skateboarders are required to stop at every stop sign and obey all traffic laws (including speed limits). Rarely have I heard of cops issuing tickets for these infractions. In fact, I have talked to a police officer while on the hill and he said that he has seen people blow stop signs but didn’t bother to chase them down. Part of me doesn’t blame him for not wanting to chase down a skateboarder but I also feel that he should issue the ticket so that skaters do realize all the same laws apply to them.

Being able to use public transportation to take us to the top of a hill which you can skate down is an amazing privilege that skateboarders have here in Portland. Unfortunately it is one that many people take for granted. This is one of the reasons my friends and I started the website http://www.PdxDownhill.com. It serves as a way for skaters to communicate but also a way for us to try and educate the newer skaters on the laws and legalities. I personally would like to work with the Arlington Heights Neighborhood Association on coming up with a solution to this problem. I would love to continue skating these roads but I also want to see people skate through these neighborhoods in a safe and respectful manner.

If possible, I would like to attend a Neighborhood Association meeting to try to work on a solution that will make both parties happy. Please let me know if this is feasible.

Thanks for your time.

-Billy Meiners
pdxdownhill@gmail.com

We would appreciate you attending one of our meetings. We’re trying to arrange a meeting with representatives from PBOT and the Portland Police Bureau, so having you there as well would be helpful. This probably won’t happen in time for our June meeting, but perhaps our July meeting. I’ll contact you by e-mail to try to schedule something.

Thanks.

Billy:
I’m glad to know that there are some longboarders who understand that we have a problem here that needs to be addressed. I’m sure educating people is part of the solution, and I think it’s great that you want to do that.

But education will not be enough, because some will continue to violate the law and skate rudely. Just as for managing car traffic, fixing the skateboard problem in this neighborhood will require a combination of education, law enforcement, and traffic engineering.

Many of the skaters who posted here seem to believe that it’s enough that they wear helmets and wave at drivers as they’re running stop signs. That’s not enough. A friendly wave doesn’t make it okay to cut off a driver who has the right of way, or to cut in front of a pedestrian in a crosswalk, as many skaters have done to me while I’ve walked in the neighborhood.
Also, the skateboard problem isn’t just about safety, it’s also about noise. First, there’s the wheel noise itself. Boards with hard wheels are louder than cars, trucks, or buses. Then there’s the even louder noise caused by sliding, when skaters skid to a stop, or put their gloves on the pavement. For people who live near the most common stopping points, that scraping noise is constant in the summertime, and it sounds like a load of cinderblocks being dragged across the street. Then there’s the yelling: skaters whooping for joy, or yelling to each other. This happens, not only in the daytime, but often well into the night. It’s quite common for skaters to come down Fairview at midnight, and I’ve been woken up by them as late as 2 a.m.
If the skaters think about it at all, I’m sure they imagine that their impact on the neighborhood is minimal. What they don’t seem to get is that each one of them is part of a big wave of impact. On any summer day, we can easily see and hear more than 100 skaters come through the neighborhood, from morning till late at night. On one weekday evening last week, in a one-hour period between 5:30 and 6:30 p.m., I counted 18 skaters running the stop sign at Fairview & Kingston. They usually come down in groups, and yell to each other as they go.
Keep in mind that this skateboard traffic is on top of the traffic that the neighborhood experiences from the local attractions, such as the zoo and the Rose Garden. Because of this visitor traffic, Fairview & Kingston already get more than double the car traffic that a normal neighborhood feeder street would get. And unlike the residents, the visitors who drive here don’t understand that they must watch for skaters coming down the wrong side of the street on blind curves. This can’t go on much longer before something very bad happens.

You may have a point about the noise, especially if it’s at 2am. But honestly your and some others complaints about the high volume of traffic you already endure because of the attractive nuisances like the Rose Garden seem a bit like buying a house on Peacock Lane and then complaining about the Christmas lights. Collectively you are sitting on the most expensive real estate in Portland. Not that I don’t also take issue with skaters riding un-safely or being overly disruptive, but be grateful this is the worst you have to complain about.

I witnessed several young men just down the road a bit from where Fischer lane and Fairview Blvd intersect. All of the three of them all seemed to have Longboard/Skateboards and helmets. They were off on the shoulder of the road picking up left wrappers and alcohol containers left by most likely some irresponsible hikers in the park. Just where the speed bumps end before entering the main of the Arlington Heights neighborhood. I fully agree there needs to be regulation on the control of such reckless skateboarders. But they obviously skate fully alert and by judging their reactions as I pass by them I can tell that cars are their number one concern. I was very appreciative of there courtesy of helping our neighborhood look good. And as long as they play its safe and spread the word I would love them to stay and carry on with their shenanigans. I’ve seen coverage of their “zoobomb” events through different media sources and I am thankful of the popularity of it. If I was 30 years younger I would like to join them. It looks like a blast. But as far as the plan on stopping with the installation of road obstructions before you take face-to-face action on the problem isn’t such a golden idea. I doubt such plan will pass with the city. And I know as a person who drives through the intersection of Fairview and Kingston on a daily basis to commute, will not be enjoying rumble strips or any of the thought up road obstructions shaking my vehicle at 6:30 a.m.
Thanks for your time,
Martha J.

Noone in the neighborhood (or for that matter the many visitors to the park who are also impacted by this) has a problem with responsible behavior. It’s the very large numbers of skateboarders who don’t show any responsibility or consideration for others we are concerned about.

I’ve never seen a grown man with such bad intents. I realize that skaters need to stop at stop signs, and that riding into other lanes is bad, just talk to the City counsil about putting signs up saying something like “SKATEBOARDERS: SLIDE, OR DON’T SKATE HERE.” Those who don’t, should get a fat fine.

Most of us up here in Seattle love to see people wearing helmets and our first priority is safety. Yes, we may use both sides of the road but we usually use spotters. As for the stop signs, we use spotters for that also. These people are just trying to have fun and if you put in these speed bumps (whatever). Not all of these people are teenagers either lots of them are 20+ I don’t think that is the way to go (Put speed bumps in)

A question regarding the use of spotters: What are they used for? To stop others so the skateboarders can have the perfect ride or to let the skateboarders know that there’s oncoming traffic, pedestrians, bicyclists etc and take appropriate action?

Spotters are used to alert skateboarders of approaching hazards, cars, pedestrians, etc, so the can take appropriate action, like you said.

If you put in rumble strips, skateboarders will still ride, just with larger wheels to clear the obstruction. However, if *your* initiative causes a skateboarder to crash and get seriously injured you and the city then become liable for creating an unsafe situation.

For now, if a skateboarder gets hurt it’s their fault and their responsibility for breaking traffic laws. But if these guys start riding legally (and prove it) and get hurt because of “your” rumble strips you can be sued.

Most of these skateboarders are not adolescents. The typical longboarder is over 21 and many are in their 40’s. Most of them also wear helmets and other protective gear on a regular basis.

Yes, they are breaking traffic laws, but I’m sure you have jay-walked in the last week and maybe made an illegal U-turn in the last month or so.

The concern here is that with the disregard shown for all other users of the streets in the neighborhood it’s only a matter of time before a skateboarder crashes into a car and gets seriously injured. If that were to happen, it doesn’t really matter if the skateboarder was breaking traffic laws on his/her on risk, it would be just as awful an experience for the driver as for the skateboarder.

To draw a parallel with bicyclists, it was only after several fatal accidents that the city started installing bike boxes and the like, we’re trying to make sure we prevent an accident from happening in the first place.

55 replies on “Why Skateboarders Are a Problem in Washington Park”