Skateboarding on busy streets is foolhardy

It's just as illegal in Toronto, Ontario as it is in Fredericton, New Brunswick to skateboard on city streets, yet it's a rule few riders here know about and rarely see enforced. One day in the middle of May, Lee Breen, 25, of Fredericton refused to pay a $100 penalty for violating a bylaw that prohibits skateboarding on city roads. He spent a night behind bars. When he got out, she said he would still skate on the city roads.

Chantele Nicol, 21, of Toronto who commutes from her home in the city's east end to her job as the manager of skateboard store Flood Board Co. at College and Shaw streets.

She says that "Nobody gives you hassles." She was nearly turned into a vegetable when she was struck by a car while skateboarding last year. She says that said battles with aggressive drivers on Toronto's busy streets are, indeed, "like World War III at times." Despite that, she still skates on major roads fighting with aggressive drivers But after she recovered from her injuries, she got back on her board. Her hour-long skateboard commute sometimes gets her to work faster than would the TTC. She must have been really late for work when she had the accident.

Bill Mackenzie, also of Toronto, a 35-year-old television promotions producer has, since 2001, commuted by skateboard from his home in the Annex to his job at Bloor and Church Streets. He says he has never received a warning or fine from police officers. "I go right through the core of the city, and there are tons of cops." He claims that his 20-minute trip to work on his skateboard takes about half the time it typically takes him to drive. Skateboarding, he says is "a great way to start the day. It's fast, it's a workout, it's liberating, it doesn't pollute, and it's usually safe.” There is the key word. ‘Usually’ implies that he may very well have an accident while skateboarding on a busy street. If he has a serious accident, he won’t be going to work for a very long time.

Both Nicol and MacKenzie say that they strictly follow the rules of the road. MacKenzie said he only skateboards on streets rather than on sidewalks, which would be legal – in order to avoid impeding pedestrians. The only difference between cyclists and skateboarders is that one is on two wheels and one is on four. Bicycles are vehicles. They have to have proper brakes, lighting, a bell, and reflectors. Skateboards don't have that. For this reason, street skateboarding is far more dangerous than street cycling. I don't think skateboards should be sharing the road with one-tonne cars or five-tonne trucks. It's just dangerously stupid.

Studies in the USA found skateboarders injuries occur more than twice as often as inline skating and were more than twice as likely to be severe or critical compared to inline In-line skaters injuries

Toronto's Municipal Code prohibits skateboarding on city streets when those streets have sidewalks. Violators can be fined $90 – though, it appears, they rarely are. Toronto Police Traffic Services Const. Mig Roberts said officers usually issue warnings, rather than tickets, to people found skateboarding on busy streets for the first time. Officers who do not even do that, he said, are probably busy with bigger priorities. And even if the bylaw is not always enforced, he argued, there are good reasons it remains on the books.

Police officers tend to be lenient on people who skateboard on quiet residential streets unless they are causing a nuisance. People who skateboard on major arteries treated are differently. A 15-year-old was fined for skateboarding on the street last March after he was hit by a car in Kensington Market.

In Tasmania, if a skater refuses to obey any of the regulations, including skating in a sign-posted ‘No Go Zone’ Police also have the power to temporarily confiscate skateboards and other wheeled recreational devices and toys for a period of seven days. The law requires police to keep the device for seven days, following which it can be reclaimed by the person if he/she is an adult, or, in the case of a child or young person, the person’s parent or guardian, or another adult who is entitled to take possession of it. Returning the item requires the involvement of a responsible adult in the process, ensuring the rights of a child or young person are catered for. The process also provides for the return of a skateboard or device to the owner when it has been used inappropriately by someone else, for example when it has been lent to a friend.

Skate-friendly Vancouver, permits skateboarding on some of its city streets. It was made legal in 2001. There are other cities around the world that permit In-line skaters and others who use skate boards to do so on the roads and in those cities, In-line skaters are expected to obey the same traffic laws as cyclists when skating on the roads. This means that they skate in the same direction as traffic and use the same hand signals to indicate turns, slowing, and stopping that cyclists use.The legality of road skating is a gray area in most cities. Some cities, like Philadelphia, explicitly allow road skating. Other areas have tried to outlaw it, considering speed skates to fall under a "toy ordinance" meant to keep toys off the roads and thus treat In-line skaters as pedestrians. In Ohio, skating on roads violates Akron’s city code. Offenders are given a warning card for repeat offenses and may be criminally prosecuted.

People occasionally use In-line skates, skateboards or other similar devices to tour around cities such as London and Paris. Such events are normally organized by a group of volunteers that operate in cooperation with the Police and other local authorities, and would always use marshals to help control the traffic.

Street skating can be formal affairs, with pre-specified routes, marshals and, at times, police escorts or ad hoc gatherings of like minded individuals. There are organized street skates in a number of cities around the world. Some of the largest are in Paris, Munich and Berlin. London also has an active street skating scene and a smaller scene can be found in Nottingham.

It's close to impossible to keep the kids indoors on warm spring afternoons --- and few parents want to discourage outdoor play. Along with pickup ball games and tree climbing, kids love to jump on their skateboards, pull on their inline skates, and skate up and down their street.

Regardless of what your child rides, make sure he or she follows traffic rules, keeps of major streets and is courteous and attentive to pedestrians crossing the street who incidentally always have the right of way and cars approaching them. Make sure your kids know how to stop, turn, and slow down before they attempt skating in public. Stopping is the most important skill. Never let your kids use their skateboards or In-line skates after dark. Keep in mind that may hit pebbles, cracks, and other hazards on the road that sometimes are unseen at night. Check their boards regularly for nicks, slippery surfaces, and wobbly or cracked wheels. Overall, kids and sporting equipment fitted with wheels are a natural pairing --- but just as with their bicycles, the children should know that these are not harmless toys and they should learn safety procedures. With a little caution and the right safety gear, they can indulge in the rite of spring safely.

Personally, I don’t see any problem as of yet with respect to people skating or using skateboards on residential streets if done responsibly. Like cyclists, In-line skaters and skateboarders should always wear helmets. They should also opt for other safety equipment, such as wrist guards, elbow and knee pads and leather gloves because if they fall, they are less apt to suffer from ‘road burns’. That kind of injury can lead to serious infections if ignored. The most common skating injuries treated in hospital are forearm and wrist fractures.

I think In-line skaters and skateboarders should be permitted to skate and skateboard on bicycle paths that are not part of a road but there should be rules attached to that privilege such as keeping to the right side of the path and pass on the left and that they have enough room and alert the cyclists ahead of them by calling out, “passing on the left.” Even having a hand-held bicycle bell would be sufficient warning to alert the cyclists of the fact that someone wishes to pass them. Further, they should not skate or skateboard at night unless they use a bright flashlight to see what is a head of them and some reflective material on their backs to warn others who are behind them of what is ahead of them.

Outdoor inline In-line skaters occasionally experience a similar but much more invasive injury when a fall slides across cement, asphalt or gravel. These abrasions are called “road rash.” Road rash is a common injury resulting from cycling crashes, but not as common for inline skating falls. However, it is still a good idea for In-line skaters to know how to recognize and treat these injuries. Although road rash is not serious if treated promptly and properly, it is a burn-type injury that can lead to serious infections if ignored.

The term ‘suicide skate’ evolved to describe events where a group of around 20-50 people use In-line skates to tour around a city without informing the Police or other local authorities and without using marshals to help control the traffic. The term suicide skate probably evolved because in many cases, the participants would push themselves beyond their normal comfort zone, perhaps skating faster or using narrower or more crowded roads than they would normally be happy to use. In the case of relatively inexperienced In-line skaters, simply skating on roads without the help of marshals to control traffic could be a significant step outside their personal comfort zone. Observers might regard such behavior as suicidal. However, participants would not actually try and commit suicide or otherwise injure themselves during such skates but acting foolishly is tantamount to attempting to committing suicide. In my opinion, I do not believe that In-line skating or skateboarding should be permitted on roads with a dividing strip or centre line, continuous or broken. It’s simply too dangerous.

Almost two-thirds of in-line skating injuries happen on roads and sidewalks. Relatively few occur in those areas best suited for recreational in-line skating or skating, such as playgrounds and rinks. About 90 per cent of cycling fatalities are caused by cyclists being struck by motor vehicles. Imagine what the odds are of In-line skaters and skateboarders surviving a collision with a vehicle hundreds of times heaver that they are.