Laguna Makes The NewYorkTimes
posted,
BAN IT! THESE KIDS ARE RUINING IT FOR EVERYONE!
Bringing Skateboarders Doing 60 to a Halt
Ann Johansson for The New York Times
Barbara Evans, in her S.U.V., told Chance and his mother,
Ginger DeLong, “I don't want to see a skateboarder on this
hill.”
While Porsches and Mercedes-Benzes precariously
descend the windy canyon roads here at 25 miles per
hour, Chance bombs down at 40, sometimes even 60
m.p.h. on his skateboard, savoring the sea breeze on his
face. But this may be his last ride here.
The future of downhill skateboarding is in jeopardy in the
region where the sport was born, with bans spreading
across Southern California and lawmakers questioning
whether people — teenagers mostly — should be
barreling downhill at 60 m.p.h. with very little between
them and the pavement.
Laguna Beach is set to become the latest city to severely
restrict high-speed skateboarding, sometimes known as
“bombing hills,” following other coastal cities like Malibu
and Newport Beach. Once a final vote is taken on Tuesday,
eight canyon roads will almost certainly be entirely off
limits, while others will remain open on a six-month trial
basis, after which they, too, may be closed to skaters.
“From a public safety standpoint, there is a lot to worry
about,” said Mayor Toni Iseman. “I understand why kids
want to do it, and I appreciate the skill set it takes, but I
don’t think public streets are the place for this sport.”
Almost since its inception, skateboarding has drawn ire
from pedestrians and governments. Norway banned even
skateboard ownership in the 1970s and ’80s, and Nike
later made light of animosity toward the sport with an ad
campaign that posed the question: “What if we treated all
athletes the way we treat skateboarders?”
These days, skaters can “ollie” (a trick jump) and “kickflip”
(a variation on the ollie) on sidewalks with relative
impunity, and the popularity of downhill skateboarding
has boomed. Dozens of local boarders now don helmets
and gloves to bomb Laguna Beach’s hills, up from a
handful a few years ago.
The prospect of a ban here has made Laguna Beach —
whose majestic cliffs overlooking the Pacific attract, and
produce, some of the best boarders in the world — the
center of the debate over downhill skateboarding.
“The best talent in the world is here in Laguna,” said Mark
Golter, a two-time world downhill skateboarding
champion who grew up here and trains younger skaters.
“We’re trying to fuel and help the sport, and all of a
sudden the city is saying we can’t ride.”
But residents say the boarders’ growing ranks have made
driving a harrowing undertaking, rife with worries about
hitting young skaters and legal liability. Because boarders
are considered pedestrians under state law, they are not
subject to speed limits; almost any collision with a vehicle
is considered the driver’s fault.
“It just scares the dickens out of me trying to avoid these
skateboarders screaming down the hills,” said Peter
Weisbrod, 73, a longtime resident. “I worry about their
safety, even with helmets. And I worry about liability.”
As Chance, last year’s 14-and-under U.S. Nationals Open
Downhill Skateboarding champion, skated down Nyes
Place after school last week, Barbara Evans pulled over in
her S.U.V. to tell him to get out of the street.
“I don’t want to see a skateboarder on this hill, or any hill
that I’m going down,” said Ms. Evans, who has lived here
since 1975. From the back seat, her grandson, a toddler,
yelled “Never!” and “Bad boy!”
Chance said most opposition to downhill skateboarding
was because people were not yet familiar with the sport.
“It’s something new that they don’t know, so their eyes
aren’t open to it yet,” he said. “Skateboarding was always
looked down on, and now downhill skateboarding is, too.
People are used to seeing bikers, so they don’t react this
way to them.”
Still, injuries do happen in downhill skateboarding — as
do lawsuits. Mr. Golter broke his elbow, wrist, arm,
shoulders, ribs and pelvis before he retired in 2003 after
his fifth concussion. And the family of a 17-year-old boy
sued and settled with the nearby City of Mission Viejo
after he suffered brain damage in a 2004 skateboarding
accident on flatter ground.
So far, Laguna Beach has tried to broker a compromise,
closing some roads to skateboarders but leaving most
open for at least six months and imposing speed limits. It
will also look into allowing skaters to use emergency fire
roads, where there is no traffic.
But even if the city banned downhill skateboarding
outright, the sport’s ties to Laguna Beach would probably
not end anytime soon. Although Malibu banned downhill
skateboarding in 2009, boarders still frequent its canyons.
“There are so many people joining the sport every day,”
said Michael Brooke, author of “The Concrete Wave: The
History of Skateboarding.” “I think if they ban it and turn it
into an outlaw thing, it will probably add to the sport’s
appeal.”
2011 April 2 8:18 AM
replied,
who cares.