When cars and skateboards collide…

When cars and skateboards collide, the skateboarder is sent to the hospital. At least that’s what happened on Sunday, here in the city. The telegraph also has more information here.

The 25-year-old skateboarder was skateboarding down the middle of a two lane road and caused a tie up in traffic. So, as can be expected of drivers in the city, one car attempted to pass on the right hand side. That’s when the skateboarder decided to make a right hand turn. The skateboarder was struck by the car and knocked to the ground. Lucky, he wasn’t run over. He is currently in the hospital with a broken elbow and a concussion. The skateboarder was also not wearing any protective gear or a helmet.

Sgt. Pat Bonner of the Saint John Police Force says that “the streets are not made for skateboards - bottom line,” he said. “They’re for vehicles, not for skateboarders.” Bicycles use the roadway, he said, but riders must follow the rules of the road just like the motorized vehicles that travel them. “What control do you really have over (a skateboard)? They seem to think they have control - not like a vehicle that has brakes on it.”

The driver of the car is not being charged. I totally agree with that decision. There is no way that the car should be responsible when the guy is being an idiot on a road. What really made me want to post this article is what I saw tonight. I drove by a guy on a skateboard on Loch Lomond Road (when it was dark out). What’s strange about this? Well he was skateboarding in the middle of the lane in the opposite direction. He also wasn’t wearing a helmet or any gear. I wouldn’t be surprised if we hear about him getting hit tonight!

So what is a skateboarder to do in Saint John? Well, you can wait for the skate park to be completed. Plans are underway to build a more than half-million dollar skateboard park near Harbour Station. The money has been raised and it is expected the park will open in 2008. Jason MacLean, chairman of the Fundy Skateboard Association that is the driving force behind the park, said his group will support a bylaw that will levy heavy fines on skateboarders that choose to ride on busy city streets. But until an alternative such as the proposed park is available, he understands why some skaters take to the streets in search of a good ride. A bylaw, he said, that carries a heavy fine will go a long way to stopping boarders skating on heavy thoroughfares such as King Street.

But Bonner isn’t so sure the opening of the park will get the skateboarders off city streets and away from the danger to themselves and drivers. “I think we’re still going to have (skateboarders) coming down King Street, that’s my opinion. Time will tell on that.”