Skateboarding in NYC

walkathon

Good article in today's (10/7/13)N.Y. Times on perils of skateboarding.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/07/nyregion/despite-hazards-street-skateboarding-thrives.html

newguy88

“Skate at your own level. If you don’t have the skill set, stick to the bike path.” Yeah go the wrong way at half the speed of a bike down the bike path or lane. Cause why not hipster? The bikes will move into traffic no problem. Heck don't even look up from your iPhone, you don't need to worry your head under the completely cool kick ass beanie.

People complain about bikes all the time but a marginally safe cyclist knows not to form a gaggle and take up the whole freaking road or not to swerve in between cars going the wrong way. I see a greater percentage of skateboarders pulling this shit then cyclists.

pragmaticguy

The problem is all these guys try to be like Marty McFly.

hamilton

SKATEBOARDING AT 31 ?

prodigalson

Ouch - is the bike path really safer?

newguy88

prodigalson said:

Ouch - is the bike path really safer?

No its not. Bikes routinely go twice the speed of skaters and are forced to swerve out of the the way, and into traffic, of punks and hipsters on boards. They belong on the sidewalk if the sidewalk is wide enough if not in the parks. Bike paths are for bike not skateboards.

dac545

It seems as though skateboarders are actually required to go in the bike lane.

http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/nycode/VAT/VII/34/1234

The city doesn't appear to differentiate between skateboards and in-line skates (are those rollerblades?), based on the section right before this one.

http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/nycode/VAT/VII/34/1233

newguy88

It's my understanding that skateboards aren't inline skates aka rollerblades. Rollerblades is just a brand name that became generic according to Google. I'd argue that skateboards aren't covered under the cited law but in fact create the conditions that force cyclists and rollerbladers out of the bike lane.

whynot_31

This is why there are very general statutes, such as Disoderly Conduct.

Otherwise, we'd have to wonder whether those shoes with the embedded wheel, "wheelies", are a vehicle of some kind. This way, we can just leave it to an officer's discretion.

newguy88

That's dangerous whynot! The officer might just decide that bikes aren't actually wheeled vehicles and skateboards can only be driven in HOV lanes.

whynot_31

Such decisions happen, but are rare enough that we continue to allow discretion.

whynot_31

On occasion, the decisions are set to Benny Hill music:

whynot_31 said:

Last week, NYPD Officers tried to stop an annual skateboard ride known as the Broadway Bomb.

They were far from successful

dac545

Haha, yeah I started reading blog posts that were trying to interpret the laws that I linked to and there seemed to be every interpretation possible (skateboards are in the same category as bikes, they are not in the same category, skateboards are required to be on the sidewalk, skateboards are required to be in the street, skateboards are required to be in the bike lane, kids below a certain age are required to be on the sidewalk when riding skateboards, adults are required to be in the street, adults can choose to ride in the street or safely on the sidewalk).

Very confusing!