Mixed messages
The Half Moon Bay Review reports that their police will enforce helmet regs but that pad use is discouraged. Unless you’re skitching, then no pads or helmet. Huh?
… Counterintuitively, the group opposes the use of pads and is urging skateboarders to send letters of support for AB 874, which would eliminate the requirement for elbow and knee pads at public skate parks. Skateboarding organizations take the position that requiring the pads does little to improve safety and leads kids to skateboard on the streets, away from safer, monitored parks. That may be so – and we accept their expertise.
Speaking as a 48 year-old vert skater, I can attest that pads can prevent injuries.
Knee pads make sense for vert but no one knee bails out of a switch crooks, right? I think they’ve got it right. Speaking of pad rules, helmets are now mandatory at Cannon Beach. I wore one yesterday to avoid a ticket and you know what? I fell on my head…
Weird that they think wearing pads will encourage people to skate on the streets? Maybe they meant that mandatory pad requirements would cause people to avoid the skatepark.
I’m against mandatory pad regs. I’d like to be able to choose whether or not to wear a helmet, but I don’t give my son that option. Then again, I’m also against helmet laws for motorcycles.
More disturbing is the fact police will close the park “any time they see skateboarders without helmets or kids riding bicycles on the concrete lot.”
As the dude at my park who is the only one (I know of) in the 15-30plus age bracket that wears pads, I will say that I like the choice to wear pads. I wear certain pads/helmet combos at different parks. And they have definitely saved my knees many many times.
I’m not dead set against helmet requirements, but one point skaters should make more often is that we don’t “go over the handlebars” while hanging on to them, and, consequently, land on the top of our heads, the way someone bicycling on the street does when hitting a hidden curb or what have you. Not that we don’t unfurl and bonk… but the scareder one’s head is of tapping, the more one’s body prevents it from doing so. And, ABSTINENCE from bonking seems like its always a better thing than protection, in this case.
under 18 I support helmets over 18 it should be your choice.
The last time I was in half moon bay,ca it was just that haggard mini ramp and a few other shitty ramptech quarter pipes and things on asphalt. I think they could use a real skatepark. I dont like wearing a helmet while riding my skateboard but I definatly like to wear one on my motorcycle(honda cbr600). I do agree all those rules should be optional.
I’m definitely pro-choice on the pads issue.
What about second-hand bonking?
BJJPDX/Tom Says:
May 28th, 2009 at 9:46 pm
under 18 I support helmets over 18 it should be your choice.
what he said
I’m 37, didn’t really wear a helmet until just before this past christmas, I fell back and smacked my head but good. Knocked out cold for at least 40 seconds. CT scans, MRI. Spent the night in the hospital under observation. It was a 3.5′ tall mini ramp. I never would have ever thought of wearing a helmet. I still can’t remember anything that happened between 4 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. the day of the fall. I wear my helmet all the time now. But if you don’t want to, it’s up to you. I wish I’d never smacked my head, that helmet gets really hot.
too much time skating with kneepads has pretty much made falling to my knees an automatic action in the park, twice in the last decade I haven’t worn them and both times I dropped to my knees anyway, it’s easier just to wear them
ya I wear the damn knee pads to, half the time I end up running it out anyway but they have saved my old ass knees many times.