Comment 63294

By mystoneycreek (registered) - website | Posted May 10, 2011 at 06:07:36

While an unnecessary death is always a 'tragedy', I'm a little disappointed that we've got conflation going on here, and it seems on at least two fronts to be selective and convenient.

This was a skateboarder in the street who got into a collision with an automobile.

Skating in the street while going the wrong way.

As a casual observer since skateboarding first came on the scene decades ago, and having had friends for whom it was a pastime and lifestyle choice, doesn't the activity appeal to the 'rebel'? Just like their surfing and snowboarding brethren, they're free-spirited, fun-loving rebels. Indeed, it seems that skateboarding has become a rite of passage for many. Part of declaring themselves to the world. Riding in the street, in traffic the wrong way seems to fit perfectly.

But while I am a strong believer in changing the function and profile of our streets, the notion of skateboarders being used in traffic is, not to put too fine a point on it, idiotic.

So please, let's have a little clarity, a little bit more reason, and maybe not reducing the importance of traffic issues by asserting that this young man was doing nothing wrong. Because that notion is insulting on so many levels. (The injection into the discussion that he wasn't wearing a helmet takes this to another level entirely.)

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