Balancing Skateboard Fun and Safety : * Experts--and Common Sense--Say Don’t Hitch Rides and Do Use Proper Equipment

If anyone in Orange County thought the death of a 19-year-old Dana Point resident last June in a skateboarding accident was a freak occurrence that couldn’t happen again, consider what happened this month to a 19-year-old Westminster man. He became the county’s second fatality resulting from a skateboard rider taking a tow behind a vehicle.

Moral of the story: Skateboarding can be lots of fun; skateboarding also can be dangerous. In fact, the National Skateboarding Assn., which sponsors skateboarding competition across the country, supports the general use of such safety equipment as helmets, elbow pads and knee pads, and requires such equipment in its competition.

As for taking a tow from a pickup, Don Bostic, an organization spokesman, says “you’re asking for trouble” if you ride a skateboard and cling to a moving vehicle.

Bostic notes that skateboard riding presents different hazards for different age groups. Young children are especially resilient, able to recover quickly from falls. Older folks--for example, Dad trying out Junior’s skateboard--are particularly susceptible to wrist injuries from trying to break their falls.

But with teen-agers, there’s danger in the attitude. There’s an unrealistic feeling in that age group of riders, says Bostic, that “it’s not cool” to use safety equipment. That, combined with daredevil tricks, like riding behind pickup trucks, can lead to trouble.

The best skateboarders wouldn’t think of going into competition without safety equipment. But as is the case in motorcycle and bicycle riding, there’s a false sense of indestructibility that some young people have.

If the best skateboarders use safety equipment, why can’t riders who are interested in what’s cool wear them too? And nobody, with or without safety equipment, should be hitching a ride behind a moving vehicle.