Manners for the Boardwalk

Boardwalks ideally are places for relaxation, where bicyclists, joggers, walkers or skaters can enjoy their individual means of getting from one place to another with the surf pounding alongside.

The problem, as has been evident for some time, is keeping adherents of different pursuits from bumping into each other or coming so close as to wipe out any chance of relaxation.

The tight quarters of the Newport Beach boardwalk in summer have been dramatized by the court case of Naomi McComb, a financial consultant and a recreational skater four to six days a week in her free time. She got a ticket last month for allegedly skating too fast on the boardwalk.

McComb contends she’s no threat to anyone and never has been in her years of rolling down the concrete alongside the ocean. She says she knew the speed limit for skaters is 8 miles per hour but wonders how she was supposed to know that she was exceeding it as charged. Police officers on bicycles said that McComb was going 17 miles per hour.

The fact that the job of police patrolling on bikes includes monitoring speed indicates that whatever actually occurred in McComb’s case, fast skating is indeed a problem on the boardwalk. This is so in other communities too.

Huntington Beach has installed a flashing light on its boardwalk to slow traffic to 2.5 mph on days when the path is thronged with skaters and walkers. Some collisions there have been serious enough to cause broken bones.

The basic rule for anyone using a boardwalk should be courtesy. Walkers should try to stay out of the way of bikers and skaters, who in turn should maintain sensible speeds. After all, there’s no requirement to skate as fast as the law allows. When the Newport Beach path is crowded, as it usually is on weekends, 8 mph can be too fast.

Skaters who regularly use boardwalks should know the rules. And that other waterfront communities such as Long Beach, Hermosa Beach and San Diego also have established boardwalk speed limits indicates this is a problem all along the beaches.

Various groups should be able to coexist on a boardwalk. Parents with small children should not have to fear letting them use the path, nor should elderly pedestrians have to be apprehensive about their safety.

Some cities, including Newport Beach, have threatened to ban skaters if they cause troubles for others. That shouldn’t be necessary. Common sense and courtesy can keep everyone safe on the boardwalk.