Capitola’s city council is planning to vote on new regulations to govern skateboarding in Capitola Village after a 17-year-old skateboarder plowed into an elderly woman in a crosswalk, causing her to suffer fatal injuries, according to a recent news report from CBS affiliate KION. The accident is not the first skateboarding death in Capitola this year; in April, a 20-year-old man suffered fatal brain damage after crashing on Monterey Avenue. He was not wearing a helmet.
These accidents and others have prompted the Capitola City Council to consider a new ordinance banning skateboarding all the way up to the top of the steep hills that lead into Capitola Village. As experienced Capitola accident injury lawyers, we understand the motivation for such a ban. Local ordinances already prohibit skateboarding in the Village itself, but not all skateboarders realize that skateboarding in the village is illegal. By extending the ordinance, the city council hopes to increase awareness of the no-skateboarding zones and prevent the kinds of fatal accidents that have occurred when skateboarders picking up speed on the hills crash or collide with another person.
Supporters of the new ordinance point out that the increased sidewalk and road traffic around Capitola make skateboarding a perilous activity for both boarders and others sharing the pavement. Opponents, however, insist that skateboarding is a safer mode of transportation than bicycling or motor vehicles, which are involved in far more accidents each year than skateboarders.
Safety on roads and sidewalks is a must, no matter how you choose to travel. If you or someone you love has been injured in a pedestrian, skateboard, or bicycle accident in California, please don’t hesitate to contact the experienced Capitola accident attorneys at Van Der Walde & Associates. Our number is (877) 862-6228. Call us today for a free and confidential consultation. You may also follow our Capitola Lawyers Twitter account.
