Speed Limit For Skateboarders? Los Angeles City Council Votes To Create New Laws

Skateboarders looking to speed down residential roads may soon be hit with a speeding ticket as the Los Angeles City Council voted on Wednesday to seek new rules governing how skateboarders conduct themselves in public.

Under the proposal skakeboarders will be forced to keep their speeds under 25 mph or face a speeding ticket. Council members are also seeking new laws which requires skateboarders to following all traffic signs including stop signs and pedestrian yield signs.

The vote to further discuss the issue passed with a 12-0 vote and was initiated by Councilman Joe Buscaino in response to the death of two skateboarders in the last year. According to the councilman he hopes to end downhill skateboard “bombing” which leaves skateboarders weaving in and out of traffic in the harbor district.

If the law passes it could include a provision which gives police officers the right to confiscate skateboards and to ensure that parents are made aware of traffic citations when given to underage skateboarders.

According to Buscaino in an interview with the LA Times:

“We’re looking at … [having] the officers impound the skateboards after the citation is given, so that the parents can go to the police station and recover the skateboard.”

The biggest argument made by the skateboarding community is that bicyclist are not placed under the same restrictions, although local skateboard shop owners seem to agree that obeying basic rules of the road, specifically road signs should be part of every skateboarders routine to ensure safety for everyone around.