Townships are getting smarter.

Instead of posting a sign in English, they’ve come up with a new way to show “No Skateboarding, Skating, or Bicycling”.

This is a universal way to get their point across. No more excuses such as “I forgot my glasses so I couldn’t read the letters” or “Solly, no speka or reda ingles”.

No Skateboarding, Skating, or Bicycling in a 1000 languages

While learning to drive a car, my instructors would say “Look out for pedestrians…they ALWAYS have the right of way.” Also, my dad would say “If you hit a pedestrian, they’ll sue you…”

Pedestrians come in all shapes and sizes: old people crossing the street, moms crossing the road with their baby carriages, joggers, bicycle riders, thieves running from the cops, and skateboarders. Yes, skateboarders are pedestrians, too. They board on the sidewalk, they board at a skate park, and they also board on a street. They have the legal right to do so, as long as it doesn’t get annoying to businesses (kids, don’t board in front of a business, please).

But after reading this story, I am totally pissed off at the woman.

According to the story, a woman’s husband was riding his motorcycle down an avenue in one of those countries on the tiny island of Great Britain. Some kids were boarding nearby. All of a sudden a kid’s skateboard gets loose and the kid runs after it in the street. The motorcyclist panicked, didn’t apply his brakes and/or steered correctly, slid and crashed. He avoided the boarder/pedestrian, but died due to injuries.

I am very sorry for the loss. No one should lose a loved one.

But to sue the kid which ran out on the intersection? What will happen next?

“…a 10 year old is sued for riding his bike across the street and not looking both ways…”
“…Grandpa Jones is sued for damages to a front end of a car caused when car hit Jones…”
“…Jogger struck, killed, sued for not putting on blinkers…”

I know in the US, Americans are sue-crazy. Apparently, same goes for the British/Scottish/Irish speaking worlds.

My advice to motorcycle (and car) drivers is: Take a chill pill. Look out for Grandpa Jones crossing the street. Watch out for little Johnnie on his paper route. Pay attention to the health geeks jogging on the boulevard. Remember: skateboarders are pedestrians, too.

Ride Hard
Roach Man

This is absolutely cool! Too bad we don’t sell it…yet…at 44Skate.com

I found another town who doesn’t approve of skateboarding in a public place: Cary, IL

No skateboarding, no rollerblading, no nothing

They forgot to mention:
No Speaking
No Thinking
No Fun

I love reading Police Beat stories. They are good reading, especially in the can. But, I don’t bring my laptop in the can with me…so, I log in to my favorite Police Beat blog - the Arizona Daily Wildcat. They’ve got some great stories of kids / misfits breaking the law — mostly drug-related. What astounds me how the rent-a-cops look the other way on drug-related incidents. Yet, any incident regarding skateboarders are blown waaaaay out of proportion.

here’s the skateboarding story:

I can understand people have other hobbies in life. My hobby is watching TV. Yours may be reading. But looking at this story, a skateboarder is trying out for the WWF.

This kid got busted for skateboarding where he shouldn’t. So he resorts to throwing himself on the ground like WWF wrestlers do. What was the point? Was this his way of expressing anger? Was this some after-effect of his parent’s up-bringing? Imagine him kicking and screaming on the high-chair when forced to eat his peas?

Now, for the “fun” stories.

#1: No sleping in the library
Looks like a heroin addict was using the library as his hotel. He was caught with paraphenalia. Yet, he wasn’t arrested.

#2: Marijuana Candy
A guy is freaking out after eating some pot-laced Jolly Ranchers. The cops found the source, informed the “owner” of the law, and told her to get rid of them. Nice. A slap on the wrist.

#3: Skateboard citation: the main story above.

#4: Car and Battery missing
Not much of a story. Car stolen. Car found. Stereo equipment gone. Batter gone. Surprise, Surprise!

I figured the skateboarding story was enough to grab my attention.

My advice to you: if you ever get busted for skateboarding where you weren’t supposed to, don’t whine about it. Take it like a man.

Roach Man rolling out…

What’s with all the violence lately? This should have been the time for Christmas cheer, Hanakuh lights, Festivus celebration, and Kwanzaa (uh, not exactly sure what happens during Kwanzaa, so let’s leave it at that).

I feel sorry for this dude. He voiced his displeasure at kids skateboarding near his home and BAM! A broken skateboard flies from his head. Hope he feels better…I bet he wishes he was wearing a skateboard helmet, tho.

Or, how about another story about a guy who got beaten with a skateboard? Excellent video, I may add…

And this story about a kid getting beaten and mugged for his skateboard. It was probably not a Tar-Jay, Sam’s CLub, or Blue light special. Imagine if he had a Loaded skateboard? I’d kick, scratch, and pull hair, too. Er, uh, I don’t pull hair like girlies do.

I wonder if these stories are all related?!?!? A guy steals a kid’s board…beats up on an old man…then later beats up on another guy…coincidence? Too fishy…

Skate Hard, live Hard (but please don’t beat people up with your skateboards…unless it is a Tar-Jay model :))

Roach Man

Happy New Year to y’all. I see a lot of good things happening this year.

1. Skate parks are opening: Kids now have more places to go skateboarding. IN 2009 alone, I counted over 30 stories where either new parks were opened or in the planning/budgeting phase. ON the darker side, I counted 5 stories where parks have closed or in the process of closing.

2. 44Skate.com’s prices are LOWER than last year: must be the over stock from distributors. Come on, admit it. You asked Santa for a Carver deck, but he bought (brought) you one from Tar-Jay (Target).

3. Better Skateboard Gear: Check this “bum” saver out!

All in all, we all had a blast either being in the outdoor or indoor skateparks. I did a lot of boarding out there, buit not enough (doc says I’m getting too old. Well, F&%@ him!)

Ride Hard, Live Hard
Roach Man

Only in the UK where one would get arrested for killing a flying rat with a skateboard.

I don’t get this.

I seriously don’t get this.

I found a story (Trickin’? Watch out for cops!) about a kid whose skateboard was confiscated by University of Arizona cops. Looks like Skateboarding on U of A property is a BIG no-no. The cops took his skateboard away to add to the first skateboard they took away earlier. That’s a shame…But wait…

Reading the rest of the page, there were 5 much more severe incidents:

1 - An on-campus incident of 4 individuals smoking pot, possessing pot, paraphernalia, paper, the works. No charges filed; “owner” of such stuff was released and incident forwarded to the Dean of Students office…OH-NO! Can you say “double-secret probation?”

2 - An under-aged chicky was found lying in her own puke. She was taken to the hospital and later cited for under-aged drinking and released…hmm…was she still drunk when they released her? Don’t cite her for being a public nuisance!

3 - A student was cited for not having his car lights on, not having a license, not having proof of insurance, and not having proper registration. The kid was “released on the scene” but his car was impounded for 30 days. Man…if this happened in my town, you’re “30 days in the hole” (remember that song?)

4 - An under-aged student threw up on a cop car. He was cited for being under-21 and released. Don’t know about you, but if some one puked on my car, his ass is grass!

5 - Finally, a young dude was watched by cops doing something at a bike rack on campus. After tailing the kid, cops found an open “12” of beer and a last name. No charges filed.

Let’s all go to college…but leave your skateboard at home.

Ride Hard (but not on U of A property!)

Roachman

I would have loved to catch this fight on video.  Apparently, an over-zealous deck tried to outrun a vehicle.  It’s driver, a young motorist, took offense of the vehicle flattening his skateboard. Young motorist tried fighting with the experienced driver.  Young driver lost.