Downhill skateboarding doesn't fly with Laguna Beach critics
Residents of a popular slope want the city to ban the sport on most hills and enact a speed limit. It's a classic Southern California showdown.
 Ethan Agnew, left, and Dane Maison, both 15, barrel down a hill in Laguna Beach. The daredevil hobby, speedboarding, has become more popular. (John W. Adkisson / Los Angeles Times) |
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For downhill skateboarders, the feeling of tucking your hands behind your back and bombing down one of Laguna Beach's steep canyon roads is euphoric: the pressure of G-force as you bank turns, the wind on your face and the blur of asphalt rushing below.
But those who live along the curving hillside roads complain of heart-stopping confrontations and fear something serious could happen if steps aren't taken to curtail the mostly teenage skateboarders who hitch rides up the hillside and scream down the road as fast as possible. Some estimate the skaters can travel in excess of 50 mph.
A group of residents on one of the city's favored downhill spots, a winding, narrow road flanked by houses with ocean views, is asking the city to ban skateboarding on most hills and enact a 10 mph speed limit. It would effectively outlaw downhill skateboarding — also known as speedboarding — in one of the places the daredevil sport first emerged.
Several cities, including Malibu and Newport Beach, already have laws restricting the practice. But in Laguna — an independent-minded city that seems to tolerate extremes — the idea of government interference in a board sport is, for many, unthinkable.
In many ways, it's a classic Southern California showdown: young kids on wheels, adults demanding they slow down.
Alan Bernstein, 62, pushed the issue onto the city's agenda after one too many brushes with speedboarders outside his home on Bluebird Canyon Drive.
He and some 50 neighbors have written to the city about stories of harrowing accidents, broken bones and near misses they attribute to some 200 downhill skateboarders who zip down their narrow street each week.
"Coming home from work, after a long day of commuting, I have swerved to the side of the narrow road to avoid a terrible mishap," wrote Carolyn Glosser, a neighbor.
Downhill skateboarding: Laguna Beach critics propose a ban - latimes.com
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