Skateboarders and in-line skaters are causing problems for public officials. The Florida Legislature has made a law to encourage the government to provide places for skating, but it’s still a challenge for officials to figure out their liability. The government is worried about being sued if people get hurt while skateboarding, inline skating, or biking. They passed a law that seems to protect them, but there are ways for people to still sue if they can prove the government was careless or didn’t get permission from parents for kids under 17. The law also says people can be considered negligent if they don’t use their equipment properly or do things that could hurt themselves or others. But it’s hard to prove someone was doing something dangerous on purpose. Skating can be dangerous, especially for younger kids. The American Academy of Pediatrics found that over 50,000 people went to the emergency room for skating-related injuries last year. Many of these injuries were to the face, ankles, and wrists.
Some people argue that skaters should know the risks and not complain if they get hurt. But the law says that kids under 17 can’t be expected to understand risks the same way as adults.
To reduce the risk of getting sued, some places are building special skateboard parks with rules and safety measures, like no night-time skating and clear warnings about the dangers. They also have staff to keep an eye on things and make sure the park is safe. Many people, including those in charge of public spaces, don’t like skateboard parks. They say that they cost a lot to build, maintain, and insure. They also think that the parks don’t make skateboarding safer. They say that the staff at the parks would have to do safety checks every day, and that skateboarders probably won’t follow rules about safety gear and where they should skate. We recently had a discussion about the safety of skateboarding in Polk County. We talked about things like who should give permission for kids to skateboard, who should make sure the skate park is safe, and who should be in charge of making sure everything is okay. It’s hard to agree on what the best way to handle skateboarding is, especially since there are laws that don’t completely protect the county from getting in trouble if something goes wrong. It’s important for the county to find a balance between letting people have fun and making sure everyone is safe. City and county officials are trying to make skate parks safer in Florida. They are discussing how to reduce liability claims for injuries at skate parks. Joseph Jarret, a lawyer in Polk County, says that just having special skate parks doesn’t make the claims go away. He thinks there needs to be more done to make sure people are safe at the skate parks.
Source: https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/skating-on-thin-concrete-the-florida-legislatures-response-to-skateboarders-and-skaters/
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