Stop the ban of scooters at Guildford skate park

As a professional scooter rider with many years of experience I feel that i have a fair and unbias reply to the fact scooters are going to be banned at guildford skatepark. This is the statement which went along side the official petition which helped the ban. I will sum up the reasons for this statement being unfair and unjust.

 

 

'Due to the lack of understanding of the dangers of the skate park, I feel it is necessary to enforce a ban on all children on scooters at Guildford skate park to ensure the park is safe to ride for skateboarders, BMXers and roller bladers.

I feel that a ban on scooters would greatly benefit the skate park overall and would create a much safer and harmonious environment at the skate park.

Recently there was some rather negative press by the Surrey times stating that scooters may be banned from Guildford skate park. I felt the piece was written in a rather negative way towards skate boarders and BMXers implying that a ban on scooters would be unjustified and shouldn’t be in place. I would like to counter this with a few thoughts of my own and ultimately a petition just to raise awareness to the council that there are significant, justified reasons for a ban on scooters at Guildford skate park.

At the end of the day, it all comes down to safety. Young children on scooters in a skate park simply isn’t safe. They do not have spatial awareness and endanger both themselves and other users of the skate park. This has been documented many times on video and is a daily occurrence at skate parks up and down the country. Below are some videos of accidents which have happened in skate parks due to the lack of awareness displayed by children on scooters.

If you care about safety in our skate park please sign the petition and hopefully it will raise some awareness to the council about the problem of scooters at Guildford skate park. Of course it’s out of our hands as to whether they decide to ban scooters but at least a petition will allow the the many responsible riders of the skate park to voice there opinions.

Please share on facebook as well! I do ask that you confirm your email signature as this is to prove that the email addresses collected are legitimate.'

 

 

Ill go over the unfair, unjust and prejudice in this statement.

Firstly, 'lack of understanding' is a very prejudice quote. You cannot simply categorise a whole sport. You cannot ban scooter riders. Thie quote implies that riding of scooters make you have a lack of understanding of the skate park. How can the scooter itself make the rider have a lack of understanding. If the same person rode a skateboard, BMX or rollerblades they would also have a 'lack of understanding. My main point here is that you cannot say that a group of scooter riders have a lack of understanding. It is as out of order as categorising a race or categorising a gender. The scooter does not make you anything apart from yourself.

 

Secondly, you mention that scooters need to be banned to make it safe for other riders at the skatepark. Scooter riding is as dangerous as any other sport at the skatepark. Scooters are effectively the same as BMX, in a different form. Think about it. Scooter has two wheels, bars to hold, they do the same tricks. Each skatepark sport allows you to express yourself in the same way. We all do our sport for the same reason, to get an ultimate thrill, the adrenaline rush, the ultimate satisfaction from sticking a trick you wouldnt have dreamed about. How is a scooter more dangerous compared to other sports.  Taking away a sport is just as bad making out that it will be safer without them. Skateboarding started on the streets and in old swimming pools. Riders would not wear helmets as they felt that riding on flat land was safe and protection wasnt needed. This has been bought into skateparks. The majority of skateboarders do not wear helments. Im sure you will agree that this is more unsafe that you make scooter riders out to be.

 

You write 'young children on scooters in a skatepark simply isn't safe.'  Surely young children on BMX, young children on SKATEBOARDS and young children on INLINE SKATES are JUST AS DANGEROUS and young children on scooter.  As a professional scooter rider I have a very good understanding of how a skatepark works, I have been attending the skatepark for 8 years, MAYBE WE COULD COME TO A CONCLUSION. AN AGE RESTRICTION. You cannot block out an independant, growing sport because a few people have signed at petition. The people at skateparks who pose a threat are the young children, not a sport. Think for a minute. How can a sport be dangerous? Seriously?

 

An age restriction will rule out the young and unexperieced who do not know how to ride a skatepark. That will include, young scooter riders, young BMX riders and young inlide riders, or any other sports.

Anyway, under age riders are likely to have a parent with them, how unsafe is that?

 

I am happy to arrange a meeting with anybody who would like to hear more on my opinions and opinions of fellow riders. If scooters are officially banned I will be taking it to court for prejudice, discrimination and unfair treatment and categorisation of innocent people.

quotes from fellow riders and other links to the scooter community:

'I am 18 years of age and have been riding among the scooter community for over 5 years now. If you ask me, personally I think this is just over the top. No body likes little kids inside skate parks, it is just the majority of kids under 12 years of age tend to ride scooters due to its popularity here in the UK. To ban a sport from a facility which is popular among youth is rather pointless is it not. Skate parks are built to keep kids off the street by giving them something to do rather than get involved in unlawful acts, by banning them from a facility you are only casting them aside which is discrimination! To be fair yes there are a lot of little kids that get in the way, even us older riders do not particular like them however kids will always get in the way no matter what they ride whether it be a skateboard, inline or even bmx. Please take into consideration what I have said. Thank you for your time' 

'As a parent of a Scooter rider, I find this proposed ban absolutely ridiculous and biased. Get a grip, sport is sport and you should be encouraging kids to get our there and exercise, not ban them and have them scoot the streets! I cant wait to see the first legal case against the council from a kid involved in an accident on the street due to being banned from local skatepark.'

'i think scootering should not be banned as they have every right to be there at the skatepark'