skateboard hit and run this morning on Bellenden

[pinecone]

Hi,

Did anyone see a man running away from Bellenden Road, just near the junction with Choumert Road about 0945, today 14th May? I saw some pretty cowardly behaviour when a skateboarder _on the road_ had an upset and caused a lady on a scooter some pretty nasty damage. Had there been another vehicle around, it could have been much worse.

The guy in question was skateboarding fast down Bellenden, when he sort of "flipped" the skateboard which went flying under the wheels of the lady's scooter who was unlucky enough to be behind him. Fortunately she (the motorcyclist) wasn?t very seriously hurt, but was cut, bruised, and pretty shaken. Unfortunately, the bike however had been damaged, and when she suggested he was liable he said he would provide his name but he wouldn?t pay for the damage. When the motorcyclist got on the phone to the police he ran off. He was in his early 20s, white, reasonably well spoken, about 5?10, with a maroon sweatshirt, and a skateboard with fluorescent yellow top.

Having seen this, I chatted to the lady and heard all of the above, and it turns out that she probably can't claim because she's only got third party insurance. Pretty bad that someone should wind up hurt and out of pocket because of some ones reckless arrogant stupidity, and cowardly behaviour to run off, and not just man up and offer to pay what he could.

Anyway, be careful out there. :-/

[ruffers]

I've had similar experience in the past with uninsured road users. Should such an incident happen again I'll be taking their photo.

Hope she's OK.

[BrandNewGuy]

pinecone Wrote:

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> Pretty bad that someone should

> wind up hurt and out of pocket because of some

> ones reckless arrogant stupidity, and cowardly

> behaviour to run off, and not just man up and

> offer to pay what he could.

Indeed, and if you have their details, there's nothing to stop you suing them for the damage regardless of your insurance.

[PokerTime]

He shouldn't have been skateboarding on the road. That was an accident waiting to happen. Hopefully the description above is good enough that someone will know or recognise him. More and more road users are now attaching cameras to their vehicles and it's not hard to see why.

[henryb]

It is not illegal to skateboard on the road. On what grounds do you think he would be liable? He fell off. I guess it would depend how closely the motorcyclist was following.

[PokerTime]

A skateboard is not a vehicle. It's completely stupid to use it on a road, especially when vehicles are using that road. Vehicles are required to have insurance. Some cyclists also have insurance (just in case they cause an accident). It's not ok to cause an accident and run off. If a driver does that, it's a criminal offence. He's liable at least for the damage to the scooter.

[JohnL]

Are skateboarders any different to bikes or scooters in law ?

Maybe every road user should have insurance.

edit: of course any road user can be an ass with his vehicle but can also have accidents.

[PokerTime]

There is the following bylaw in Southwark....

Skateboarding etc

3. No person shall skate, slide or ride on rollers, skateboards or other self-propelled vehicles on any footway or carriageway in such a manner as to cause danger or give reasonable grounds for annoyance to other persons using the footway or carriageway.

[henryb]

Yes but what is "reasonable grounds for annoyance"? Kids skate on our road - no problem with that at all. Bellenden Rd is a residential street after all. But I agree he shouldn't have run off.

[njc97]

Pokertime - you're right. How dare he ride on the road, he should know his place and it's not holding up upstanding tax-paying motor vehicles. And per your bylaw, he shouldnt have been on the pavement either. Ban skateboards. And bikes. And pedestrians. Then we can have more space for cares and motorbikes to get around safely.

(we can't understand the circumstances from one post, but it sounds like the scooter was too close to the "vehicle" in front and couldnt stop in time when he fell off. Had she been in front and a lorry behind, then I dont think we'd have the same reaction)

[PokerTime]

A skateboard has no brakes. It has only limited control. Yes it's pretty stupid for someone to skateboard down a road that motor vehicles and cyclists are using. That's all I'm trying to say.

[Lowlander]

Might I be Devil's Advocate and point out that road users who collide with the vehicle in front are usually held liable?

That doesn't excuse the actions of the skateholder...just that Police would probably find the scooter driver at fault also.

[ruffers]

All we know for facts is the scooter was behind the skateboard, could have been in the middle of the lane and not directly behind preparing to overtake, anything really. We then know the skateboard "flipped", so could have gone directly backward, sideways, or at any angle between them. We also know the skateboarder wasn't in control of the board.

Not long ago there was a phase when I went past a lad every day, presumably on his way to school, on a unicycle. The situation described by the OP was one I dreaded every day and I sympathise with the scooter rider.

[Otta]

PokerTime Wrote:

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> There is the following bylaw in Southwark....

>

> Skateboarding etc

>

> 3. No person shall skate, slide or ride on

> rollers, skateboards or other self-propelled

> vehicles on any footway or carriageway in such a

> manner as to cause danger or give reasonable

> grounds for annoyance to other persons using the

> footway or carriageway.

That doesn't say that you can't skate in the road though, it just basically says don't act like a moron. I won't comment on how he was skating because I didn't see it, but if he just came off his board accidently then that's no different to a cyclist coming off their bike.

He shouldn't have run off, but we don't know how he was being spoken to and he might have just gotten scared.

PokerTime Wrote:

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> A skateboard has no brakes. It has only limited

> control. Yes it's pretty stupid for someone to

> skateboard down a road that motor vehicles and

> cyclists are using. That's all I'm trying to say.

A skateboard does have a brake of sorts, and a half decent skater can control their board more than well enough and stop very suddenly if need be.

[Otta]

These days I wouldn't dream of skating down a road, as it's been a looooooong time since I was a regular skater and I'd probably end up on my backside or worse. But when I was a teenager I'd happily skate in the roads (not busy roads like say Barry, and definitely not main roads) and don't believe I was a danger to any other road user because I could control my skateboard well.

[PokerTime]

But otta, the OP says that he ran off because she was calling the Police. He was scared alright, that he would have to give his details to them.

[Jeremy]

If he was in his 20s he should get a proper job instead of pissing around on his skateboard at 10am!

Oi! McFly! Get off the road!

[DuncanW]

Why was she calling the police anyway?

Had a crime been committed?

[Otta]

PT in both this and the wee thread you are taking the OP's perspective as gospel. I'm not calling the OP a liar, but we don't kniw how the situation played out from the perspective of the skater.

[jimbo1964]

DuncanW Wrote:

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> Why was she calling the police anyway?

> Had a crime been committed?

We don't know do we. But sounds like she was shaken up and wanted to report the accident.

[DuncanW]

Fair enough, but the police are really there for criminal matters, and I can't see anything up to the point when he ran away which could be construed as criminal.

It's an offence to not share your details after an accident, but to dispute liability or not to agree to pay unspecified damages at the roadside is not.

And as other posters have observed, the road user who goes into the back of the other is normally the one held liable.

[ruffers]

DuncanW Wrote:

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> Why was she calling the police anyway?

> Had a crime been committed?

I'd guess becasue someone who had (in her view) caused an accident which was going to cause financial loss was saying they were just going to leave it and walk away and not pay, and she wanted help to resolve it. In addition the OP says she was cut, bruised, and pretty shaken so calling the police seems not unreasonable to me.

Once he did run off then the crime is potentially Failing to stop / report an accident although I'm not sure if it could be brought to bear against a skateboarder.

[ianr]

As far as giving personal details goes, I don't think he falls within s.168 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, as he's not a rider of a bicycle; nor within s.170, unless you can prove (I think you cannot) that he was the driver of a mechanically propelled vehicle. I think he may have caused, or have been behaving in a way likely to cause, a breach of the peace.

[PokerTime]

He would be classed as a pedestrian so if there were blame to be assigned it would be under those terms. The only course of action for the scooter owner would be through civil avenues I think, that is providing he would be worth suing. She needs a name and address to do that of course. The police would have been able to help in that respect if he hadn't run away.

[the-e-dealer]

Yeah Ban everything!