Hout Bay residents frustrated by reckless skateboarding
The rise in skateboarding activity on Hout Bay's busiest roads has provoked the ire and anxiety of residents and motorists.
Residents of Hout Bay are growing concerned – and frustrated – over increased skateboarding activity in the area.
Cape Town’s seaside suburb is popular among skateboarders. They have become a common sight on public main roads, particularly roads such as Suikerbossie Hill and Chapman’s Peak Drive that offer steep slopes and sharp turns.
As such, skateboarders have become a point of contention among Hout Bay locals and motorists. Specifically, their skateboard usage has sparked safety concerns.
SKATEBOARDERS ‘LOOKING FOR RISK’
Those who reside in Hout Bay or frequently travel through the area have bemoaned the surge of skateboarding on roads with moving vehicles.
Descending on slopes at high speeds and skateboarding between cars in motion without warning have raised concerns about potential collisions.
Resident Fredeline Thomson lambasted skateboarders for “being irresponsible” in their pursuit of an adrenaline rush. Per Sentinel News:
These skateboarders are actually looking for the risk, and there is a huge thrill in placing your life on the line like that. Until something goes terribly wrong, now you traumatise a driver, and you possibly lose a life, which is not fair at all because it all started with being irresponsible.
Llandudno local Herman Davids echoes the statement, saying, “I drive these roads every day, and it’s terrifying to think that a skateboarder might come flying out of nowhere.”
SKATEBOARDING U-TURN
Councillor Rob Quintas, the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Urban Mobility, has acknowledged these concerns.
Nevertheless, it is difficult for enforcers to intervene and enforce authority, especially if the skateboarders happen to be minors.
“This limits what enforcers can do, in terms of putting minors into a vehicle, bringing them to a station and then calling parents to collect them and speaking with them,” Quintas explains.
While educational programmes have been implemented in the past to mitigate the dangers associated with reckless skateboarding in high-traffic areas, he believes that it’s ultimately up to parents and caregivers to “step up and step in.”
“[They need] to take some responsibility in educating their children and having a more active role in knowing where they are and what they are up to at all times.”
If you’re a resident or a frequent traveller in Hout Bay, let us know if you agree or disagree with skateboard usage in the area.
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