Question
My son was riding his skateboard in a crosswalk. He entered the crosswalk on a green light. He was hit by a right-turning driver. The driver tried to claim it was my son’s fault because my son was riding his skateboard in the crosswalk. Is it legal to ride a skateboard in a crosswalk in Long Beach?
Answer
According to the California DMV Driver Handbook, people riding on skateboards are considered pedestrians: “A pedestrian is a person on foot or who uses a conveyance such as roller skates, skateboard, etc., other than a bicycle.”
Since skateboarders are considered pedestrians under California law, it is completely legal for a person to ride their skateboard through a crosswalk.
However, is it a good idea to ride your skateboard in a crosswalk? Probably not. A skateboarder moves at a much faster speed than a pedestrian on foot, which means that a driver has less time to spot the skateboarder. Your son’s accident – a skateboarder in a crosswalk hit by a right-turning car – is an all too common scenario that we see at McGee, Lerer & Associates.
Often, the driver making a right-turn is stopped at a red light and is focused on cars approaching from the left side of the driver. If a skateboarder rides into the crosswalk to the driver’s right, the driver might not notice the skateboarder until it’s too late.
Bottomline: Is it legal for the skateboarder to ride from the curb into the crosswalk? The answer is yes, as long as the skateboarder had a green light. In these types of accidents, the driver’s insurance company will still likely try to assign some percentage of fault on the skateboarder in order to get a discount on what the carrier has to pay the injury victim. If you or a loved one has been injured in a skateboarding accident, you should call our firm to set up a free consultation. Do not allow the driver’s insurance company to get away with paying you anything less than full value for your claim.
When a skateboarder is hit by a car, the injuries can be very serious. At McGee, Lerer & Associates, our legal team is very experienced when it comes to handling skateboarding accident cases. We are familiar with the arguments that insurance companies will make and we know how to defeat those arguments. Let us put our skills and resources to work for you today.
Call (562) 270-0546 to speak with our team of Long Beach personal injury attorneys.