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UNM employee wants skateboard regulations

Sure, it’s a quick way to get across campus, but skateboarding could be hazardous to your health or the health of passersby.
Rick Olcott, who works at University College, said he has been hit twice in the past nine months by students whizzing by.

“I wasn’t hurt much, but it feels like assault. It really does,” he said. “It feels like someone coming up behind you when you are walking down the street and smacking you in the back of the head.”

As a former skateboarder himself, Olcott said he is not anti-skateboarding, but that there is a time, place and manner when skateboarding is appropriate.

“It seems like it’s an inappropriate activity,” he said. “Just like I can’t go swinging nunchucks through the library, if I had any. It’s just dangerous.”
University policy does not authorize unsafe skateboarding or biking, said Robert Haarhues, UNMPD spokesman, but sometimes accidents happen.
“The policy is they can’t ride on structures, do tricks off of the curbs or off the walls and that kind of stuff,” he said. “They are allowed to ride their skateboard on campus to get from one class to another. Unfortunately they are going a lot faster than the people that are walking, and if people turn suddenly there is an incident.”

Such an incident could result in serious injuries, Olcott said.
“All it would take is a skateboarder losing control — their skateboard shooting out from under him or her at however fast they go,” he said. “It could easily shatter an ankle and I could possibly never walk again after something like that. I’m just afraid there is going to be a really nasty accident before something is done.”
Student John Schooley said he hasn’t seen any collisions.

“I have seen a lot of close calls, and I have had some myself, but I’ve never been a part of an actual collision,” he said. “It’s hard to maneuver through a lot of people sometimes, but most people are relatively aware, I think.”

Olcott said he doesn’t want skateboarding prohibited on campus, but some regulations would promote safety.
“I sympathize with the skateboarders. It’s a fun, nice way to get around, but pedestrians are not stable, reliable objects,” he said. “When I was an undergrad here, back in the Ice Age, bicyclists were a real problem, so they actually had dismount areas where people had to get off their bikes and walk them because there were some people who were severely injured in accidents.”

A dismount area would be difficult to enforce, Haarhues said.
“It’s possible, but it’s something that would be in violation of University policy,” he said. “Plus, I don’t have the manpower to have someone constantly watch to make sure you guys are dismounting or getting off your bike or skateboard in a particular area.”
Remaining aware of your surroundings is the best way to prevent injury, Haarhues said.

“I guess the precaution you can take is to look over your shoulder before you turn down a hallway or move down a parkway,” he said. “If you aren’t paying attention they can run right into you as you turn. That’s what naturally happens when some people are going a lot faster than the other people.”

Olcott said it is a complex problem and he doesn’t have the answer, but he wanted it to be brought to people’s attention.
“I personally think that the way a lot of people are riding skateboards is unsafe,” he said.

“I’ve talked to a few people on campus and almost everyone I’ve talked to has either heard of or knows someone who has been hit or near hit. I don’t mean it as a condemnation of all skateboarders or all students. It only takes one or two people to ruin it for everyone else.”

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