Skateboarders coming from campus will have to pick up their boards and walk when they reach East 13th Avenue and Kincaid Street.
Unless they want to get ticketed.
Eugene police have recently cracked down in enforcing a city ordinance that bans the use of skateboards on the streets and sidewalks of East 13th Avenue from Kincaid Street to Pearl Street.
An increase in the number of skateboarders and business owners’ complaints have pressured police to begin issuing warnings and eventually tickets to skateboarders in the area, said Eugene police officer Randy Ellis.
Police started strengthening the skateboard ban after meetings with the University Small Business Association, which partially funds the University Eugene Police Department substation, Ellis said.
In response to business owners’ complaints, Eugene police installed a video camera outside of the University substation and monitored how many skateboarders passed by.
In six hours of observation over two days, police monitored 81 skateboarders, averaging about 14 skateboard violations per hour, Ellis said.
Police are currently warning skateboarders about the law by handing out informational cards. Most skateboarders will be given a warning on their first offense, but will be ticketed thereafter, Ellis said.
In the past six weeks, only one ticket for skateboarding on East 13th Avenue has been issued, Ellis said. Fines for skateboarding are $50 and boards can be confiscated by Eugene police.
Signs prohibiting skateboarding are currently posted on East 13th Avenue but are up high and may not be easily seen, Ellis said.
Skateboarders can be dangerous in an area with a lot of pedestrians because skateboards do not steer or stop easily and skateboards rolling without riders can injure people, he said.
“When you have a neighborhood that’s so dependent on pedestrians, you need to make it as safe as possible for pedestrians,” Ellis said.
In the past, pedestrians have been struck by skateboards and have been sent to the hospital because of their injuries, Ellis said.
On one occasion, an elderly woman was struck by a loose skateboard, fell, hit the street curb and broke her hip, Ellis said.
Leona Mark, an employee of Sigmund’s Cleaners, said it’s dangerous for customers when skateboarders are on the sidewalk. She also said the noise of skateboarding can be irritating.
“I can’t hear my customers,” she said. “I can’t hear the phone.”
University sophomore Brad Snyder, who longboards near East 13th Avenue, said the prospect of ticketing would discourage him from longboarding on the street.
Ellis said he hopes to educate more people about the skateboarding ban so police won’t have to start writing tickets.
“What we really want down here is a safe environment for pedestrians,” Ellis said. “We’re not trying to make money.”
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