Skateboarders rolling through Victoria streets at night will have to wear lights but not helmets under new bylaw provisions endorsed by councillors on Thursday.
Councillors agreed to bylaw amendments that will permit skateboarders, roller bladers, roller skaters and non-motorized scooter users to use city streets in the same manner as bicyclists.
In doing so, council will lift a decades-old ban on skateboarding downtown and remove bylaw provisions allowing skateboards to be confiscated by authorities.
Jake Warren, a skateboarder who was the driving force behind getting the downtown skateboarding ban lifted, said he was “really stoked” by the decision.
“I’m not 100 per cent sure how [the lighting requirement] is going to work, but I’m excited in a sense to see how we can see this work,” Warren said.
Coun. Jeremy Loveday argued against the requirement for lighting, saying that changing the bylaw would not result in a large increase in skateboarders on the streets.
“We’re not changing the bylaw to say: ‘Hey, do this.’ … All we’re really doing is saying skateboarding is allowed downtown and we’re eliminating the impound provisions.”
City staff said in a report that the likelihood of skateboarders using lights and reflectors was low. But several councillors said they couldn’t in good conscience permit skateboards on the road at night without some requirement for lighting.
Coun. Geoff Young conceded that the light requirement might not be convenient and could mean skateboarders will have to wear a helmet or something else equipped with lights.
“But if we are going to go part way in meeting the desire of skateboarders to be a legitimate method of transportation, with rights to use the streets, they have to go some distance as well,” he said.
Staff had recommended council ask the province to bring in provincial regulations requiring skateboarders to wear helmets as it does cyclists, but councillors decided against it.
“I think the jury is still out on the advisability of mandatory helmet laws,” said Coun. Ben Isitt, adding that while helmets might make sense for motorcyclists, the same is not necessarily true for skateboarders or cyclists.
“It’s actually because of cars being dangerous that we somehow have a policy that people have to wrap themselves in safety equipment to protect themselves from other road users who pose harm.”
Coun. Pam Madoff said use of a helmet might be considered a personal choice that does not affect anyone else on the road. The same can’t be same for the use of lights, she said.
“When you’re riding your skateboard in the dark, in the rain, down the street sharing with cars and you’re not lit, I cannot begin to understand how that could be seen as responsible use of the road.”
