West Seattle Monday: Welcome to the final days of summer

(Photo by Justin Atwell from Saturday’s Delridge Skatepark grand opening; WSB coverage here)
Summer’s making a comeback this week, we hear (forecast and lots more on the new experimental WSB Weather page), right before fall arrives. Meantime, here’s what’s up tonight, from the WSB West Seattle Events calendar page:

LIBRARY EVENTS RESUME: This is the first full week of Seattle Public Library branches’ regular weekly events, after a small break that followed the weeklong furlough. Today: 2 pm, Southwest Library‘s Afternoon Book Group (reading Evelyn Waugh‘s “Brideshead Revisited”; 7 pm, High Point Library, family story time.

WEST SEATTLE COOKING CLUB: This club for people who enjoy cooking meets 2:30 pm at Beveridge Place Pub. Bring your creation with the ingredient of the week: Seasonal fruit.

ADMIRAL BUSINESSES’ MEETING: Business owner/merchant in the Admiral District? Reminder that today’s the meeting with Admiral Neighborhood Association and West Seattle Chamber of Commerce, 4 pm refreshments and 4:30 pm meeting, Porterhouse.

SUSTAINABLE WEST SEATTLE TALKS ECONOMICS: Think outside the economic box; come be part of Sustainable West Seattle‘s community forum on alternatives to growth economics, Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, 7 pm – full details here.

WEST SEATTLE PRESCHOOL ASSOCIATION: Meets 8-9:30 p.m at Endolyne Joe’s (WSB sponsor). Topic: Nutrition, with Carol Cartnell from the city of Seattle. From the invitation: “You might like to come with an idea that you have on ways to get kids to try new foods, incorporating cooking into the classroom, or balanced-meal/portion-size strategies. Come and share an evening with other preschool educators; we hope to see you there!”

Kelli September 19, 2011 (8:41 am)

Where is his helmet?

velo_nut September 19, 2011 (8:47 am)

Helmets aren’t mandatory at the skate park? So who gets the med bill when the first kids cracks his skull open?

WSB September 19, 2011 (9:03 am)

No, the city of Seattle does not have a skateboard-helmet law.
.
The helmet discussion has been had, including this explanation:
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https://westseattleblog.com/2011/09/delridge-skatepark-fences-down-grand-opening-tomorrow/comment-page-1#comment-804047
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If you think Seattle needs a skateboarding-helmet law, that would be within the purview of the Seattle City Council, whose contact info is here:
http://seattle.gov/council
.
TR

Max September 19, 2011 (9:50 am)

I agree, they need a helmet as well as some arm and knee pads, but you know that’s not going to happen. It would be “un-cool” to wear a helmet. I am amazed at what these kids do on their boards. It takes a lot of talent and guts. I couldn’t do it, no way.
In something like the construction industry, safety is the number one concern on a job site. Things like falls from heights account for hundereds of deaths each year. OSHA has rules like, if you are working over 6′ off the ground, and there is no handrail, then you need to wear a fall arrestor with a full body harness. Or, if something like a loading dock is more than 4 feet high, you have to put up warning barriers at least. If these precautions are not met, and a worker gets injured, the company (in some cases) can be held criminally responsible, and of course, can be sued. I wonder who will be sued when, like you say, someone cracks their head open or a bystander simply falls off the rim of that big bowl. I’m not saying that there shouldn’t be skate parks, and I understand that a railing around the bowl is missing the point. I’m just wondering who is going to be liable. I mean, it looks like a law suit against the city waiting to happen.
Maybe they should sell advertizing on the park benches for law firms. Now that would be handy.

Casey September 19, 2011 (10:31 am)

Who would be sued?! Really?! Aren’t there many other skate parks around the city/surrounding cities that have the same thing, have you heard of any of those having lawsuits? I’m assuming the parents of the kids would be liable for medical bills if they didn’t drill it in their heads to practice safety while on a skate board! Yes there should be a helmet law but we can see how effective the helmet law for bicyclists is everyday so really what good would it do!

metrognome September 19, 2011 (10:58 am)

casey — I’m guessing you don’t have much experience with the personal injury part of the legal system. This is a city facility and WA is a ‘deep pocket’ state, which means there is no $$ limit on liability suits. All it takes is a sympathetic plaintiff with a serious physical or cognitive injury that will require a lifetime of care, a ‘good’ plaintiff’s attorney who alleges poor design or poor supervision or whatever by the city and a jury who connects with the paralyzed or brain-damaged defendant and you have a multi-million dollar settlement. That’s if it gets to court … situations like I described are often settled out of court for what the govt lawyers hope is a lesser amount rather than risk having a jury award a HUGE settlement.
Just because it may not have happened elsewhere (yet) doesn’t mean it won’t happen here. And, I’m not saying parents shouldn’t be responsible for their kids or the kids shouldn’t wear protective gear (or that some of the TV shows showing kids doing stunts aren’t responsible for the culture of risk); all I’m saying is that the reality of the legal system is that the govt would likely lose a personal injury suit if one was filed.

Max September 19, 2011 (11:10 am)

Casey, you are probably right. I’m sure the legal implications were looked at before puoring the concrete. It was just an observation and a thought. I’m actually glad that a facility like this can be built and my own safety can be my own responsibility. If everything had to be proven safe or law suit proof before it could be built, we would be left with a pretty bland society.

Que September 19, 2011 (12:02 pm)

The culture can change. When I was a kid, nobody wore bike helmets, and now it is standard. I agree that they should be wearing helmets and pads.

In another skating community (Roller Derby) helmets and pads are worn and are seen as both cool and protective. If you are wearing pads, it makes you look like more of a bada$$.

sam-c September 19, 2011 (12:20 pm)

I agree- people should wear their helmets.

after visiting, and thinking about it some more…
per code, changes in grade over 30″ require a guardrail. that bowl is over that, but there isn’t anything around the perimeter of the bowl to warn some-one of the drop, no warning bumps or textures. so if a blind person or a small child has gotten away from their caretaker, what keeps them from tumbling down into the bowl?
the only other skatepark i’ve seen was at Seattle Center and it doesn’t have anything deep like that.
we had fun at the grand-opening.

VBD September 19, 2011 (12:42 pm)

Funny how people just accept that someone will sue. So everyone jumps on the bandwagon that helmets are a way to deal with the liability risk. Ever consider that the problem is NOT the lack of protective equipment, but that people who choose freely to engage in a risky activity should ACCEPT the risk?

Part of being in a free society is taking responsibility for your own freedom. Every time we impose a rule that eliminates personal choice, we erode our freedom. I say if someone want’s to skate without a helmet, go for it.

What we need to do is get rid of the idea we can blame someone for our accidents.

BigGulps, Eh? September 19, 2011 (12:54 pm)

I am a huge fan of individual accountability, but see the legal exposure aspect. Is there a public warning sign? I.E. “skateboarding is iherently dangerous…

I agreed with mandatory helmets for under 18. I wish the pro street skaters would raise the “cool” factor by wearing them, but that is their choice.

cwit September 19, 2011 (1:38 pm)

It may have already been discussed in the other comment thread, but as far as liability issues, please see RCW 4.24.210 of the WA State Legislature.

It essentially says that public or private landowners who allow people to enjoy various activities, including skateboarding, on their land “without charging a fee of any kind therefor, shall not be liable for unintentional injuries to such users.”

It’s been upheld in court for previous attempts to sue the state.

Link here: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=4.24.210

I can’t speak to Delridge having the sign b/c I was too busy having fun skating it but pretty much every other skatepark in WA that I’ve been to has the ‘skateboarding is a dangerous activity and helmets & pads are highly recommended’-type signs.

I’m just speaking toward the legality/liability issue. Whether or not people should wear helmets – that’s up to them (and/or loved ones), for now.

Tony D September 19, 2011 (1:40 pm)

If you’re worried about helmets please check the linked discussion above. The suggestion for safety equipment and liability question has been answered for some time in Washington and Seattle and has been discussed to death.

Skateboarding has always had and will continue to have it’s dangers much like driving a car and walking down the sidewalk do. I won’t get into the statistics but you might be surprised by the numbers.

Parents with small kids should keep track of them anyway and as a grown up skater I’m always vigilant about kids putting themselves in dangerous situations.

This new skatepark is fantastic! Grindline did an great job with it.The community support has also been amazing. There’s a reason why the Pacific Northwest is known around the world for it’s skateparks. You now have one of the best examples anywhere right in Delridge.

If you don’t skate, stop by and say hello to the users of the park when you visit. We will be happy to explain why we are having more fun than almost everyone.

Let’s skate!!

Aman September 19, 2011 (1:41 pm)

Metrognome,
Thank you for your insights. Are you an attorney by chance?

Tony D September 19, 2011 (1:57 pm)

Also being that the community center is so close. The community center might want to start a skate equipment program for loaner skateboards and safety equipment. During the opening on saturday there were a lot of kids asking to borrow skateboards to give it a try. It sounds like an opportunity to me….

thee September 19, 2011 (8:11 pm)

man, what a great photo. that kid is just nailin’ it.

wail on that bowl, westside skaters.

–thee

sam-c September 19, 2011 (9:07 pm)

my point wasn’t just about kids running around. crosswalks have warnings, to let visually impaired people know they are about to walk in the street.
guardrails keep people from falling and are code required for drops over 30″ (2009 IBC Section 1013) just was curious why a guard wasn’t code required by the city of seattle, for a skatepark within a park that doesn’t have boundaries to keep the stumbling drunk/ late night dog walker/ visually impaired person/ etc from wandering down into the bowl. surprised the permit code reviewer didn’t have anything to say about it, or what the code is in that situation.