Kapa’a — Kaua’i County has launched a public education program to encourage skateboarders to follow safety rules and to wear safety equipment when they use the Kapa’a Skateboard Rink. The effort has involved the use of the media, meetings with
Kapa’a — Kaua’i County has launched a public education program to encourage
skateboarders to follow safety rules and to wear safety equipment when they use
the Kapa’a Skateboard Rink.
The effort has involved the use of the media,
meetings with the public and the county’s solicitation of community groups to
“adopt” the facility and to monitor its uses.
Because of concerns about
lawsuits, the county will close the facility if skateboarders don’t follow the
rules for use at the rink, said Bernard Carvalho, recreation director with the
Parks and Recreation Division.
“We don’t want to take anything away from
the community, Carvalho said. “But we opened it up with the understanding
that we would try this and see.”
Since the facility opened Jan. 15, an
11-year-old Lihu’e youth, who wore a helmet, suffered a broken arm while
skateboarding there.
In another accident, a Mainland visitor, who wore no
helmet, also broke his arm while using the rink.
The county is concerned
more injuries like those could occur if helmets, kneepads and elbow pads aren’t
worn.
Some individuals, usually young adults, continue to skate at the
facility without wearing safety equipment, Carvalho said.
“The bad thing it
sets a bad example for the younger kids who do follow the rules,” Carvalho
said.
In an outreach effort, Carvalho said Mayor Kusaka and county
officials met with members of Kapa’a Middle School Parent Teacher Student
Association at the school Wednesday night to discuss the operation of rink and
the importance of having users wear safety equipment.
The meeting was
videotaped and will be shown to students at the school, Carvalho
said.
Radio personality Ron Wiley also has agreed to let youths call into
his show and tell skateboarders to wear safety equipment at the Kapa’a
facility, Carvalho said.
The facility is unsupervised, but the county wants
to form a partnership with a group or groups to sponsor uses at the
facility.
“The county is willing to support,” Carvalho said. “We are not
going to just throw it to them and say ‘you are on your own.'” We are willing
to work side by side with whatever group that forms.”
Similar groups have
formed to sponsor a rollerblading facility and bicycle track near the skating
rink, Carvalho said.
For the skating rink,Carvalho said he has been
soliciting the help of residents at the Kapa’a Low-Income Housing project,
located near the facility, to monitor the rink.
Residents at the housing
project also will be asked to pass out safety equipment and helmets to
skateboarders who don’t have their own equipment.
Ten sets of safety
equipment for public use have been donated to the county, thanks to the help of
the WalMart Store, Tamba Surf Company in Kapa’a and Bryan Baptiste, the vice
chair of the Kaua’i County Council.
The facility is open from daylight to
dusk seven days a week.
Among the rules posted at the skating rink the
county wants to be enforced:
* Bikes, roller skates and vehicles are
prohibited.
* Skateboarders should not proceed down 4-foot-high concrete
ramps until they are clear of skaters.
* Skating is prohibited on rainy
days.
* Skaters have to wear shoes.
* People who don’t follow the rules
will be asked to leave.
People who want to report violations can call the
Kaua’i police at 241-6711 or the County Parks and Recreation Division at
241-6670 on weekdays.
