This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2007, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
They have no headlights, tail lamps or turn signals. No steering wheels, seat belts or seats. No brakes. Yet they travel at speeds reaching beyond 40 mph on public streets and highways.
They're oversized, low-profile skateboards designed for high-speed, downhill runs on pavement. In skateboarder parlance, the practice is known as "bombing" hills and the boards are called "longboards." Suicide machines would be more like it, as longboarders often eschew safety equipment like pads, protective suits and helmets. The only thing separating their soft heads from the hard pavement is a couple of layers of skin.
The dangers are obvious. Longboarders share the streets with cars, SUVs, delivery trucks. The riders are difficult for motorists to see and their longboards are difficult to control. They don't belong on a road.
Local police officers would agree with that assessment, but some, including police in Sandy and Draper, where longboarding is popular, say their hands are tied. Longboarding is legal as long as participants observe the speed limit, one Draper officer told the Tribune.
If they are legal, it is only because they're not yet illegal. When something new comes along it takes time for the law to catch up. It's time to put a rush on that process. A skateboarder died early Wednesday morning while "bombing" a steep section of Eastdell Drive in Sandy. His longboard struck a manhole cover and his head hit the pavement.
Devon Vigil was not wearing a helmet. He was 21.
Unless laws are passed to put longboarders in their place - private drives on private property and sanctioned competitions on closed courses - there will be more such tragedies, including fatal collisions with cars.
Maybe longboarders can be prosecuted under existing statutes? Perhaps new laws are needed? It's time to find out. Local police need to huddle with city attorneys to determine how to handle this threat to public safety. City council members and citizens need to pressure police to take action. The state Legislature needs to study the issue.
Somehow, we need to figure out a way to protect motorists and pedestrians from longboard riders, and to protect the longboarders from themselves.