Skateboard Safety

Posted by Nick Niesen on October 29th, 2010

Skateboarding is an immensely popular sporting activity, specially enjoyed by young persons having a flair for advantageous sports. Skateboard is a narrow platform with attached wheels and people ride on it to move quickly on hard surface. Like all adventurous sporting activities, skateboarding may cause several types of injuries. Fracture or sprains are main types of injuries. There are some safety tips, which are always to be followed by skateboard riders to escape from injuries. Some important recommendations are given below:

1) A skateboard rider should always use properly fitting helmet, Wrist guards, Knee and elbow pads & shoes. All of these accessories are used as protective gear.

2) A quality skateboard is always should be used. There are different types of skateboard for all types of riding. A beginner skateboard rider should always use board with shorter deck, which is easy to handle.

3) Skateboard is not an easy sport for a newbie and one should always learn the basic skill of this sporting activity. Various techniques like slowing, turning, falling safely are very necessary to learn to start skateboarding on hard surface.

4) Skateboard should be inspected thoroughly before a ride. A broken or loose part or a sharp edge on board, wheels with cracking, a slippery board can cause serious injuries.

5) A skateboard should not be ridden in traffic jammed place as it can cause serious injuries. A collision with any vehicle can take a toll on skateboard rider.

6) Skateboard should not be used in darkness or in wet weather, as it is always risky.

7) A proper screening and observation of the area before riding is always helpful. Irregular riding surface cause more than half of the injuries.

8) It is always advisable not to take unnecessary risk with difficult tricks and jumps while skateboarding. A person should always use such tricks and jumps, which are perfectly under his control.

9) It is also very important for a skateboard player to be in good physical shape to escape from injuries. Some stretching exercises are always recommended before and after skateboarding to avoid muscle injuries.

10) A sound knowledge to handle any problem in emergency.

11) One and only one person should use one skateboard. There should not be any sharing as it can cause dangerous accident.

12) Hitching a ride from car, bicycle can be very risky and cause accident.

13) Children under age of 14 are the main victims of skateboard injuries. So, a child under that age should be always under observation while skateboarding. Skateboard riding is a strictly ?NO? for children under age seven. Poor balance, slow reaction, lesser coordination of body parts, lacking of riding skill are the prime cause for children having injured while skateboarding.

When skateboarding, a person should never compromise their safety. When skateboarders play by the rules, everyone can enjoy.