Police Reports Illustrated: Skateboarding Is Not a Crime

Comments

This was too funny. I don't agree with pepper spraying the driver though.

Patricia Kayden on March 13, 2015 at 6:48 AM

This column is now officially the best part of the Stranger

pat L on March 13, 2015 at 7:19 AM

This column is officially the only good part of the Stranger.

Also, I never considered carrying mace, god knows I've met my share of drivers that deserve it.. Alas, I now ride a cargo bike with two kids so mace might be the best idea.

Rotten666 on March 13, 2015 at 7:29 AM

If only there were an army of this guy to teach drivers how threatening it is to have a car honk at you when you are on foot.

Horns are built to be audible from inside another car. They are uncomfortably loud otherwise. Honking at pedestrians, bikes or skateboarders = risk of causing an accident. Pepper spray in your face.

waffle on March 13, 2015 at 8:31 AM

I agree. The Stranger's slid on most counts, but his column is fucking fantastic.

words on March 13, 2015 at 8:32 AM

First, nice touch with the addition of animation.

Second, I need to know if the skateboarder was really smiling when he/she sprayed the driver. Were they having a gas attacking the driver? ..or were they 'escaping' from a road rage incident?

NotSean on March 13, 2015 at 9:03 AM

I'm pretty sure I love it too! But the art. The text. I have no idea how to appreciate it! Does The Stranger have a Comics Expert to educate me on these aesthetics?

dnt trust me on March 13, 2015 at 10:10 AM

there is an age beyond which you look ridiculous on a skateboard, and that age is 12.

scary tyler moore on March 13, 2015 at 10:11 AM

Yes, in the Stranger universes, it's OK for bicyclists and scatters to be assholes because, you know, cars and the people that need to drive them are by definition douche bags. Of course. Or maybe all you hipsters need to go back to whatever California / East Coast cesspool you crawled out of.

Arthur Zifferelli on March 13, 2015 at 10:32 AM

@8, saw a dad and daughter skating downtown on Wednesday night, and it was adorable. There are drivers who seem to think they can teach bikers and Vespa riders that roads are only for cars. I wish the SPD prioritized public safety over giving out tickets. The tension seems to be escalating, partly with all the closed lanes and partly because people act as though they are in a desperate rush (I suspect for no reason).

biffp on March 13, 2015 at 10:36 AM

@2, The bar has gotten pretty low, but this feature clears it by miles!

georgeingeorgetown on March 13, 2015 at 10:52 AM

I love this feature 100%. With the animation this week, 110%. Callan is fantastic. I don't see skateboarders on the road where I live, so I have no opinion on that.

originalcinner on March 13, 2015 at 10:53 AM

@6. Unless the driver swerved at the skateboarder, the skateboarder is the "initial aggressor" as a legal principal. The car driver may have yelled threatening things, but it is the person who strikes first who is the initial aggressor..

georgeingeorgetown on March 13, 2015 at 10:55 AM

Uh, folks:

SMC 11.40.250

Playing in streets.

No person upon roller skates, or riding in or by means of any coaster, skateboard, toy vehicle or similar device, shall go upon the roadway of any arterial street or transit coach route, except while crossing such street at a crosswalk; or engage in any sport, amusement or exercise or play in the roadway of any street.
(Ord. 108200 Section 2(11.40.250), 1979.)

What am I missing here?

Solk512 on March 13, 2015 at 11:04 AM

@9 your xenophobia and lack of understanding about global population growth only highlights what a hypocrite you appear to be. in the same breath you bemoan people who judge others for driving cars, all the while judging the presumed boogeymen that got your panties twisted.

@14 you sound like an insufferable pedantic fuck face, devoid of any current contextual points of reference. you kids, get off my lawn with your fax machines and hulu hoops!

thelandofnod on March 13, 2015 at 11:15 AM

Anyone remember the 2002 killing in the u-district when a skateboarder whacked a driver in the back of his head with a skateboard?

http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/skate…

stinkbug on March 13, 2015 at 11:34 AM

So a skateboarder is illegally in the street, blocks traffic, pepper sprays the driver, and the guy in the car is the asshole.

Only on Slog.

bigyaz on March 13, 2015 at 11:47 AM

The driver isn't the one to tell the skateboarder to get off the road. On the other hand, pepper spray is not appropriate, and that driver is likely to be even more aggressive the next time. Tailgating and gunning it to cut off bikes and Vespas is not okay. I see plenty of that, as well as near misses of pedestrians in crosswalks. And yet I've never seen an SPD officer take the slightest interest.

biffp on March 13, 2015 at 12:00 PM

@15. Facts are such annoying things. @14 Supplied you with standards of conduct so important that a democratic society enshrined them in law. Your problem in not with him, but with the electorate that had their elected representative codify acceptable behavior on the roadway.

georgeingeorgetown on March 13, 2015 at 12:01 PM

I have certainly seen and heard of drivers that most certainly deserved to be maced by skaters, cyclists, and pedestrians. I'm not sure if this fellow was one of them.

sasha on March 13, 2015 at 12:04 PM

(Trying to kill Zifferelli's random underline tag.)

rob! on March 13, 2015 at 12:11 PM

Christ, what an asshole.

GlibReaper on March 13, 2015 at 12:31 PM

I have no ability to judge how the skateboarder was behaving except the word of the driver.

That said, I don't see any reason to think the pepper spray was appropriate. It's assault with a chemical weapon and unless the driver was actively menacing the skateboarder (which is hard to picture with a driver in the car and the skateboarder free to roam) then there is no justification for it.

dwightmoodyforgetsthings on March 13, 2015 at 12:31 PM

"Facts are such annoying things."

@19 likewise with context and reality.

rules are often outdated and contrived. you sound like the old cliche "but the bible told me so!" which completely misses the point. but have fun with that circular logic.

thelandofnod on March 13, 2015 at 12:35 PM

not to mention there has been a culture war against skating and what it represents for as long as it's been around. maybe, just maybe, skateboarding is just as valid as transportation as bicycles are, but lame old people are too threatened by anything they didn't grow up with themselves. so they demonize it and codify it in to law.

that way they can win all the internet pissing contests ever.

thelandofnod on March 13, 2015 at 12:44 PM

@8

There is an age beyond which you look ridiculous assigning arbitrary age limits for how other people like to enjoy their life, and that age is 12.

garbagehumper on March 13, 2015 at 1:05 PM

Skateboarder was in the legal wrong. But driver literally asked for it and deserved it. This is street business, folks. You will reap what you sew.

Achaiwoi on March 13, 2015 at 1:13 PM

Someone doesn't understand the definition of "literally"

garbagehumper on March 13, 2015 at 1:18 PM

@28) That would be you.

Achaiwoi on March 13, 2015 at 1:59 PM

@9 The thing you are missing is that the asshole on the skateboard is merely annoying. The asshole behind the wheel is deadly. And yes, if you are honking and yelling at someone for being slightly annoying, you are an asshole.

jml24 on March 13, 2015 at 2:06 PM

For the sake of 12-year-old trashlicker, I will fill in what s/he is unable to suss: "...'by honking and screaming at the boarder,' [T]he driver literally asked for it."

See, the implication is that such behavior is the same as asking for it. Not so hard once you have everything spelled out for you, now is it? Do we also need to explain 'implication' for you? Sheesh.

Achaiwoi on March 13, 2015 at 2:11 PM

@24, So then have your City Council change them. Until they do, those are the rules we have agreed, through democratic means, to be governed by.

georgeingeorgetown on March 13, 2015 at 2:13 PM

I would think that if he would have literally asked for it, he would have said something like: "Hey kid, will you pepper spray me"?

garbagehumper on March 13, 2015 at 2:39 PM

Still way over your head.

Achaiwoi on March 13, 2015 at 3:03 PM

gonna take my car onto the local halfpipe. if people don't like it they're gettin sprayed

orgasm on March 13, 2015 at 3:14 PM

@31. No. Sorry. Your explanation still infers that he was figuratively asking for it.

jefe on March 13, 2015 at 3:23 PM

@30 agreed. It's life and limb crossing the street, skating and riding. Honking is only for unsafe conditions. From RCW 46.37.380 Horns, warning devices, and theft alarms,

The driver of a motor vehicle shall when reasonably necessary to insure safe operation give audible warning with his or her horn but shall not otherwise use such horn when upon a highway.

biffp on March 13, 2015 at 3:46 PM

To elaborate on @36's point:

@31, I don't think you can literally ask for something by honking and screaming, since they are open to interpretation. In order to be literally asking for it he has actually say/scream the actual words. As in "Won't you please pepper spray me?" Funny, no?

Of course we still understand that he may be asking for it by honking and screaming. But to be LITERALLY asking for it he has to use the words. That's what LITERALLY means. That he actually did ask for it.

HC_cat on March 13, 2015 at 4:41 PM

This feature would be even better if it included a link to the actual police report.

Joe Rollerfan on March 13, 2015 at 5:13 PM

Would this cocky skateboarder's parents have sued the driver if their son, stupidly taking life and limb into his own hands (without elbow & knee pads or a helmet) in heavy traffic, and who pepper sprayed the driver and took off, crash-landed into the windshield of another oncoming vehicle end up Permanent Vegetable DOA in the ER at Harborview?
Seriously, where is the common sense?

auntie grizelda on March 15, 2015 at 5:24 PM

What's wrong with just shooting at each other?

Those that are left, will be polite.

Slam1263 on March 15, 2015 at 11:02 PM

Police Reports Illustrated: Skateboarding Is Not a Crime

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