BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    






                           SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
                            Martha M. Escutia, Chair
                           2001-2002 Regular Session


          SB 994                                                 S
          Senator Morrow                                         B
          As Introduced
          Hearing Date:  January 15, 2002                        9
          Health and Safety Code                                 9
          GMO:cjt                                                4
                                                                 

                                     SUBJECT
                                         
                      Liability:  Public Skateboard Parks


                                   DESCRIPTION  

          This bill would extend the sunset date of provisions  
          protecting public skateboard parks from liability for  
          injuries sustained by persons 14 years old or older, from  
          January 1, 2003 to January 1, 2008.  It would require the  
          Judicial Council to submit a report to the Legislature that  
          compiles the annual reports on skateboarding-related  
          incidents and injuries at public skateboarding parks, on  
          March 1, 2007.

          (This analysis reflects author's amendments to be offered  
          in Committee.)

                                    BACKGROUND  

          AB 1296 (Morrow, Chapter 573, Statutes of 1997) declared  
          skateboarding at a public skateboard park to be a hazardous  
          recreational activity for persons 14 years old or older.   
          It also required local public agencies operating skateboard  
          parks to maintain a record of injuries and incidents at  
          such parks, and to file such records with the Judicial  
          Council annually.  AB 1296 contains a sunset date of  
          January 1, 2003, after which the protections provided by  
          statute to public skateboard parks would expire.

          Government Code Section 831.7 confers a qualified immunity  
                                                                 
          (more)



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          upon public entities for injuries sustained by persons  
          participating in "hazardous recreational activity" on  
          public property which "creates a substantial (as  
          distinguished from a minor, trivial, or insignificant) risk  
          of injury."  Besides skateboarding, other hazardous  
          recreational activities recognized under current law are  
          diving and boating, animal riding, archery, bicycle racing  
          or jumping, cross-country and downhill skiing, hang  
          gliding, kayaking, motorized vehicle racing or off-road  
          motorcycling, mountain bicycling, orienteering, pistol and  
          rifle shooting, rock climbing, surfing, trampolining, tree  
          climbing, tree rope swinging, water skiing, whitewater  
          rafting, and wind surfing.

                             CHANGES TO EXISTING LAW
           
           Existing law  requires operators of skateboard parks to  
          prohibit a person who is not equipped with a helmet, elbow  
          pads, and knee pads from riding a skateboard in such parks.

           Existing law  declares skateboarding at a facility that is  
          owned and/or operated by a public entity as a public  
          skateboard park a hazardous recreational activity under the  
          following circumstances:
          1)   if the person skateboarding is 14 years old or older;  
          and 
          2)   the skateboarding activity is stunt, trick, or luge  
          skateboarding; and
          3)   the skateboard park is on public property, as  
          specified.
          This provision sunsets on January 1, 2003.

           This bill  would extend the sunset date to January 1, 2008.
          
           Existing law  requires local public agencies to maintain a  
          record of all known or reported injuries incurred by  
          skateboarders at a public skateboard park or facility built  
          on or after January 1, 1998, claims asserted and lawsuits  
          filed, and to file those records annually with the Judicial  
          Council.  These provisions sunset on January 1, 2003.

           This bill  would extend the sunset date of these provisions  
          to January 1, 2008 and require the Judicial Council to  
          submit a compiled report on the annual filings on March 1,  
          2007.
                                                                       




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                                     COMMENT
           
          1.    Judicial Council Report on skateboarding injuries  

            As required by AB 1296, the Judicial Council on March 1,  
            2001 reported the following facts regarding skateboarding  
            at public skateboard facilities and parks to the  
            Legislature:

                 A total of 16 injury accidents for year 2000 were  
               reported by three cities and 10 injury accidents for  
               1999 by another city.
                 No claims were filed as a result of those injury  
               accidents, and no lawsuits were filed.

            According to the Consumer Attorneys of California (CAOC),  
            the fact that no claims or lawsuits were filed despite  
            the high number of injury accidents demonstrates that  
            lawsuits are not a problem and, consequently, even the  
            existing statute is not necessary.  However, they have no  
            objection to the extension of the sunset date of January  
            1, 2003 to January 1, 2008.

          2.    Sunset date extension needed as more skateboard parks  
          are being built

             The League of California Cities adopted a resolution in  
            2001 supporting better protection of public entities from  
            liability for injuries resulting from skateboarding on  
            public property.  The League reports that there are 93  
            cities that have skateboard parks, and nearly two dozen  
            are in the process of constructing a skateboard park.  

            "This legislation is required to assure the recreational  
            and community-building benefits of these parks continue  
            to be enjoyed by our constituents," states one of the  
            proponents.  As originally introduced, this bill would  
            have lowered the age of skateboarders to whom qualified  
            immunity of the public agency operator of the  
            skateboarding facility would apply, and would make no  
            distinction between supervised and unsupervised parks.

            By extending the sunset date of AB 1296, this bill would  
            continue to provide public entities this qualified  
                                                                       




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            immunity from liability for injuries sustained by persons  
            14 years of age or older, while engaged in this hazardous  
            recreational activity.  And by requiring that reports of  
            injury accidents continue to be maintained by the public  
            entities that own or operate public skateboard parks, and  
            that such reports be filed annually with the Judicial  
            Council, there will hopefully be collected sufficient  
            data on which further legislative action, if necessary,  
            may be based.  

          Support:  Civil Justice Association of California;  
                 California Joint Powers Insurance Authority; League  
                 of California Cities, Orange County Division; Cities  
                 of Arcadia, Bellflower, Camarillo, Carlsbad, Chico,  
                 Chino Hills, Claremont, Commerce, Concord, Culver  
                 City, Duarte, Fairfield, Fountain Valley, Imperial,  
                 Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Lake Forest, Lompoc,  
                 Los Angeles, Merced, Moreno Valley, Ojai, Palm  
                 Desert, Paramount, Rolling Hills Estates,  
                 Sacramento, San Dimas, San Marcos, Stockton,  
                 Visalia, Vista; Town of Apple Valley; California  
                 State Association of Counties

          Opposition:  None Known

                                     HISTORY
           
          Source: City of Laguna Hills

          Related Pending Legislation:  None Known

          Prior Legislation: AB 1296 (Morrow, Chapter 573, Statutes  
                        of 1997) - required use of helmets and pads  
                        by skateboarders and declared "skateboarding"  
                        to be a hazardous recreational activity.


          
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