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) SB 994 (Morrow) Page 2 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. SB 994 (Morrow) Page 3 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 SB 994 (Morrow) Page 4 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. **************