BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1146
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Date of Hearing: April 14, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
Mark Stone, Chair
AB 1146
(Jones) - As Amended April 8, 2015
As Proposed to be Amended
SUBJECT: SKATEBOARD PARKS
KEY ISSUE: BECAUSE RECREATIONAL USERS OF PUBLIC SKATEBOARD
PARKS ARE INCREASINGLY RIDING WHEELED RECREATIONAL DEVICES OTHER
THAN SKATEBOARDS, SHOULD LOCAL GOVERNMENT IMMUNITY FROM
LIABILITY FOR INJURIES CAUSED BY SKATEBOARDERS BE EXTENDED TO
INCLUDE INJURIES CAUSEd BY PEOPLE USING OTHER WHEELED
RECREATIONAL DEVICES, INCLUDING ROLLER SKATES AND SCOOTERS, AT
PUBLIC SKATEBOARD PARKS?
SYNOPSIS
According to the author, the existing immunity laws regarding
public skateboard parks force public park operators to restrict
the use of such parks to only skateboarders, even though there
is increasing demand by riders of other wheeled recreational
devices, such as bicycles, scooters and roller skates, to also
use the slopes, ramps, and curbs available at the park. This
bill, sponsored by the County of San Diego, seeks to expand
local government immunity from liability for injuries caused by
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recreational users of public skateboard parks to include not
only skateboarders, the only group covered under existing law,
but also riders of wheeled recreational devices other than
skateboards - specifically defined as in-line skates, roller
skates, nonmotorized bicycles, scooters, and nonmotorized
wheelchairs. In order to lend support to local government
efforts to encourage more riders of other wheeled devices to get
off the streets and into public skate parks, this bill would
expand qualified immunity to injuries caused by other groups of
wheeled recreational riders that is identical to the immunity
provisions which currently apply to skateboarders. Proponents
contend that this change would allow local governments operating
skate parks to open their skateboard parks to other users, and
would protect public property and safety that could be
jeopardized by riders who would otherwise be using public
streets and sidewalks instead of their local skate park. As
proposed to be amended, this bill would pilot these new
provisions pertaining to wheeled devices other than skateboards
for four years, until a sunset date of January 1, 2020, and
clarify which type of wheeled recreational devices are covered
by the liability provisions. The bill has no known opposition.
SUMMARY: Expands local government immunity from liability for
injuries to recreational users of public skateboard parks to
include riders of wheeled recreational devices other than
skateboards, as provided. Specifically, this bill:
1)Defines the term "other wheeled recreational device" to mean
nonmotorized bicycles, scooters, in-line skates, roller skates
or nonmotorized wheelchairs.
2)Prohibits an operator of a skateboard park from permitting any
person to ride other wheeled recreational devices in the
skateboard park, unless that person is wearing a helmet, elbow
pads, and knee pads.
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3)Provides that a facility owned or operated by a local public
agency, that is designed and maintained for the purpose of
riding a recreational skateboard or other wheeled recreational
device, and that is unsupervised, may comply with the above
requirement by: a) adopting an ordinance requiring anyone
riding a skateboard or other wheeled recreational device at
the facility to wear a helmet, elbow pads, and knee pads; and
b) posting signs that inform all riders that they must wear
those items and that failing to do so will subject them to a
citation.
4)Provides that riding a skateboard or other wheeled recreation
device or any concurrent combination of these activities at a
public skateboard park constitutes a "hazardous recreational
activity" if the rider is at least 12 years old, the activity
causing the injury was stunt, trick, or luge riding, and the
injury occurred at a public skateboard park requiring a
helmet, elbow pads, and knee pads.
5)Requires the appropriate local public agency to maintain a
record of all known or reported injuries incurred by persons
riding skateboard or other wheeled recreational devices in a
public skateboard park or facility, as well as a record of all
claims, paid and not paid, including any lawsuits and their
results, arising from those incidents that were filed against
the public agency. Requires copies of the claims and lawsuits
to be filed annually, no later than January 30 each year, with
the Assembly and Senate Judiciary Committees.
6)Establishes a sunset date of January 1, 2020, for provisions
applying to riders of other wheeled recreation devices (but
not skateboarders), whereby such provisions will remain in
effect only until that date unless a later enacted statute
deletes or extends the sunset.
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EXISTING LAW:
1)Defines "hazardous recreational activity" as a recreational
activity conducted on the property of a public entity that
creates a substantial risk of injury to a participant or
spectator. Shields public entities and public employees from
liability for any injuries caused by any person participating
in a hazardous recreational activity, including those
resulting in injury to voluntary spectators who recognized the
substantial risk of injury due to the activity. Public
entities and public employees remain liable for injuries
proximately caused by the negligent failure of the public
entity or public employee to properly construct or maintain in
good repair any structure, recreational equipment or
machinery, or substantial work of improvement. (Government
Code Section 831.7.)
2)Prohibits an operator of a skateboard park from permitting any
person to ride a skateboard therein, unless that person is
wearing a helmet, elbow pads, and knee pads. (Health & Safety
Code Section 115800(a). All further references are to this
code unless otherwise stated.)
3)Provides that facilities owned or operated by a local public
agency, that are designed for recreational skateboard use and
unsupervised, may comply with the above requirement by: a)
adopting an ordinance requiring anyone riding a skateboard at
the facility to wear a helmet, elbow pads, and knee pads; and
b) posting signs that inform skateboarders that they must wear
those items and that failing to do so will subject them to a
citation. (Section 115800(b).)
4)Provides that, for liability purposes, skateboarding
constitutes a "hazardous recreational activity" within the
meaning of Gov. Code Section 831.7 if the person skateboarding
is at least 12 years old, the skateboarding activity causing
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injury was a stunt, trick, or luge skateboarding, and the
injury occurred at a public skateboard park requiring a
helmet, elbow pads, and knee pads. (Section 115800(d)(1).)
5)Requires local public agencies to maintain a record of all
known or reported injuries incurred by a skateboarder in a
public skateboard park or facility, as well as a record of all
claims, paid and not paid, including any lawsuits and their
results, arising from those incidents that were filed against
the public agency. Requires these records to be filed
annually, no later than January 30 each year, with the
Assembly and Senate Judiciary Committees. (Section
115800(d)(4).)
6)Establishes that these provisions apply to public skateboard
parks that were constructed on or after January 1, 1996.
(Section 115800(d)(5)(B).)
FISCAL EFFECT: As currently in print this bill is keyed
non-fiscal.
COMMENTS: This bill, sponsored by the County of San Diego,
seeks to expand local government immunity from liability for
injuries caused by recreational users of public skateboard parks
to include not only skateboarders (the only group covered under
existing law), but also riders of wheeled recreational devices
other than skateboards, such as roller skates, nonmotorized
bicycles, and scooters.
Need for the bill. According to the author and sponsor, the
existing immunity laws regarding public skateboard parks force
public park operators like the County to restrict use of
skateboard parks to only skateboarders, when there is great
demand by riders of other wheeled devices, such as BMX bikes,
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scooters and roller skates, to also use the slopes, ramps, and
curbs available at the parks for recreation. Citing an example
in San Diego County, the proponents explain:
The County would like to accommodate other wheeled,
non-motorized recreational uses of the skatepark, such as
bicycles, scooters and wheelchairs. Because [Section
115800] specifically refers to skateboarders for skate
parks operated by local governments, and does not address
or include the other all-wheeled non-motorized uses in
the liability immunity, the County posts rules
restricting the use of the Lakeside Skate Park to only
skateboarders.
As the popularity of skate parks and other wheeled
activities in skate parks continue to rise, this [bill]
would allow local governments to accommodate these uses
and maintain immunity for injuries. Without such changes,
local governments are forced to make difficult risk
assessments on which activities to allow within skate
parks. Furthermore, allowing these other all-wheeled
non-motorized devices to participate at local skate parks
would promote safety for the riders and protect public
and private property that may otherwise be damaged.
Background on public entity liability for skateboarding
injuries. Section 831.7 defines "hazardous recreational
activity" as a recreational activity conducted on the property
of a public entity that creates a substantial risk of injury to
a participant or spectator, and shields public entities and
public employees from liability for injuries caused by any
person participating in a hazardous recreational activity.
Health and Safety Code Section 115800 deems skateboarding a
hazardous recreational activity within the meaning of Section
831.7 of the Government Code if certain conditions are met. The
qualified immunity provided by Section 115800 applies only when
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a skateboarder is at least 12 years old and is engaging in
trick, stunt, or luge skateboarding at a public skate park that,
among other things, requires riders to wear helmets, knee pads,
and elbow pads.
With this grant of qualified immunity, local communities are
encouraged to require use of proper safety equipment on the
premises to limit their liability and have become more
comfortable building public skateboard parks. Skateboard parks
provide a dedicated location for individuals to skateboard
without trespassing on private property or facing vehicular
hazards, and increased use of such parks helps encourage
skateboarders to do their riding off of local public streets and
sidewalks, where they potentially pose greater risk to
pedestrians and bystanders.
Extending local government immunity to other users of skateboard
parks. In order to lend support to local governments' efforts
to encourage more riders of other wheeled devices off the
streets and into public skate parks, this bill would expand
existing qualified immunity to include other groups of wheeled
recreational riders. Proponents contend that this would help
local governments that operate skate parks to avoid having to
limit their use to skateboarders only, and would protect public
property and safety that might be jeopardized by riders who
would otherwise be excluded from their local skate parks.
Under this bill, the same conditions that qualify the provision
of immunity with respect to skateboarders would apply to riders
of other wheeled recreational devices. For example, park
operators would have to mirror safety requirements for
skateboarders and require riders of other wheeled devices: to
require users to wear a helmet, elbow pads, and knee pads when
riding at the skate park in order for liability protections to
apply.
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Author's amendment to clarify that the bill applies to
recreational use of nonmotorized wheelchairs in a public skate
park. Recent amendments to the bill define the key term "other
wheeled recreational device" to mean nonmotorized bicycles,
scooters, in-line skates, roller skates, or wheelchairs. The
list of devices is a closed list, and no other wheeled forms of
recreation fall within the bill's definition of that term.
Scooters, in-line skates, and roller skates are more similar to
skateboards in that the person rides on them in an upright
position, typically upon small polyurethane wheels, and the top
speed and maneuverability of those devices are similar to
skateboards.
The bill also includes the use of nonmotorized bicycles and
wheelchairs in the definition of "other wheeled recreational
devices." While the inclusion of bicycles may not be
surprising, the image of wheelchairs being used on the ramps and
slopes of a public skate park may be unexpected. According to
the sponsor, representatives of wheelchair riders specifically
requested to be included in the provisions of this bill, opening
up skateboard parks to other types of wheeled users, which
reflects the growing popularity of wheelchair athletes in
professional freestyle action sports and increased participation
by wheelchair users in public recreational settings.
Participants in such sports typically employ sturdy, lightweight
wheelchairs often adapted for recreational use, but in every
case are manually propelled by using upper body and arm
strength, not a motor. The strength and dexterity required to
manually steer and propel a wheelchair over and around the
slopes and ramps of a skateboard park likely limits the number
of wheelchair riders who would ride in skateboard parks to a
small self-selected minority who are capable of doing so. For
these reasons, the author believes that the inclusion of
wheelchairs in the definition of wheeled recreational devices
other than skateboards is appropriate for evaluation during the
four-year trial period that these provisions will be effective
before the proposed sunset date of January 1, 2020. However, to
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further clarify the allowance for wheelchairs, the author
proposes the following amendment to specify only "nonmotorized
wheelchairs" are included as other wheeled recreational devices:
On page 2, line 24, before "wheelchair" insert
"nonmotorized"
Author's amendment to establish four-year sunset date for
provisions applying to riders of other wheeled recreational
devices. In order to pilot these provisions and evaluate their
impact on usage of skateboard parks and rates of recreational
injuries, the author proposes a four-year trial period for all
provisions relating to other wheeled recreational devices. As
proposed to be amended, these provisions would automatically
expire on the sunset date of January 1, 2020, unless a later
enacted statute deletes or extends the sunset.
Importantly, the liability rules for skateboarders using
skateboard parks, which have previously been evaluated by the
Legislature through a series of earlier trial periods, will not
be the subject of the trial period established by this bill. It
is the author's intent that should the provisions in this bill
be enacted this year but ultimately sunset at the end of the
trial period, the liability rules that currently apply to
skateboarders riding in skateboard parks will continue to
operate without interruption. The proposed amendment is:
On page 4, line 5, delete "____" and insert "January 1,
2020"
On page 4, line 7, delete "____" and insert "January 1,
2020"
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Reporting requirements. The Judicial Council's reports to the
Legislature, as required by Health and Safety Code section
115800, demonstrate a relatively low injury rate associated with
skateboarding in public skateboard parks. For example, the
March 13, 2002 report found a total of 80 skateboarding injuries
occurred at skateboarding parks in nine cities during the 2001
calendar year. This amounts to less than one injury per
skateboard park each month.
The Council's March 24, 2011 report reflects the results of 34
public agencies submitting reports of skateboarding injuries in
their jurisdictions. According to the report, a total of 792
injuries were reported from 2002 to 2010, inclusive, with facial
injuries being the most common type of injury reported, followed
by injuries to the ankle, head and arm. This translates into
2.6 injuries reported by each public agency per year of the
study. The Council also states that none of the 34 public
agencies mentioned any claims or lawsuits filed against them as
a result of such injuries. The Committee's own research failed
to identify any published California cases concerning a lawsuit
against a city for injuries caused at a public skateboard park.
This bill would continue the current reporting scheme of
requiring local public agencies to annually file with the
Assembly and Senate Judiciary Committee copies of any records of
claims or lawsuits arising from known or reported injuries
incurred by riders at public skateboard parks. The bill
clarifies that any claims or lawsuits arising from injuries
incurred by riders of wheeled recreation devices other than
skateboards must be filed annually, in addition to those arising
from skateboard accidents.
Previous related legislation. AB 1296 (Morrow), Ch. 573, Stats.
1997, established qualified immunity provisions for skate parks
and implemented initial reporting and safety equipment
requirements, with a sunset date of 2003. SB 994 (Morrow) Ch.
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409, Stats. 2002, extended the sunset provision, until 2008, for
the qualified immunity provisions enacted by AB 1296. SB 1179
(Morrow) Ch. 140, Stats. 2006, further extended the sunset
provision until January 1, 2012. AB 874 (Saldana) of 2010
attempted to remove the elbow and knee pad requirements for
conditional immunity, but died in the Senate Judiciary
Committee. Finally, AB 264 (Correa), Ch. 232, Stats. 2011, made
permanent the qualified immunity provisions for skateboard park
operators and amended the injury reporting requirements for
local agencies.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
County of San Diego (sponsor)
City of San Marcos
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Anthony Lew / JUD. / (916) 319-2334
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