European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 08, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse Sidewalk surfers daredevil skateboarders often racing at speeds up to 50 m.p.h., seem to Throy by Wayne King new York times outside Charlottesville va., they Don t Wear crash helmets essential to avoid death or injury and Careen at 50 Miles per hour Down Highway 250 off Afton Mountain. On California Hills they do close to 60. In the dry swimming pools around u s Angeles they sweep Down the sloping Bottom rocket up the vertical Side at the deep end and just before soaring Over the Edge swing around the Edge of the Pool and plunge Back Down , it seems practitioners of the revitalized pastime of skateboarding seem to Groove on the Riding a Concrete drainage ditch in Houston they Call the meat grinder because a fall Means leaving Large patches of skin on the sandpaper surface just eats you up weaving through traffic in Detroit or wiping out against a tree in a soaring slalom in Central Park. For skateboarders part of the Appeal seems to be Riding on the Edge of danger. And As the sport grows so do the accidents nearly tripling in the last year and causing alarm among parents and officials of some cities. R i fears have spread overseas too. In Germany government officials seriously arc considering imposing some sort of ban on skateboards because of the rapidly increasing number of children injured while using them " it gives you exercise said 7-year-old Bucky Avenue in Charlottesville where the tiny wheels whirl like Cica Das in summer. And it s he observed wrinkling his nose expectantly that s part of the a fad like the Hula hoop in the 1960s, the skateboard faded away for a few years but now has made a come Back As the hottest new tiling on wheels with boards routinely ranging up to Over $100 and As High As 3,000 for a custom made High Speed Jermico Speed Board. Streamlined aluminium wind Oil with wheels that recently took a rider 57 Miles per hour Down a Steep Southern Cali fornia slope. With the Boom has come a corresponding Rise la accidents with broken arms and Ankles and Large Ana lacerations becoming almost a commonplace at some hospitals. Nor Are All the victims Young sters. We used to see younger kids but now we see older teen agers and people in their Early 20s," said Lois wig gins nursing supervisor at children s Hospital of san Arthur Harris of Evanston Iii operator of a Hobby and crafts shop says he has been skate boarding Ever since he started stocking the boards 15 months does some stunt Riding kick turns toe taps some Bank Riding pretty Good at the downhill slalom but agrees it is a youngster s i be heard that Fred Astaire skateboards he said and there s some old Man on the West coast who l. 82 years old he three quarters of skateboard accidents involve cell ,1 Dren 5 to 14, and the number is soaring. In 1074, their. Were 3.230 skateboard related injuries treated i emergency rooms according to the Federal g i a duct safety commission. In 1975, the number rocketed to 27,522, and last year 1978, it tripled Over skateboarding Evel Knevels develop various tricks in their painstaking Pursuit of peril y. Page 14 the stars and stripes
