Editing Skateboarding (section)

==Safety==
Skateboards, along with other small-wheeled transportation such as in-line skates and scooters, suffer a safety problem: riders may easily be thrown from small cracks and outcroppings in pavement, especially where the cracks run across the direction of travel. Hitting such an irregularity is the major cause of falls and injuries.<ref name="Fountain-1996" /> The risk may be reduced at higher travel speeds.

Severe injuries are relatively rare.<ref name="Keilani-2010">{{Cite journal  | last1 = Keilani | first1 = M. | last2 = Krall | first2 = C. | last3 = Lipowec | first3 = L. | last4 = Posch | first4 = M. | last5 = Komanadj | first5 = TS. | last6 = Crevenna | first6 = R. | title = Skateboarding injuries in Vienna: location, frequency, and severity. | journal = PM&R | volume = 2 | issue = 7 | pages = 619–24 |date=Jul 2010 | doi = 10.1016/j.pmrj.2010.04.022 | pmid = 20659717 | s2cid = 23388180 | doi-access = free }}</ref> Commonly, a skateboarder who falls suffers from [[Abrasion (medical)|scrapes]], [[lacerations|cuts]], [[bruise]]s, and [[sprain]]s.<ref name="Keilani-2010" /> Among injuries reported to a hospital, about half involve broken bones, usually the long bones in the leg or arm.<ref name="Fountain-1996">{{Cite journal  | last1 = Fountain | first1 = JL. | last2 = Meyers | first2 = MC. | title = Skateboarding injuries. | journal = Sports Med | volume = 22 | issue = 6 | pages = 360–6 |date=Dec 1996 | doi =  10.2165/00007256-199622060-00004| pmid = 8969014 | s2cid = 43292625 }}</ref> One third of skateboarders with reported injuries are very new to the sport, having started skating within one week of the injury.<ref name="Fountain-1996" /> Although less common, involving 3.5–9 percent of reported injuries, [[traumatic head injuries]] and death are possible severe outcomes.<ref name="Fountain-1996" />

Skating as a form of transportation exposes the skateboarder to the dangers of other traffic. Skateboarders on the street may be hit by other vehicles or may fall into vehicular traffic.

Skateboarders also occasionally pose a risk to other pedestrians and traffic. If the skateboarder falls, the skateboard may roll or fly into another person. A skateboarder who collides with a person who is walking or biking may injure or, rarely, kill that person.<ref name="White 2011 a887">{{cite web | last=White | first=Kimberly | title=Woman killed after collision with skateboarder had been hit by one 15 years prior | website=Santa Cruz Sentinel | date=July 8, 2011 | url=https://www.santacruzsentinel.com/2011/07/08/woman-killed-after-collision-with-skateboarder-had-been-hit-by-one-15-years-prior/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220516123357/https://www.santacruzsentinel.com/2011/07/08/woman-killed-after-collision-with-skateboarder-had-been-hit-by-one-15-years-prior/ | archive-date=May 16, 2022 | url-status=live | access-date=August 14, 2023}}</ref>

Many jurisdictions require skateboarders to wear [[bicycle helmet]]s to reduce the risk of head injuries and death. Other protective gear, such as [[wrist guard]]s, also reduce injury. Some medical researchers have proposed restricting skateboarding to designated, specially designed areas, to reduce the number and severity of injuries, and to eliminate injuries caused by motor vehicles or to other pedestrians.<ref name="Fountain-1996" />

The use, ownership and sale of skateboards were forbidden in [[Norway]] from 1978 to 1989 because of the high number of injuries caused by boards. The ban led skateboarders to construct ramps in the forest and other secluded areas to avoid the police. There was, however, one legal skatepark in the country in [[Frogner Park]] in Oslo.<ref>{{cite news|title=The secret skateboarders who defied Norway's 11-year ban|work=BBC News|date=April 18, 2016|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-36077122|access-date=19 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180821055648/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-36077122|archive-date=August 21, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Forsman |first1=L. |last2=Eriksson |first2=A. |title=Skateboarding injuries of today |date=June 26, 2001 |journal=British Journal of Sports Medicine |publisher=BMJ Publishing Group |volume=35 |issue=5 |pages=325–328 |url=http://bjsportmed.com/content/35/5/325.full |doi=10.1136/bjsm.35.5.325 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120134908/http://bjsportmed.com/content/35/5/325.full |archive-date=January 20, 2013 |df=mdy-all |pmc=1724407 |pmid=11579065}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1755&dat=19780914&id=sAAkAAAAIBAJ&pg=5528,6154421 |title=Norway to Ban Skateboards |date=September 14, 1978 |newspaper=Sarasota Herald-Tribune |access-date=October 13, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117033315/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1755&dat=19780914&id=sAAkAAAAIBAJ&sjid=hGcEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5528,6154421 |archive-date=November 17, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref>