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Subscribe to RSSA teenager has died following a skateboarding accident in Chula Vista, Calif., police confirmed.
According to Capt. Gary Wedge with the Chula Vista Police Department, authorities received a call of a skater down in the roadway in the 800 block of Nacion Ave. around 6:45 p.m.
Read the original report | More from NBCSanDiego.com
Wedge said the teen was skateboarding in the middle of the street when he saw a car and tried to swerve to avoid the oncoming vehicle. In the process, the teen lost control and wiped out.
Wedge said medics transported the teenager to a local hospital with serious injuries. He was pronounced dead a short time later.
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The accident is still under investigation. At this point, officials do not believe alcohol or drugs played a factor in the death.
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Apparently his parents didn't teach him not to play in the road.
It's California. The roads are playgrounds.
or somebody told him to........and the reaction was ..."dude...like DUDE ...thats such a cool idea...totaly knarley...check it out...and watch this pike..maybe i can be in the next jack$$ video."
Yesterday I saw the second "motorcycle vs.car" accident on Chula Vista streets in as many days.
People drive like maniacs here. And teens should know better than to "play in the street", but seem too dense to get that idea in the last several years. Parents don't teach them any better.
I think I'll nominate this numpty for a Darwin Award....
lisa, How is it apparent what his parents taught him? Could it be that he was a simply hard headed teen who thought his parents didn't know what they were talking about? Do you really think all children do as they are told? (Especially when they think they won't get caught). A terrible tragedy...
Evolution, relentlessly, marches on.
The gene pool just got a bit healthier
Skate or Die.
dang Caifornia gets ALL the good targets............
stupidity however probably played a major role............
It is just nature's way of weeding out the smartest from the dumb-asses. Those who wipe-out, skateboarding down the middle of the street do not always survive to reproduce. In this case, uh, no.
It's called winning a Darwin Award.
this seems like a nonstory.boy dies playing in traffic.man burned when jumping in fire.girl falls out of tree.this isnt news,its the outcome of the lack of sense.
well the dumb ass shouldn't have been playing on the road. to bad the driver might get charged with something when its the skate boarders fault.
round here its called " failure to maintain control of a motor vehicle"
Article didn't say he got hit by a car. It says he wiped out, while swerving to miss one.
My bad. The other version of the article does say he got hit by a car.
Obviously another dweeb who watched "Dumbest Stuff on Wheels" and was practicing to get on TV. Probably wasn't wearing a helmet or any other body protection, and was stupid enough to be in the middle of the street. More chlorine in the gene pool, please.
helmet-- a plastic hat? or body protection? aka; plastic armor? yep those will do allot of good when being run over by a couple tons of car / truck.
Article doesn't say anything about safetygear...
This is what I told my son...no helmet...no sympathy.
I'm a BIG fan of Darwinism...
I take exception to the comments blaming the skateboarder. When driving a 2 or 3 -ton vehicle, is not it the driver's responsibility to watch out for hazards. Granted, this did take place in California, but knowing how most people drive - that is, they let the car drive them instead of them driving the car - I blame the driver.
Some accidents cannot be avoided, and this seems to be the case, but while driving, I always adjust how I drive based on the upcoming situation. I.e., if there are children in the street, I slow down. If I am in a neighborhood, I reduce my speed. If it has just started raining, I slow down. If there is snow or ice on the road, I increase the distance between me and the car ahead of me. If I am driving up a hill, I slow down before peaking that hill - I do not know what is on the other side. If there is fog - thus, reduced visibility ahead - I do not blindly race towards my destination completely oblivious to the fact that traffic might be stalled beyond my line-of-sight. I use only a hands-free cell phone set while driving, and limit my conversations to mundane topics - I am not going to discuss physics while driving - Etc... Ect... Etc...
The teen has some blame, but teens-are-teens and lack the experience and knowledge of adults. RIP
ok Koatz go ahead and blame the driver but i ask you;
which one belongs on a street;
A. cars and trucks?
B. skateboarders?
Keep in mind he was skateboarding IN the street not crossing it. And if he " lacks the experience and knowledge" that there are 2 ton and up vehicles in the street he must have fallin on his head too many times.
The kid was in the middle of the street not the drivers fault.
Go play in traffic with him, moron. Hope you end up the same way and just as surprised.
Ok mr or miss perfect! We know that you are a know all see all but not everyone has ESP. Most of the time you would NOT expect a skateboarder to be in the street! They should not be on the street at all! Bike riders either. If you are will ing to ride a bike, skateboard, rollerblades, moped in the street you had better be ready to accept the fact that they are what the roads were made for and they cannot stop on a dime, you could be crushed! You have got to be kidding me that you would blame the car driver! I think all you idiots that are teaching your kids to do all these things in the street had better teach them better. No the whole world is not looking for your child. You people also need to teach your kids about walking out into traffic. I don't care if you THINK all cars in front of stores are supposed to stop, they might not see you and they could be distracted! Yes it would be there fault in a crosswalk but are you willing to let your child die just because you don't want to teach them to look both ways and make SURE everyone is stopping? Adults and there kids walk out in front of cars non stop now! It is the Walmart mentality! They made those crosswalks in front of the store so people don't even look any more. It used to be that cars had the right of way, you waited until there were no cars then you walked! It should stay that way!
Pugiron
Go play in traffic with him, moron. Hope you end up the same way and just as surprised.
You're an idiot btw. The one intelligent comment in here and you identify the author as a moron. Sounds like the pot calling the kettle black here.
I knew there would be an onslaught of derrogatory comments about the skater here. Truth IS it IS the drivers fault. "Knock on wood" but I don't see myself running over a skater. I am not ignorant. Convenient I spose, that I once skated, so I know how sometimes you lose control of it. Stop passing the buck you apathetic fools. An adult runs over a child, the adult is at fault. Kids are stupid and lack sense at times, and it isn't thier fault, likely some blame falls on the childs parents. Do you people hear yourselves? Cracking jokes about a child dying painfully in the street. Marquis D' Sade would be proud I think. You people are sadists.
niece1964 - No Esp required, just common sense, very attainable. In fact if you can't drive like Mr. or Mrs. Koatz indicated and described, you shouldn't have a drivers license. As a wise man (or woman) once said "You can't teach common sense". Your whole comment displays lack of accountability. Accidents DO happen, perhaps driver was "distracted", and this sadly is how sh*t happens. Still driver is the one not paying attention. A car is far more controllable than a skateboard.
Should kids not skate in the streets? I guess that would be a resoanable request. But unfortunately kids aren't all endowed with experience and often don't understand they are making a mistake until they make it. The driver should have seen the kid, slowed down "maintained control" and let some other hapless driver hit the skater. If everyone can try to be aware, and accountable, then one day in the distant future we can stop blaming kids for cramming themselves and skateboard under our car when we are trying to discuss string theory on our cell phones while driving too fast down the road with a mean glare from the sun in our eyes.
Mutatedspecies = hilarious
Streets are not for skateboarding, they are for motor vehicles. Where did the article say the driver was speeding, on a cellphone, or otherwise inattentive. Someones dog ran out in front of me last year, I slammed on the brakes and was going 20 miles an hr and hit the dog. Killed it. Cried. What if that had been a kid on a skateboard. I would not have been able to stop either. I do not blame the teen for anything other than poor teenage judgement, which he has paid for. And I do not blame the driver who apaprently was driving on the road, where he was supposed to be driving. Cars do NOT stop on a dime even with good tires and dry conditions.
I disagree, although we do not have all the info. In Orange County, where I live , the city of Laguna Beach has just passed an ordinance that skateboarders must have helmets or the board will be confiscated (returned after a period of time) also they have closed a few streets to the skateboarders. These rules are not meant to take away anyone's sport, but to protect the boarder's and the car drivers. These kids weave in and out of traffic and can just cut in front of you out of nowhere. I once hit a dog when I was doing 25 on Glenneyrie St, he just ran out before I could hit the brakes. I cried for days, I can only imagine what it would be like to hit a child or an adult. I do not even use a hands free device, in my mind if you are driving that should be your full focus, not arguing with your wife or discussing the weather. If you are driving then drive. If you want to chat pull over and chat.
And if you want to skateboard illegally at least stay out of the middle of the street. It was the skaters fault he died, not the driver of the car.
Elizabeth,
I also live in Laguna. Like you I've experienced skateboarders weaving in and out of traffic, and several times I've had to swerve or brake to avoid hitting them.
I sympathize with the parents of the boy in Chula Vista, but he won't be the last fatality of this nature. Along with the practice of motorcyclists weaving between cars on freeways, these skateboarding behaviors need to be reconsidered by our traffic and safety regulators.
People need to stop telling bike riders and skateboarder they have every right to share the road with cars unless they are will to take the blame when they get killed. If people can run off a road onto the shoulder and hit a parked car along a highway with a police car and all the lights flashing then what makes you think being on a bike or skateboard is in any way safe? Accidents happen but you don't want to be playing chicken with a car when your on a bike or skateboard! You are going to lose! People don't always see you, there are other distractions like other CARS and TRUCKS that are what the driver is usually focused on. Sorry its kind of a habit to be more worried about the big vehicles swerving around you than anything small. Really people stop trying to FORCE people to let you on the road with them! Its TOOOOO DANGerous!!!!
I can't believe this isn't a daily occurance where I live. The town of Hanover requires cyclists to be on the road (not allowed on sidewalks or they will get a ticket). No one uses crosswalks and even bothers to look before throwing themselves into traffis and dbags on long boards that can't seem to decide if they want to be on the sidewalk or the road.
California - weirdness capital of the planet. Everything weird on this planet always comes out of California.
Have you heard of Florida? I think the weirdness is worse there, but maybe it has something to do with all of that sun...
There's a lot of sunny days in Arizona. What do we think of Arizona as a weird state? Are they too busy keeping the Mexicans out?
A little compasion for the boys parents who will never see him again would be nice. I believe streets are for motorized vehicles only. No bikes, no skateboards, no pedestrians, etc...... But lets all realize this was someones child.
and a reply to Koatz..... you are an ignorant fool to blame a driver when a skateboarder is "skateboarding in the middle of the street". A dumb decision by a teenager and now his parents have to live with that dumb decision for the rest of their lives.
I think this kid is a contender for the Darwin Awards. What a jackass.
I think this kid is a contender for the Darwin Awards. What a moron. Must have been traveling at a very high rate of speed.
I'm sorry for the boy and his parents. Everybody makes mistakes, especially as teenagers. Some of us make it through; some of us don't. I'm sorry for their loss.
Sometimes we can get obsessed with witty sayings and forget that someday we might have a child who does something dumb. Losing a child is agony.
We should think twice before we say something that is cruel. Words leave scars and I don't think we want to be treated the way we are treating this family.
We can still make our points but we should do so knowing we're talking about a human being.
I am always on my kid ... don't ride the bike in the street, wear your helmet, etc., etc. And all I get is "stop harassing the kid, you're making a sissy out of him."
Society loves risk takers, and the earlier the better. No one wants to be a sissy.
Kathy:
You give me hope that there are still caring folk out there - that this nation has not been gobbled up by the "reality" show folk
Young males have a tendancy to believe that they are immortal - I am sorry for the parents loss
Thank you! He went to the same high school as myself and it's been hard on the community && the kids who knew him... people are quick to judge & while we are all aware that he made a mistake that cost him his life; he was a single child and his parents are going through one of the hardest moments EVER!!!
Ok, let's all just hold hands and continue to think that everything will be alright. There are some cruel remarks here, but encouraging teenagers to do whatever they think is OK is not the solution to the problem. When something is stupid, let's call it stupid! Maybe some of our teenagers will get the message and not do stupid things.
R I P young man.
Blame the teens parents! All I have seen in the last 2 weeks is "parents watch your child 24/7"
If they go for a bike ride, ride with them, walk to bus stop, walk with them, skateboard, hop on yours, go with them. Where were mom/dad?
I've said too much. I'm done.
If you tell some of these skateboarders to board in safe or designated area's they ignore you. Say it's their right to board wherever they want. Freedom comes with responsibility. Parent's teach your children well. My prayer's are with the family.
Tragic and unfortunate. Skateboarding is one of the most dangerous sports kids do. But a few are scofflaws, and bring on their own problems. It's a situation the nation has to live with despite the trouble and injuries & deaths suffered by many families.
Skateboarding in the middle of the road? One word...Darwin...moving on.
Darwin Award!
A local popular bumper sticker is
"Skateboarding is not a Crime"
My response....."Maybe it Should Be"
I watched a skateboarder crouched as low as he could come down a steep service road behind a building and at 30 miles an hour he shot behind a string of parked cars......he was lower than the trunks of all the cars.....a young woman backed out of her parking place and crushed him to death. While I feel sorry for the parents of the dead college student skater, I feel much more sympathy for the college age woman that was so traumatized seeing the brains and guts of her classmate on the road she dropped out of college and ten years later is still on medication and in therapy.
Skateboarding is an excellent sport, great method of transportation, and lots of fun....Why don't we classify them as vehicles, just like bicycles, and then start having them obey traffic laws???? Let's have the skaters learn some rules rather than just be outlaws.
I've been a skateboarder for more than thirty years.
This is a horrible tragedy. however--kids these days don't practice-don't take precautions, don't wear safety gear when they should ,don't look out- don't take responsibility for their actions--and act like they always have the right of way when they clearly DON'T.
I'm sorry for his parents' loss. Remember kids, for every one of US that goes down in a PREVENTABLE way, we get that much closer to being forced off the street forever. Ride like you DRIVE:"As if everyone in a CAR is a ravening MANIAC ,with a bottle of Jack Daniels open in the car, and smoking METH." (that's a little extreme--but in thirty years of riding--I've never even had a close CALL by following those rules.) You want to skateboard and survive--you WILL learn to respect cars.
This is sad, but why is it national news?
It's national news because people are tired to reading about Sandy.
People who post mean spirited stuff here are the worst kind of garbage! This story is about someones child who was killed, grow up!!! This is not funny, it is a tragedy.
Mean posts didn't kill the child, being stupid did!
I'm sorry this happened but why was he skateboarding in the street? teenagers think they are indispensible everything is a challenge and they just don't have any fear. As parents we have to keep telling our children YES YOU CAN DIE even if we think they are not listening.
indespensible? ...indestructible, maybe?
The most macho, fearless motocross riders wear helmets. The helmets are cool looking gear, not lame like bicycle helmets, and why skateboarders can't get behind wearing helmets baffles the crap out of me.