Cape Town - Their favourite speed runs include Suikerbossie hill, Chapman’s Peak Drive, and Karbonkel Road that runs from Hangberg down to the harbour.
Last week, a 16-year-old boy was injured when he slid under a car while speed skating downhill.
The skaters reportedly don’t wear helmets or protective gear and do not have spotters stationed at intersections to check for oncoming traffic.
Local drivers, who are terrified of accidentally hitting a young joyrider, have asked Hout Bay councillor Roberto Quintas to intervene.
Quintas said it was a miracle more children had not been hurt or killed
yet.
“We have groups of youngsters between (the ages of) 10 to 15 or so who are utilising those very steep roads for joy skateboarding in a seriously reckless, dangerous and irresponsible manner,” Quintas said.
“Hout Bay is quite spoilt in terms of creating environments where people can skate, but there are some thrill-seeker youths recklessly taking their lives into their own hands as well as endangering drivers and other road users.”
The suburb has two skating facilities, including the new and well-used Eyethu Skatepark, but these cater to trick skateboarders rather than riders who use steep roads to generate as much speed as possible.
Quintas confirmed that skateboarding on public roads is illegal.
“I have escalated it and asked that our law enforcement officer and metro police officer try to intervene where possible, apprehend them and start a process where the parents can be alerted.”
Concerned and frustrated residents have called for measures to deter the skaters, including speed bumps on the roads, gravel sections and confiscating their skateboards.
But Quintas said: “Karbonkel Road does already have speed humps and raised pedestrian crossings, but they don’t seem to deter the youth. They’re reckless thrill seekers. They use their feet to slow down as they go over the bumps or just fly over.”
Hout Bay resident Deborah Saint wrote a letter to Quintas after a close call with the skaters.
“I nearly wiped out about 10 of them last week in Edward Road,” she said on Facebook community group Hout Bay Organised.
“Fortunately I was driving slowly. They were all lying low on their boards coming down at a terrific speed.”
Another concerned resident, Deri-Anne Schniewind, has started a petition for Quintas to get police to confiscate the children’s boards.
“I witnessed an almost-death outside my house. I saw a skater roll off his board as it went under a car. The driver thought he had hit the child and came out of his car hysterical and crying,” Schniewind said.
“This is not about children being a nuisance. It’s about their safety.
Every one of us would be devastated if one of these little boys was killed by a car. The innocent driver would never recover and neither would these children’s mothers.”
Director of Community Crime Prevention (CCP) Keri Cross confirmed that her team responded to the skater who was hit last week and stabilised him before an ambulance took him to hospital.
Cross said she’d seen children under the age of 8 lying flat on skateboards speeding down busy roads at dusk, nearly invisible to drivers.
“Their moms or dads aren’t home. They’re chased out of parks by older children. They have nowhere to play so they take to skateboarding on the roads.”
Vicki Scheffel from Eyethu Skatepark said they have tried to talk the speed skaters to educate them on road safety.
“Downhill skaters are all aware of the dangers, but still choose to do this.
“We try to speak to the kids on Edward Road, in the harbour and other popular roads all the time but they are not interested in the skate park and it falls on deaf ears.
Vicki Scheffel from Eyethu Skatepark said that they had tried to reach out to the speed skaters to educate them on road safety.