The New York City Inline Skating Guide
Safety

Throughout this guide, "street skating" is used in the literal sense; i.e., getting about town on one's skates.

Despite their variable condition, the streets of Manhattan almost seem designed for skating. There certainly seem to be a lot of people in this town who use their Rollerblades, Salomons, and K2s for basic transportation. You may raise a sweat and suffer bus exhaust, but it saves you the $2.00 for a subway or bus token.

Just remember that while Manhattan drivers are surprisingly apt to honor amber street lights -- probably in fear of killing jaywalking pedestrians -- they're downright terrible at signalling lane changes or even turns. In other boroughs, drivers will be less likely to slow for amber lights, or even red lights.

And while I have enormous respect for the ability of cab drivers to avoid hitting cyclists, skaters and other cars, the movement of taxis is (perhaps as a consequence) notoriously unpredictable. And then there are the take-out food delivery guys, who all too often ride their lightless and apparently brakeless bicycles the wrong way down one-way streets.

The moral of the story is... well actually, there are several of them:

• Wearing a helmet and other skate armor is more than just a good idea. (Also, state law requires skaters under age 14 to wear helmets.)
• Pay attention to what you're doing and what others around you are doing. Don't do anything to reduce your ability to observe your surroundings. In particular, skating with an iPod or Walkman plugged into your ears is not exactly smart.
• New York state law gives you the right to skate on the streets, but you also have responsibilities, too. Skate with traffic rather than against it, honor traffic signals, etc. Basically, behave like cyclists are supposed to.
• Help others help you. Hand signals, just like bicyclists use, alert others to your intentions and give them time to react appropriately. You'd be amazed at how much less you'll get honked at if you do simple things like signal a lane change.
• Know the territory. Yes, Times Square is a tough place to skate, but even a quiet residential street has its dangers. Keep in mind what they are and be prepared.
• Wear reflective clothing when skating after dark. It's not just a good idea, it's the law.

Please take note that ten skaters are known to have died skating in the city since this skate guide first was posted on the web. Five were victims of falls in Central Park and all died of head injuries: one in summer 1995 after apparently slipping in some horse droppings; one in summer 1996 near Columbus Circle, falling at high speed and striking his head on a curb or light post; one in August 1996 on the upper east side of the park after blundering into the path of a cyclist; one in summer 2002 from slipping on a steep pedestrian path near the Boat Pond; and one in July 2004 who fell on the loop road on the upper east side of the park. Of the other five, a skater was struck by a bus near Broadway and 83rd St. in Manhattan during summer 1995; a 14-year-old was the victim of a hit-and-run beer truck in northeast Brooklyn in August 1996; a Bronx teen-ager was killed trying to skitch a Metro bus in December 1996; an adult skater was run over by a bus near the Empire State Building in July 1998, and an adult skater was struck by a car at the intersection of 22nd St and Park Ave. South on July 4, 2003.

Evidence suggests that at least five of these skaters would still be alive if they had been wearing helmets, and at least three would still be alive if they had been paying a little more attention to what they were doing and where they were doing it. Two of the helmetless skaters who slipped and fell in Central Park did so within short distances of emergency service personnel, but the nature of the head injuries was such that the quick medical response did not matter.