skitching ...

**skategeezer** · 03-22-2008 07:52 AM

Dangerous skateboarding stunt has police concerned

Posted: March 17, 2008 08:58 AM

A News 13 camera caught these three skateboarders skitching on a busy street in front of Kennedy Middle School on Friday.

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3/16/08 10 pm: "Skitchers" could face charges

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - A dangerous stunt called skitching is gaining popularity among teens, and it has Albuquerque police concerned.
In skitching, a skateboarder holds onto a moving car, riding it down the street for a distance.
The danger is when the car's motion changes.
"I've done it once," said skateboarder D.J. Burton. "They stopped and all of a sudden I hit my head on the door."
While Burton said he's learned his lesson, Albuquerque police are concerned other kids may not.
"It's just a matter of time when someone is literally testing fate with this kind of display of stupidity," said police spokesperson John Walsh.
In 2003, it turned deadly for a 21-year-old man in Albuquerque, and other young people around the country have been killed by it.
Part of the popularity of the stunt has come from the MTV show "Jackass," where daredevils attempted the stunt.
But another part of it is from online video-sharing sites like YouTube and MySpace Video.
"Many times the motivation is shock," Walsh said. "They'll post this up on YouTube, MySpace; it's just the shock value."
Walsh said that skateboarders or drivers caught skitching could be cited with a misdemeanor traffic citation, which could carry jail time. But another consequence could be far worse.
"This will cause harm - harm to yourself and others," Walsh said. "It isn't until a tragedy occurs that people get the message."
KRQE | Reporter: Addie Knowlton | Web Producer: Todd Dukart

**.secrets** · 03-22-2008 08:24 AM

oh that jackass, it just made everyone stupid....

please notice my sarcasm...

**AGENT WD-40** · 03-22-2008 11:44 AM

I have skitched many, many times and have been okay everytime. It is the RIDER's (Well, and the driver knowing what they are doing) fault, and no one elses. If you hold onto the side of the car, then you can see the road in front of you and any obstacles you need to avoid. It is also crucial that you hold yourself away from the car as much as possible to avoid hitting the moving wheels. As long as you do those two things and tell the driver not to accelerate too fast, then chances are you will be okay. If you find yourself going too fast, then its as simple as just letting go.

**smallhillrider** · 03-22-2008 01:38 PM

I've skitched a couple of times. I've always got my feet ready to powerslide if necissary. Saved me once from not such a bad accident, but better than scraping my elbow =).

I don't see how it can be the skaters fault if you fall...well unless your lacking experience and such... Make sure its a good friend of yours that drives, or your dad =).

Cheers =)

**arcane** · 03-22-2008 02:08 PM

It wasn't Jackass, it was that crazy Canadian kid Michel J Fox.

I remember living in the south a bit when I was young and we used to hold onto bumpers and tail gates so we could skitch down dirt/gravel roads without boards, nothing but our shoes. I'm not saying it's safe but people do crazy thing for entertainment sometimes, this is nothing new. If my child got hurt doing something like this who could I blame? It sure isn't going to be the media and whoever the moral majority's flavor of the month is to blame. It will rest squarely on me and him. Me for not teaching him well enough and him for choosing by his own free will to put himself in harms way. Yes, I believe the media has a degree of influence over people but in the end we all make our own decisions.

**Xgecko** · 03-22-2008 02:17 PM

It depends on where you do it, We Skitch the hill at Wheelabrator because it easy and has no traffic if it was in traffic I'm not so sure I would consider it.

CL · 03-22-2008 02:21 PM

Cue all the Safety-Nazis bitching and moaning about how dangerous skitching is....

**ShaggyIan4** · 03-22-2008 02:27 PM

There is a time and place for everything....

**Xgecko** · 03-22-2008 02:38 PM

Originally Posted by clnh5

Cue all the Safety-Nazis bitching and moaning about how dangerous skitching is....

I don't think its dangerous I just think there is a time a place for it

**243racing** · 03-22-2008 02:52 PM

I have skitched before. It's a convenient way to get back up the hill. I will do it again.

However, I only skitch on roads that are not teeming with traffic and only with a driver that I trust.

CL · 03-22-2008 02:59 PM

Originally Posted by Xgecko

I don't think its dangerous I just think there is a time a place for it

My comment wasnt directed towards you at all.

I dont understand how this is getting so much hype now, after all these years people have known about skitching. Like arcane said, skitching has been around for a long time. Anyone remember playing this game for Sega Genesis? I know i do:

**Haro** · 03-22-2008 03:00 PM

Put skitching in a video game series called Tony Hawk underground and boom. You will have kids of all ages getting the idea. I'm not against it but I can see how you can get f##ked up pretty quickly.

**Tex202** · 03-22-2008 03:10 PM

what worries me is that one of the guys in that picture is riding a rip stick....

**RastamanD** · 03-22-2008 03:52 PM

skitching is great for getting back up the hill, as well as going down faster

**rips4stoke** · 03-22-2008 09:17 PM

just make sure you skitch with a driver you can trust, oh yeah and make sure you don't hit any sewer covers/drains while you're hitching a ride. personally, I love getting a free ride back up a hill.

**cougrs84** · 03-22-2008 09:56 PM

Originally Posted by 243racing

I have skitched before. It's a convenient way to get back up the hill. I will do it again.

However, I only skitch on roads that are not teeming with traffic and only with a driver that I trust.

why wouldn't you just hop in the car?

we had the cops called on us once for skitching up a hill

**bear** · 03-22-2008 09:56 PM

i live in albuquerque, and that story was even dumber in the news. i skitch uphill all the time in my neighborhood. the only time i can think of it being dangerous is if you are on a skateboard, and hit some rocks or something, so you move your back foot to get balanced again, but you kick the tail up and freak out and let go and get road rash. i actually saw one of my friends do that once. even the driver of the car laughed.

**243racing** · 03-22-2008 10:00 PM

Originally Posted by cougrs84

why wouldn't you just hop in the car?

we had the cops called on us once for skitching up a hill

Because there are people already in the car.

**bear** · 03-22-2008 10:05 PM

that makes sense.

**wakeup** · 03-22-2008 11:02 PM

The fastest hill around here is only 50 mph. When we wanted to go faster, we would skitch on the flat part of the top of the hill to get going 20 mph or so, then let go and bomb down with the car behind us.

Then I realised I could push 20mph so skitching down the hill is just pointless.