If you plan on taking your brand new electric scooter from Swagtron to the skatepark, you might get some dirty looks from skaters. This is because most of the skaters are not big fans of their park colleagues since scooter riders seem to lack skatepark etiquette and are unaware of their surroundings. They tend to not pay attention to other riders, increasing the risk of injuries.
Skateboarders are fans only of skateboarding
It looks like skateboarders don’t like any other activities because they simply identify themselves as skaters. They have spent a lot of time with their friends at the skatepark perfecting their riding. Now that they join the very selective club of „skaters” they are not willing to let go of it.
In general, skaters aren’t fond of things such as inline skating, team sports, and they even dislike people who ride longboards, despite the longboard being just a bigger skateboard. Anyway, there is one category present in skate parks that skaters hate the most. They really hate scooter riders. Every skater will be able to tell you about an incident that made him despise scooterists.
There might be a gap generation
There are not a lot of adults riding scooters. Furthermore, adult skaters will say that none of their friends is a scooterist. However, a lot of kids are now owning scooters and they are cruising all over the town. If you go to a skatepark, you’ll see that the number of scooterists younger than 14 years old will be greater than the number of skaters in the same demographic group.
This does not imply that skateboarders hate children but it would be pretty unusual for a guy in his thirties to hang out with 10-year-old kids.
Skateparks belong to skaters
Skateparks were originally designed and developed for skaters. A skatepark has ramps and curves that make skateboarding very exciting and skaters have used these places for a long period of time. It makes sense they don’t want any other kind of riders to interrupt their practice sessions.
Scooter riders don’t respect skatepark etiquette
Every person at the skatepark wants to go anywhere as fast and possible to do the most awesome tricks. But it can’t be this way. Just like on the road, there are safety rules that every rider needs to follow. Most of the skaters don’t simply just start doing tricks when they get to a new skatepark.
At first, they have to observe the movement patterns in that particular park so they don’t cut off other skaters as they will anger or even injure them. The skatepark’s rules enable everyone to have a turn to ride regardless of their age or skill level. This means that older and more experienced skaters will allow the younger kid to have a turn.
On the other hand, some scooter riders state that skaters have a hypocritical attitude. For example, if a young skater lacks skatepark etiquette and rides in a dangerous way, older skaters will give him pointers and help him out. But they don’t do the same for scooterists. They just get angry.
Apparently, scooterists are reckless
Almost every skateboard rider will tell you those scooter kids are not aware of the surroundings. Some of the scooter riders don’t know to wait for their turn or which of the ramp’s lines to follow. They begin their run whenever they feel like doing so without thinking about the other riders’ safety.
Keep in mind that most scooter riders are children and most of the skateboarders are adults. If there would be an accident between these two, the average scooter rider would probably take a bigger impact. The physics behind this is very simple. Adults just weigh more than the average kid so the kid will take most of the collision’s impact.
Of course, accidents will take place now and then, even amongst skateboarders. But it is important that all skatepark riders try to reduce the risk of serious injuries.
It’s easy to ride a scooter
It is far easier to learn how to ride a scooter than to learn how to ride a skateboard. Without thinking about riding a skateboard to professional levels, it is considered very challenging to get average skills at skateboarding. It even takes a long period to comfortably travel on your skateboard from one location to the other.
A lot of practice is required until you will be able to do an ollie, let alone a big flip at the skatepark. On the other hand, when riding a scooter, you just need to put your feet on the desk and grab the handlebars. Even braking requires almost no skill at all and there is no need for someone to explain to you how to brake on a scooter.
Skateboarding tricks vs scooter tricks
The first trick you will learn as a skater is the ollie and it implies jumping off the ground with your skateboard. The same goes for a scooterist, only that the trick is known as a bunnyhop. To do the ollie on a skateboard you have to push down the board using your back foot, slide your front leg to the edge of the board, and push off using both legs in order to jump.
Learning the right movement to perform an ollie is different than any day to day activities. Some skaters compare doing an ollie with executing a side kick while jumping and they believe this is the hardest trick to learn. Mastering the unusual movements takes a lot of time and patience and no skateboarder is willing to let go of this effort.
On a scooter, the process is way simpler. You just have to jump from the board and lift the handles at the same time. If you’ve ridden a bicycle before, it will take you a few tries before completing the trick.
Skaters are considering themselves to be elite
It’s simply harder to ride a skateboard. You can control the board from both ends when you are having both feet on deck. But most tricks imply losing contact with the board. On the other hand, you have a lot more control when riding a scooter. All scooters have handlebars just like a bicycle. Since most people are capable of riding a bike, it only makes sense that a lot of people can ride a scooter.
Scooting is more injury-prone
Losing control of a scooter involves a higher risk of getting seriously injured. There are more parts on a scooter that you can hit, crush or get tangled up in. It’s simple to give up on a trick if things go bad when riding a scooter. You just have to kick the board away from you so you can land safely on both feet.
On a scooter, you would have to kick the board out and push the handles away from you. Although it might look like a simple task, the deck might revolve around the stem which will cause you to lose contact with the scooter. The risk of landing on the scooter’s deck, getting stabbed by the handlebar, or falling sideways on the deck is pretty high.
Skaters have to deal with scooterists’ parents
Since most scooter riders are kids, they will come to the skatepark accompanied by their parents. Instead of supervising their children like responsible adults, many of them are just checking social media or talking on the phone. If skaters tell these kids to be more careful, the parents will make a big deal out of it.
Nevertheless, if there is a collision between a skateboarder and a young scooterist, the parent will take it all out on the skateboarder. Anyway, not all parents present at the skate park act this way. But it takes only one irresponsible adult or a reckless child to cause a bad injury for one of the riders.
Scooterists create chaos everywhere
There’s a new movement among scooter riders called street jam. Scooterists gather from all around the world to ride across a city while doing tricks on car-circulated streets. They stop on their way to grind down rails or to jump high stairs. This type of event has no permit and is organized through social media by more influential scooterists.
They don’t even have a planned route as organizers use megaphones to direct the group. This kind of event only hurts their reputation and adds to their fame as reckless riders.
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