Skateboarder still in critical condition after failed stunt
An 18-year-old Windsor man remains in hospital after a failed stunt in which he tried to latch onto the back of a city transit bus while riding a skateboard last Friday afternoon.
The man grabbed hold of a Transit Windsor bus along a southbound stretch of Walker Road near Grand Marais Road, but he suffered serious injuries when he fell off, according to Windsor police.
"At some point he lost control and he fell to the ground and suffered a serious closed-head injury," said Const. Andrew Drouillard.
The incident appears to be part of a popular stunt filmed by daredevils all around the world. The Internet is full of videos and pictures of people "skitching," including how-to clips on YouTube.
"Skate up to it and make sure the driver does not see you," one video explains.
Officials are not sure where the idea began, but similar stunts are highlighted in several Back to the Future scenes, where character Marty McFly hitches rides to navigate through traffic and escape getting pummelled by bullies.
But failed skitching stunts can be deadly, according to several news reports from the U.S.
Even though there are skateboards built for speed, Nic Borland of Bicycle World in Windsor says hitching a ride on any vehicle is not smart.
"You don't have brakes to stay in control," he said. "You can't see what's coming up. You can't see potholes or anything or any types of drains as you're going by."
Windsor city CAO Helga Reidel could not comment on details of the accident but says it's not likely the driver could see the skateboarder. She says it's hard to say how to prevent this from happening.
"We actually have a plan in place to put cameras on the insides of our buses," she said. "I'm not sure if that type of interior camera system...could have done anything to alert the driver to this situation."
Police say skitching is illegal and a violation of the Highway Traffic Act. The latest incident in Windsor is still under investigation.
