A gnarly collision near Dolores Park on Friday sent a bicyclist and a skateboarder to a hospital and may have forever ended skateboarding on an popular San Francisco hill.
Pavement markers were installed Saturday at Dolores and 20th streets in hopes of stopping “hill bombing” — a popular adrenaline rush for scab-legged skateboarders propelling down the city’s steep inclines.
“It was probably just a matter of time before someone got seriously hurt,” said 19-year-old student Mason Hunt, who was reading a book on a Dolores Park bench Sunday morning. “It’s very dangerous.”
San Francisco police officers were called just before 6 p.m. Friday to Dolores and Cumberland streets — the midway point of the steepest grade along Dolores. Authorities said they are still investigating the collision that left the bicyclist with critical injuries and the skateboarder with injuries that were not considered life-threatening.
The collision drew attention Saturday night, when San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Director Jeffrey Tumlin inaccurately tweeted that two people had died because of skateboarders bounding down the hilly Dolores Street.
“SF has a world renowned skate scene I love. So I hate doing this to Dolores. But two pointless deaths,” Tumlin tweeted along with a photo of yellow-vested men standing near newly installed traffic bumps on Dolores Street. More than two hours later, Tumlin issued a correction on Twitter, telling his followers, “Correction: life threatening injuries. No confirmed fatality.”
The branded Twitter account for the SFMTA followed, posting: “There are no confirmed fatalities as of what we know now. There were life-threatening injuries.”
Hill-bombing has long been a popular showcase of skills among San Francisco’s renowned skate scene and undulating streets, commonly at Kearny Street at North Beach, Twin Peaks and Hyde Street.
Residents near Dolores Park said Sunday morning that the activity has increased there in the past two months with hundreds of skaters and spectators gathering on weekends.
Skaters, often without helmets or face coverings, generally block off from Liberty to 18th streets, climb the hill up to 20th and attempt the jaw-dropping ride down the hill. Videos of skateboarders completing the steep runs and those of skaters wiping out along the way appear to be equally prevalent on social media.
Skating is outlawed at Helen Diller Playground inside Dolores Park, but locals say the playground’s concrete steps, handrails and curved pathways still attract skateboarders. But it’s the weekend hill-bombing that really concerns neighbors.
“It’s become a political issue because for three weekends in a row, we’ve had skateboarders barreling down Dolores Street,” said Peter Lewis, president of the Mission Dolores Neighborhood Association. “We were all young once. It’s difficult to get too upset about kids on skateboards, but at the same time, they have been causing a problem. The skateboarders have been all over the place, causing a lot of trouble.”
On top of the dangers of hill-bombing, neighbors say they have heard reports of assaults and vandalism nearby as people pour into the city for the weekend skateboarding events.
“I understand kids wanting to skateboard, have fun, and congregate after having had to shelter in place for several months now,” District Eight Supervisor Rafael Mandelman posted to his Facebook page. “However, the public safety concerns extend well beyond the possible spread of COVID-19 and serious injuries have occurred to participants, neighbors and passersby.”
Mandelman said skateboarders have “taken over” Dolores Street three times in a little over a week.
San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Lauren Hernández contributed to this report.
Rusty Simmons is San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rsimmons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Rusty_SFChron
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July 20, 2020 at 06:17AM
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Pavement markers slow daredevil skateboarders on popular SF hill after near-fatal crash - San Francisco Chronicle
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