New York Skating, Rollerblading, Skateboarding Accident Lawyers

NY Personal Injury Attorneys

The New York personal injury lawfirm of Goidel and Siegel has been representing skating, rollerblading, and skateboarding accident victims for over 17 years. If you were the victim in a NY sports accident, our firm will aggressively pursue just compensation for your physical and emotional injuries.

In many cases, a skating, rollerblading, or skateboarding accident results from someone else's negligence or a product's malfunction.

Skaters, rollerbladers, and skateboarders often seem invisible to distracted, inattentive drivers of cars, SUVs, vans, and trucks. Even if these skaters follow the rules, they can be hit by negligent drivers who are not looking for them.

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, approximately 26,000 persons are treated in hospital emergency rooms each year with skateboard related injuries. Sprains, fractures, contusions and abrasions are the most common types of injuries. Deaths due to collisions with cars and from falls also are reported. Several factors - lack of protective equipment, poor board maintenance and irregular riding surfaces - are involved in these accidents. Skateboard riding requires good balance and body control, yet many young skateboarders have not developed the necessary balance and do not react quickly enough to prevent injury.

Who Gets Injured:

• 6 out of every 10 skating injuries are to children under 15 years of age
• Skaters who have been skating for less than a week suffer one-third of the injuries; skaters with a year or more of experience have the next highest number of injuries
• Injuries to first-time skaters are, for the most part, due to falls
• Experienced skaters mainly suffer injuries when they fall after they strike rocks and other irregularities in the riding surface or when they attempt difficult stunts.

Environmental Hazards

Irregular riding surfaces account for over half the skating injuries due to falls. Before riding, skaters should screen the area where they will be riding by checking for holes, bumps, rocks and any debris. Areas set aside especially for skating generally have smoother riding surfaces. Skating in the street can result in collisions with cars causing serious injury and even death.

Reduce the Risk

Children who do not wear or use protective equipment, particularly helmets, are at greater risk of injury. Bicycle helmets have been shown to reduce the risk of head injury by 85% and the risk of brain injury by as much as 88%. Source: National SAFE KIDS Campaign, Injury Facts, Recreational Injury, 2004.

Being involved in an accident or any other traumatic event can leave a victim caught up in a complex maze of legal, medical and financial issues at a time when they are least prepared to deal appropriately with those issues. If you or a loved one has been seriously injured in a skating accident, contact the New York skating accident attorneys of Goidel and Siegel for a free consultation today.