Dear Editor,
I was very concerned regarding the intolerant and malicious attitudes and behavior promoted in the letter by Dr. Farley Brown ‘Speaking Out About a Reckless Skateboarder’.
Talk about reckless! For Dr. Brown to so publicly harass one of our wonderful minor kids, publish this minor’s home address, post a youtube video of him, and slight his parenting is shameful and inexcusable. I won’t even comment on Dr. Brown’s own testimony of LB police mishandling the response by releasing information about the minor to Dr. Brown without parental consent.
Yes, Speedboarders need rules, the city and responsible citizens are working on that! Yes a few kids are punks, or refuse to voluntarily wear helmets, but involved parents and responsible skate groups such as “Friends of Safe Skateboarding in Laguna” and “LBAG” are influencing that. I have seen the most hazardous and intentionally malicious activity and attitudes coming from negligent and intolerant motorists. We need a slow down and “SHARE THE ROAD” culture promoted and supported by everyone in town, especially motorists, as first steps for the safety of all people using our streets.
My fourth generation Laguna Beach sons are proud to live in the birthplace of outdoor activities such as hill skateboarding and skimboarding, where we continue to produce world champions after 50 years. These local progressive activities, along with others such as surfing, mountainbiking and stand up paddle boarding, are not going anywhere. Healthy outdoor activity mixed with creative terrain adaptation seems to be in our blood.
My youngest son’s good friend was intentionally run off the road by an older red Mercedes this year while peacefully skateboarding along the side of a low grade Laguna street. In between the expletives hurled at the minor by the elderly criminal, the kid was called “a menace to society”. My oldest son is graduating from LBHS this year with academic honors and ten times the required community service hours of most of his peers. However, he is missing competitive athletics in his list of accomplishments for college applications after getting hit during his freshman year in a Glenneyre crosswalk by a distracted motorist who was suspected to have been on the phone.
Slow Down. Get off the phone. SHARE THE ROAD. Safer streets start with influencing the attitudes and actions of motorists.
Sincerely,
James F. Agnew
Laguna Beach
