Gary, IN Public Conduct: Skateboarding Rules (2026)

Section 40-185 makes it unlawful for any person on rollerskates, or riding in or by means of a coaster, toy vehicle, or similar device, to go upon any roadway within the city except while crossing a street at a crosswalk. The rule dates to the 1960 code (Section 4-1607) and was carried forward unchanged into the 1989 and current codifications; it predates the word 'skateboard' but its 'toy vehicle, or similar device' language is the section covering skateboards, scooters and similar wheeled toys operated on streets rather than sidewalks.

A companion rule in Section 40-184 bars anyone on a motorcycle, coaster, sled, rollerskates, or toy vehicle from clinging to or attaching themselves or their device to another moving vehicle on any highway, a practice sometimes called 'skitching.' Both sections sit in Division 1 of Article IV, Vehicle Operation, alongside the city's rules on U-turns and backing, and both are enforced as ordinance violations by the Gary Police Department rather than through a separate skateboard permit or registration scheme. Because the roadway ban only excepts crosswalk crossings, a skateboarder, roller-skater or coaster rider who travels down a street, even briefly, outside a marked crosswalk is in violation regardless of traffic volume or the presence of a sidewalk alternative.