Youngstown, OH Public Conduct: Skateboarding Rules (2026)

Youngstown Codified Ordinances Chapter 377 (“Skateboards, Roller Blades, Roller Skates and Scooters”) opens with definitions at 377.01: a “skateboard” is any board, plank or platform mounted on wheels or rollers without a positive mechanical steering means, a “scooter” is the same but WITH positive mechanical steering, and “roller blades” and “roller skates” cover in-line and four-wheel devices affixed to the rider's boots or shoes. Section 377.02 PROHIBITIONS then sets the operating rules enforced by the Youngstown Police Department. Under 377.02(a), no one may ride any of these devices up a sidewalk or public parking area, within a one-mile radius of the downtown area, or anywhere signs are posted prohibiting the activity, which lets the City post additional restricted zones beyond the fixed downtown radius.

Subsection (b) requires every rider to yield the right of way to pedestrians at all times and to pass them without causing injury or reasonable fear, dismounting if needed. Subsection (c) requires skateboard and scooter riders (notably not roller skate or roller blade users) to dismount and walk as a pedestrian across any street intersection. Subsection (d) adds a nighttime safety rule: from half an hour after sunset to half an hour before sunrise, or whenever natural light is insufficient to make a person clearly discernible at 300 feet, every rider on a roadway must wear reflectorized material such as a vest, sash, band or tape between the neck and waist, visible at 300 feet. The chapter traces to Ordinance 03-168, passed June 16, 2003, and cross-references the Traffic Code's toy-vehicle provisions at TRAF. 311.03.