For it to be a joke it has to be funny first.

I've driven a car both in a regular and in a professional emergency responder capacity and I've not fantasised about me running down a skater or anyone else.

That said, wanting and fantasising are two separate things and they are not interchangeable terms. E.g. you can fantasise about something but not want it to happen. The original poster used the term want.

I'll also add that in my previous job as a paramedic I had to extensively think about people getting hit by cars, so this technically takes me into fantasy land, but I believe this was not what you were talking about, and it certainly wasn't what the original poster was on about.

Your imagination is not everyone else's so don't assume we're all alike.

12 more comments have been lost in the ether at this killed duplicate.

In http://wtkr.com/2013/08/01/video-shows-virginia-state-police-car-hitting-skateboarder/ you can see a less-edited version of the video. The cop did not casually drive off after intentionally running the guy over. Rather he was making an illegal u-turn and wasn't paying attention. He got out to see if the skater was injured.

So not police brutality. At worst police reckless endangerment. More generously a stupid mistake.

(and I am certainly not someone who will excuse police aggression)

I'll start by apologizing for the long reply...
I looked as closely as possible in HD fullscreen and on my computer the head never touched ground. More to the point, the child never reached for his head. Either way the point is moot, the mother never once even glances at the child to determine injury.
I did look closely, down to street view, at the whole park, and what I saw was it seems that in the non-skate areas there is a different texture to the ground (around the pool, playground area, etc.)
From my viewpoint (and I admit I could not read the park rules, I tried from every angle) the rest of the park is built specifically for skating, and has obstacles designed to skate on that have clear marks on them that that's what they are used for. The area you think is the only skate area has ramps in and out to skate on, so perhaps I'm wrong, but the implication of that design is you can skate everywhere. If I'm wrong in that guess, I'm wrong. There's no way to tell for certain from what I can see. That said, I draw the line at the areas designated for skating, and not in the areas designated for other things. As I've repeatedly stated, the skater bears some responsibility for not looking in a public place, but mom bears far more for allowing child to run free in a public skate park, especially when he was headed straight towards the street with no one watching until he screams.
I do admit from what I see this park is not well designed, as there is not a clear separation of the skate area and non-skate area, or a path from one non-skate area to another. If all the areas besides the small rail/bowl area are not for skating, they certainly should not have built it filled with skating obstacles and ramps, knowing that skaters will skate them.
I guess I misunderstood, yes, he was skating towards the picnic tables, but was no where near them at the end of his run, so who's to say he didn't plan on turning left into the rail area or stopping after the kick flip? The child was headed for the street, agreed?
Barrels out from behind an object is what children often do, and why they get hit, they don't know to look first.
Kid's mom is not seen until after the incident, then walking from the pavilion, she was not with or watching her child from every thing I see.
My reaction to blame the mom is because she was not watching her child and went off because that inattentiveness led to an accident, and she was the one responsible for her child's safety, no one else.

second post reply starts here:
OK, that's clearer that you don't excuse her actions. I accept and agree with that.
Expect the parent to be upset, absolutely. Expect them to be aggressive, not really but many people go that way. Expect them to be violent to address their own parental failings, not at all. Expect them to understand they (not the skater) is 70%+ at fault for not supervising a toddler? Never, parents rarely accept their failings and almost always deflect responsibility.
I feel you miss-state the situation. I say he should have hit her to stop her advance, not if she stopped, at the end of the video, she's still attacking. That's self defense, and using the skateboard in that capacity seems fine to me. We may disagree, people are different.
I think you hit the nail on the head in your last paragraph...we just don't see it the same way. I feel like many parents have a natural defense mechanism of responsibility deflection, and I don't accept any responsibility for other's children, and would never expect them to take it for mine. I understand the mindset of parents that believe we all have a responsibility to take care of their children, I just disagree with it.
I also disagree that age is an excuse, if the child is too young to watch out for itself, it's 100% the parent's responsibility in my eyes, not mine.

And then there's the new idea that this discussion is all about a faked video. If true, the parent is still irresponsible for letting their child be run into on concrete where he may well have broken his skull, but maybe not completely out of control crazy violent.
Again, apologies for the long post.

Both were heading straight at each other.
Both were coming from straight ahead of each other.
Skater could have looked forward.
Kid could have looked forward.
Either one could have avoided the other.
Neither one bothered to watch for obstacles ahead.
Everything the mom said about the skater, also applies to her son.
The skater ended up a bumbass.
You can excuse dumbass behavior on part of a kid, because he's a kid - but he's still a dumbass too.
Both ended up as equal dumbasses.
And that's fine. Life happens.

Here's a diagram of their paths :

(skater)---------> X <----------(kid)

In the future, the skater will be a little more mindful of his path.
In the future, the kid will be a little more mindful of his path.
Looks like everything worked out fine.

Parents can't be expected to be attached to a kid like a parasite. The mom doesn't have to be on the kid like stink on an a-hole.
That said, typical carnal reaction.

-scheherazade

Now, I don't know why I have so much trouble explaining this but I still really want you to understand that I'm not excusing this mom's actions.

The only thing I'm saying by suggesting her reaction is normal is this:

If I was skating through a public park, not watching where I was going, and I ran directly into someone's kid with a fucking weapon made of wood and steel, knocking them to the ground (except of course for their gravity-defying head), the first thing I would expect is for that parent to come at me.

I would be apologetic, just like the guy in the video because I would know it was ENTIRELY my fault. What I wouldn't do is try to explain to them that I actually bear only seventy-percent of the responsibility and that they shouldn't let their kid stray out of arm's reach in a park.

Sure, I would defend myself because I wouldn't expect that they were just going to immediately forgive me and think only about their shortcomings as a parent. I would defend myself because I still have the right to be safe in a public place, regardless of my actions.

What would I not do though? I wouldn't hit them with a fucking skateboard. Especially not the one I just hurt their child with. I wouldn't do that because I would know the only excuse I had was the petulant, middle-school refrain of "she hit me first!" I wouldn't do that because it would escalate the situation even more and I don't like to use violence to solve my problems. I'm perfectly capable of defending myself without hitting someone's irrational mother.

And then there's the question of pressing charges. Which for some reason to me is just laughable.

Was the lady wrong? Yeah, absolutely. Was she crazy? Maybe temporarily, it might have had something to do with someone running into her kid. I know a lot of people might not have acted the way she did (I would certainly have been more concerned about my own kid than the skater) but I know a lot of people might have FELT the way she did.

I just still don't think her actions were so far from what a person could expect after being a dumbass and skating directly into a little kid.

Maybe I don't get it because I'm an overprotective, irrational parent. Judging by how many times you referred to the child in the video as "it" however, maybe I just shouldn't expect you to understand my side either.

OK, OK... I know I'm talking to a person who can't see a kid's head hit the ground in a video where a kid's head clearly hits the ground but please do me one favor:

Look at the park layout from google maps that Eric posted above. Really zoom in and get a good look. What I see is a skate park on the left with some soccer fields further on and a parking lot on the right. In between, there's a narrow pathway leading from one part of the park to the other. That's why we see all those people walking through there in the video. They're not walking through the skate park, they're walking along a path.

Now, by your rational, this guy is allowed to skate wherever he wants in this park with no responsibility for running into anyone who happens to be walking through(since a toddler runs at about a normal person's walking speed, maybe a little faster). So I'm curious, where do you draw the line? Is this guy literally allowed to rail slide up the play equipment? Slalom between the swings? I really want to know where you think the line is. Are you really saying that the only path from one end of this overall park to the other runs right through the skate park portion of it? And everybody that walks through is supposed to expect skaters that aren't watching where they're going?

I only get so specific because a skateboard is a vehicle. You can ride one in many public places and I'm all for that but you bear a responsibility for hitting someone just like you would on a bike or in a car.

And I wasn't saying that the kid was running towards the picnic tables. I was saying that the skater was heading toward them, which it seems you agree with since you said the kid was running away from them. (BTW: Where do you get the idea that this kid "barrels out from behind an object?" What object?)

What it looks like to me is that this kid and his mom were coming from the north end, maybe the kid gets excited running to the play equipment on the south end when a guy, skating down the middle of the only path through the park, runs right fucking into him with a skateboard.

And the first reaction everyone has is to blame the kid and his mom? For running down a path through a park?

A note to all the silly commenters whose panties are in a twist:

Has anyone other than myself even bothered to read the youtube description and come to the conclusion that this video is fake?

this clip is from Leland Goldberg's part in "Warm Gravy"
a skateboarding video by Daniel Miranda
http://warmgravy.bigcartel.com/product/warm-gravy-skate-video

skater gets punched for accidentally running into little boy. (on his birthday)

Mom only learns a lesson if prosecuted, until then she learns nothing.
Kid learned that mom is an insane hothead that blames others for her lack of concern and control over her own children and that he had better look out for himself, because she won't.
Skater learned what lesson? That using a park for it's intended purpose may get you assaulted, or when approached by a yelling crazy person you should protect yourself with what you have in hand?

I can't see what you claim at all...in most 'skate parks' you are allowed to skate anywhere in the park...and it certainly looks to me like they have the entire area set up for skating. He was NOT headed towards picnic tables, those are blocks set up for skating. He is running AWAY from the table area straight towards the street (on the map/link eric3579 found, thank you). You can see the tables clearly, they have benches attached. From the pavilion Mom comes from (and we all assume the child too), the child is over 1/2 way to the street, where he may have ended up if the skater didn't stop him. That skater just saved that kids life, and got sucker punched for it!! ;-}
I also completely disagree that under all circumstances it's the older person's responsibility to avoid the free running toddler bolting out from behind an object directly into your path. I don't understand why you give the toddler a free pass just because he's young...that's why he needed supervision. That's why I say it was nearly entirely the MOTHER'S fault, for not watching her child in a dangerous area, then blaming others when something expected happens.
When you say things like 'her reaction was pretty normal' it implies clearly that it's acceptable. It was not acceptable in any way.
edit: A better way to say it might be 'her reaction was unacceptable, but understandable from someone with no self control'.
After the first punch/shove, he should have raised the board as a shield, then swung it like a club when she kept coming. There's no excuse for her behavior.
I am often surprised at the lack of self control many have, and the excuses others want to make for their inexcusable behavior.
If you're the type of irresponsible parent that lets their child run free unattended and unwatched in dangerous public areas where others are doing dangerous things in a manner and place prescribed by law and you get violently angry at others when the predictable happens, I think you're an idiot and should have your child taken from you. That's a typical problem with most parents, reason and responsibility goes out the window when it comes to their child.

A kid running into the path of a moving object should be glad it wasn't a bicyclist or car.

The skater wrongly assumed she had the same cultural assumptions as himself.

He should have had his guard up early on... use the skateboard to block. She only attacked because she could see he wasn't prepared.

Well, unfortunately - I think the little kid learned a tough life lesson and so did the mother and the skater. Everyone loses!

It's the skate area of Cannery Park in Hayward, CA.

http://img.fark.net/images/cache/850/N/NZ/fark_NZEIY70jIKl1CZ-TDDRkBtXR-yw.jpg?t=WzrbMzHluSyM5Tl3PxheSA&f=1377489600

You can see in the pic that the kid wasn't running in the area where you are supposed to skate. You can see that he was going right toward a set of picnic tables. You can even see the rails (coping) attached to the concrete in one area that aren't there in the area where the kid was running. I'll give you that he's pretty close but it's still entirely on the skater.

I just gonna say one last time that I'm not trying to justify the actions of this kid's mother. I'm just saying that, bottom line, hitting the kid was absolutely the skater's fault.

He was a nice guy and apologized, he didn't deserve to be hit. That said, I think her reaction was pretty normal. Most people wouldn't have acted on it but I'm really amazed at how surprised so many people are.

Is the kid alright? Probably. But I see that guy barrel into him and just can't imagine how fucking worried and angry I would be if it were my own son.

responding to an accident regardless as to who is at "fault" with violence is unacceptable.

I don't understand why this is even a discussion. You can sympathize with either party, it doesn't matter. Were I feeling draconian, I'd lock her ass up for assault. The skater did exactly the right thing by backing away on her FIRST assault of just pushing him. Or what? should he have punched her right back?

Unless you think you can somehow prove the skater intended to knock the kid over, AND can demonstrate how the parent would also know that it was premeditated, then her response is completely unjustified.

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