It's tough to know where to ride a skateboard in Banning.

Jerry Kue, 13, skates back and forth between the Banning Library and a local skate shop in the afternoons. He usually skates on sidewalks. He'll stop skating and walk if there are people on the sidewalks.

He avoids skating in the street because of cars.

"We can be far away from them, and they'll honk their horns to tell us to move," Kue said.

The city is rewriting the ordinance that regulates skateboarding so that skateboarders such as Kue, as well as everyone around them, will know where they can skate and where it's not allowed.

Michael Brown, 11, uses his skateboard to travel between his Banning home and his favorite downtown spots. But he often avoids main streets because of the reaction he gets from some drivers.

"Some people don't trip about it," Brown said, "but some do."

The city decided to give the rules an overhaul after Banning skate-shop owners Jennifer and John Davis went to the City Council with their concerns about safety problems caused by the current law.

Drivers don't want skateboarders on streets, and pedestrians don't want them on the sidewalks, Jennifer Davis said.

So where can they skate?

The current rules for skateboarding are the same as for bicycles. In business districts, skateboard riders should stay off sidewalks and obey all traffic laws. Outside business districts, they can ride on sidewalks if they do so safely and give the right of way to pedestrians, unless the city posts a sign prohibiting sidewalk skateboarding.

The rules should be tailored to skateboarders, said Chris Millen, director of Community Services for Banning, because bicycles are taller and more visible.

"You wouldn't think twice about having a bicycle being on Ramsey or any main street," Millen said, "But if you have a skateboarder, you have a significantly different issue."

The amount of skating in commercial areas will likely decrease once Banning gets a new skate park built, Millen said. Skaters have raised more than $3,500 of the $5,000 city officials are requiring them to raise before they move ahead with the $200,000 project. Millen said two upcoming fund-raising events should put the skaters at the $5,000 mark.

City officials are still discussing details of how the new rules will differ from the old ones. They plan to take a draft of the new ordinance to the city's Skate Park Task Force meeting next week and then to the City Council on Feb. 13.

"I think the process itself is as important as what comes out of it," City Attorney John Wilson said. "People will have more of an awareness of what is and is not allowed."

In the meantime, Jennifer Davis said that drivers need to be on the lookout for skateboarders.

"People just need to be aware that there are going to be kids on the street skating, and they're kids, so they're not going to be as observant as they (drivers) are," she said.

Katie Orloff can be reached by e-mail at korloff@pe.com or by phone at (909) 849-9872.