Skateboarding is a crime?
May 15th, 2008 by AndyThis is pretty ridiculous. Lee Breen, of Fredericton, is going to jail for skateboarding on city streets. He had a choice of paying a $100 fine or spending 5 days in jail, and chose jail.
“I won’t pay because I believe I’m following the Fredericton Green Matters campaign in finding alternative transportation with my skateboard,” he said yesterday at a rally in support of him at city hall.
“If I pay the fine, I would be admitting I was doing something wrong.”
I think it’s safe to say this guy isn’t just claiming green after the fact, as he runs a landscape company which operates only old-school push mowers and is involved in several Fredericton environmental campaigns. Regardless, I’m so sick of old people passing laws against kids trying to have fun (e.g. skateboarding) that I frankly would support this guy even if he was doing tricks on private property - the fact he was using his board for transportation on public roads makes the case that much sillier.
May 18th, 2008 at 10:32 am
The guy was putting other road users in danger by weaving in and out of city traffic. If my wife was driving with the kids in the car and had to do an emergency stop to avoid this bozo I’d want him busted too.
I have no problem with the guy skateboarding - he just needs to do it in a way that is safe for all road users.
Veiling his defence of reckless endangerment as ‘I was being green’ misappropriates the whole environmentalist concept.
…I caused a bad RTA on my skateboard but it’s ok because it had zero carbon impact and everyone lived…
Arse.
May 21st, 2008 at 10:46 pm
Clearly dangerous skateboarding benefits no one (other than maybe providing a thrill for the rider), but in this case I haven’t heard anything about reckless riding anywhere but your comment. If that was the case, I’d have no problem with a dangerous driving type charge… but that’s not the charge here, and Lee is protesting the law criminalizing ANY skateboarding on the streets. This is also what I have a problem with.
Really, drivers need to learn that they are not alone on the roads, which they at least share with bikes, and start respecting other forms of transportation. Somehow I feel that in your crash scenario, not everyone would live….
Or maybe we just need dedicated bike(/skateboard) lanes on every street. They seem so simple, and yet aren’t coming into existence very fast. I don’t understand the holdup.
May 22nd, 2008 at 11:03 am
Dedicated bike lanes are exactly what we need. They instantly make biking to work a much more appealing option for the average person who might otherwise fear for their life (with some justification!) dicing it out in traffic.
And if parking lanes or one driving lane had to be converted in order to make that bike lane, so be it. Increased congestion is just another disincentive for people to drive into the city core. Bike, walk, take transit, or suffer the consequences.
May 23rd, 2008 at 4:15 pm
A lot of people I’ve spoken to who don’t bike to work (but have thought about it) are still generally creeped out by the idea of biking in heavy traffic, even if there are dedicated cycling lanes.
Vancouver has the added advantage of having residential streets that run parallel to main streets designated as ‘bike paths.’ Cars can still drive on them, but bikes get priority. It’s a crazy sight to see 15 cyclists waiting at a traffic light (and it isn’t Critical Mass or anything).
May 28th, 2008 at 10:37 am
i think that, it was a good idea not to pay the fine. skateboarding leads to FREEDOM:D