Skateboarder goes to jail

[igo]

Kudos for the guy standing up.

I just expect to be harassed when I skateboard it most be the noisy wheels or the fear of being sued. The only places I can skateboard worry free are abandon/junky places that nobody cares about and skateparks.

[DifferentPointofView]

Some people, even when they use like 80-88A wheels that are soft and don't make noise just get yelled at cause their skaters. They get called punks and juvenile delinquents, but even with a petition of over 200 signatures (thats a lot for this county) the idea of a skate park gets shunned upon. Some say it will bring more skaters, but maybe if the skaters had a decent place to skate, they wouldn't have to skate the streets and sidewalks. Just a thought.

[johnpr]

my "hometown" (keep in mind im a nomad so i dont really have a home town but the closest thing i have to one....) built a skatepark behind the police station when i was younger and it has had great reception, but then again i think with that one location is key...

[reformed]

While I like where this guys head is at, I disagree with the argument that skateboarding is a viable mode of transportation. Having skated for many years and still wearing skate shoes to this day, I know how dangerous it is to skate on the street. Not only can you not hear an approaching car from behind you because of the sound of the wheels, but the little wheels of a skateboard can stop instantly and easily on a small pebble and send you flying in one direction and the board in another, done it many times and have scars to prove it. I've seen many motorists have to swerve and almost cause accidents because of this very thing happening. I actually used to walk my board to where I was going to skate at instead of ride it there. Yea it doubled travel time, but it was a lot less stressful and much safer.

[NoCO2]

I can see where his argument is coming from, but I think their is a hierarchy in which laws take precedence over others. For instance, the no skating on the streets is a safety issue because, it's just physics, a skateboard CAN'T go as fast as a bicycle can in the same conditions, period. Also, like reformed said, they can be thrown off balance easily from small pebbles that most other vehicles wouldn't even notice. On the other hand, the alternative transportation law (or movement, whatever it was) is simply to clean up the air. They want people to be able to not need a car and for cyclists and pedestrians to be encouraged to ride and walk rather then drive because no one cares about their efforts to conserve.

I agree that he should be able to ride his skateboard to work if he wants to, but, maybe they should consider making a specialized lane for alternative transportation vehicles.

[johnpr]

^^agree on the alternate lane^^

[DifferentPointofView]

For where I live, we'd have to get actual sidewalks first and not just paths.

[Gone4]

Originally Posted by DifferentPointofView

For where I live, we'd have to get actual sidewalks first and not just paths.

I had never been to a suburban or urban area without sidewalks until I went to Texas. It's terribly inconvenient to lack them. I sometimes wonder if they know alternatives to SUV's exist.

[Peakster]

Darn! What a crazy punishment for using human powered-transportation. That's such an awful contradiction: Can't use human powered vehicles on the sidewalks because of pedestrians, and can't use them on the roads because of angry drivers that think they own the road. What else are they supposed to do? Fly like the Jetsons?

Oh wait... that would be a violation of airspace

I'm happy he got support of all those people though. I wonder is he has to carry a criminal record now .

[Gone4]

Originally Posted by Peakster

What else are they supposed to do? Fly like the Jetsons?

Oh wait... that would be a violation of airspace

You can sly ultra lights below a certain altitude and the FAA won't care in the US. You may get some unhappy people in neighborhoods though trying to sa it's not safe.