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| Skateboarding Law (490 Posts)
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University of Utah
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On 5/27/2005
Ian
wrote in from
United States
(63.228.nnn.nnn)
Just clarifying on that last post, the U reffers to the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.
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University Cops Dropping The Hammer
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On 5/27/2005
Ian
wrote in from
United States
(63.228.nnn.nnn)
Last night a bunch of guys went out riding up at the U, thinking it was going to be a great night, boy were we wrong though. First run, a freindly cop pulls us all over and procedes to hassle us about riding in the road, a pretty common deal, and gives us the usual crap about citing us next time. We kept riding and on a later run around 10:30 we got pulled over again, i was ahead and all the others bailed behind, but J Bowman got caught, and written up, for skateboarding in the road. So be warned the U cops are cracking down, luckly his mom is a lawyer so we are goning to start a fight against this unnecisarry and unjust law. Any support from other utah riders would be awsome because im sure you have or will very soon be affected by this if it keeps up. We can't let the city take away our longboarding.
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breakin' the law
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On 5/25/2005 shapeshifter
wrote in from
United States
(198.160.nnn.nnn)
actually the adjudicator granted the city's motion to amend the charge(s) from "9-8-200(b)" to "9-80-200(b)" although it would seem they were sanctioned for the motion further down the page. when asked if i had a response to the change i respectfully disagreed for the sole reason i wasn't ready to plead on a charge i wasn't familiar with (my defense was that the ticket was written in error). the adjudicator indicated that my argument went to the subject of the matter and she would allow it (saying it was just a technicality... right). this put me back defending my right to ride at the location.
first move the city's counsel made was to requested that all witness be disallowed. this meant that the other guy with the same ticket had to leave the room. you see our original plan was to have my friend plead our case but by happenstance i wound up defending while he sat it out in the hall. then i was asked to state my case. i did so indicating that the officers ticketed me in error as i was on a parkway (bike path) and not on a street in a business district as the ordinance pertains. the adjudicator asked city counsel where the definition to the central business district is defined. the councilor excused herself and came back with a three ring binder of ordinances to define the location. the adjudicator balked at it as they were referencing an ordinance pertaining to peddling. the adjudicator found her own source of the definition which was inclusive of the area from the city to the lake (kinda broad ranging) but she did note that as i indicated the incursion occurred on the parkway not a street. it was there that the city's representatives failed to bear the burden of proof that a breach of the law occurred.
1) it was vital that the location of the "offence" was detailed in the ticket.
2) having a witness is critical otherwise the officer's statement overrides yours
3) you have to know your place in the game. one has to "play" the part of the one that has been offended. this has to be the hardest but most important detail to affect how they treat you.
btw... i had this case beaten three ways from sunday but chose to ride it for the sheer principal of it all.
more later...
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breakin' the law (CHICAGO ORDINANCE)
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On 5/24/2005
Pat Chewning
wrote in from
United States
(67.189.nnn.nnn)
No skateboarding in the street allowed in Chicago unless the street is designated a "play street", or for the purposes of crossing the street. A very restrictive law!
9-80-200 Toy vehicles.
(a) No person shall operate any pushcart upon any roadway, except by permit.
(b) No person shall ride a skateboard upon any roadway or sidewalk in a business district.
(c) No person upon roller skates, or riding in or by means of any coaster, skateboard, toy vehicle, or similar device, shall go upon any roadway except while crossing a street on a crosswalk and when so crossing such person shall be granted all the rights and shall be subject to all the duties applicable to pedestrians. This section shall not apply upon any street while set aside as a play street.
(d) Any person upon a sidewalk on roller skates or riding in or by means of any coaster, skateboard, or similar device shall yield the right-of-way to any pedestrian and shall give audible signals before overtaking and passing such pedestrian.
(e) No person riding upon any bicycle, motor-driven cycle, coaster, sled, roller skates, skateboard or any toy vehicle shall attach the same or himself to any moving vehicle upon any roadway.
(f) No person shall operate a motorized cycle or motorized scooter on the public way, except on a street where vehicular traffic is allowed. No person shall operate a motorized cycle or motorized scooter on a street unless the vehicle is properly registered and the operator is in possession of a valid driver's license, and meets the requirements of the Illinois Vehicle Code with respect to insurance. Nothing in this subsection applies to any motorized wheelchair as defined in the Illinois Vehicle Code.
(g) Any person found to have violated any provision of this section shall be fined not less than $25.00 and not more than $200.00.
(Added Coun. J. 7-12-90, p. 18634; Amend Coun. J. 5-26-04, p. 24884, § 1)
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breakin' the law
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On 5/24/2005
Pat Chewning
wrote in from
United States
(67.189.nnn.nnn)
Way to go!
You got off because they wrote "9-8-200(b)" instead of "9-80-200(b)" on the citation!
It pays to carefully examine the ticket for the correct date, location, offence, etc.
-- Pat
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breakin' the law
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On 5/23/2005 shapeshifter
wrote in from
United States
(24.148.nnn.nnn)
potential cost of the ticket: $25
potential cost of court fee: $25
cab ride to the courthouse: $9
beating them at their own game: priceless!
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Johnathan's and Paul's skateboarding adventure.
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On 5/17/2005
Pat Chewning
wrote in from
United States
(15.252.nnn.nnn)
I failed to answer your question.
Yes, you should be allowed to skate the street in front of your house. (My opinion)
Whether you actually ARE allowed depends on the law.
Whether you SHOULD skate there depends on traffic, neighbors, your skate style, etc.
-- Pat
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Johnathan's and Paul's skateboarding adventure.
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On 5/17/2005
Pat Chewning
wrote in from
United States
(15.252.nnn.nnn)
A couple of comments:
1) Skating at a grocery store parking lot is Private Property ... the owners can allow it, ignore it, or call the cops. It's their property.
2) If you had "several people" call the cops, perhaps your skating was too close to other people, damaging or dangerous to property, or both. If you were to skate in a corner of the parking lot, away from people and cars, then perhaps the owners would choose to ignore you.
3) Skating on the street: It all depends on your state, county, or city laws. But again, if you skate where there are a lot of cars, if you make a lot of noise, if you damage curbs -- all of these will increase your chances of generating complaints.
If you tell me the state, county, and city where you live I might be able to look up the laws in your area.
Skate lawfully, skate stealthly, skate safely.
-- Pat
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SKATEBOARDING
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On 5/16/2005
JONATHAN AND PAUL
wrote in from
United States
(24.125.nnn.nnn)
Today May 16th, 2005 Paul and I were skating near our homes at a local Kroger. We skated there for about 45 minutes, come to find out many people working in the shopping ceneter called the cops. (being only 14 years old We dont understand why they could not worn us?¿) So when we were crossing the road leaving the shopping center we hear hey boys come hear. So we go back and there was only one cop, but then there was another one and then another one. They took our pictures, information, and Social Sercurity number, parents name and School. They were telling ous our rights of skate boarding and then i asked the simple ? of can you skate on a road, like your road infront of your house, and of course the answere was NO! So please leave a comment of if you think we should be allowed to skate on a neighborhood road.
Thank you,
Paul AND Jonathan
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We were told it was illegal
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On 5/14/2005
Brooke~Kahler
wrote in from
United States
(207.200.nnn.nnn)
So ya this cop and the old hick next door said that is is illegal to skateboard down our street (we live in Joshua Tx).So we made him look up that law and he couldn't find it. But I still want to know if it might be illegal to skate down the street.
Please answer-
Brooke
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Skateboard vs Truck
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On 4/26/2005
Pat Chewning
wrote in from
United States
(67.189.nnn.nnn)
Dan M.
I'm very sorry to hear about your son's accident, but I'm happy to hear that he is recovering well and the prognosis is for a full and complete recovery. That had to be very scary for your whole family.
I'm glad to see that your attitude is that you are already a "winner" due to your son's expected full recovery. As I'm sure you are aware, there are many ways this could have been much worse.
Before I give some opions about your questions, be aware that I am not a lawyer, and any legal advice should really come from a lawyer. There are lots of complications possible in this case, as there are potentially several parties who could be involved (You, your son, the driver, several insurance companies -- health, automobile, homeowner.)
Here's some thoughts in no particular order:
1) If I were you, I would look first to file claims with several of the insurance companies involved. In order of preference, these would be: Your health insurance, your automobile insurance, your homeowner's insurance, the driver's auto insurance, the driver's homeowner insurance. (Some may not apply)
2) You seem to want to jump to "step 10" (suing the driver) before exhausting the much easier and more satisfying steps of receiving a payment from an insurance company.
3) Even if you do file a claim, the paying insurance company may choose to sue the driver. It's better if you leave that to an insurance company and not take it on by yourself.
4) I'm assuming that your motivation is primarily to get the $25K medical bill paid, and not retribution against the driver or seeking to be paid "pain and suffering" or punitive damages, or whatever to get more than the $25K.
5) Here's an incredibly good opportunity for you to involve your son in some of the process of figuring out what is the right way to pay his $25K hospital bill. I encourage you to involve him in researching your insurance policies, filling out claim forms, determining "fair" proportions of who should pay (including him). He should see how the result of his action is affecting other people.
6) I'm curious about the statement "no citations issued by the police that were directly related to this accident." That sounds like lawyer speak. Were there ANY citations issued?
7) I couldn't perform a search on San Antonio Municpal Codes because SA has chosen to publish their laws using a firm that requires a subscription to search the law.
8) I would focus on getting ANY insurance company to pay the bills -- and not worry about whether it is yours or the other guys.
9) If you have health insurance for your son, it should pay the bulk of the bill regardless of "fault". I sure hope your son has this insurance.
10) If the insurance companies deny your claims, there are usually processes you can go through to have them appealed. If you get to that step, you should look at those processes.
11) I would view suing someone as your LAST resort for several reasons:
a) It consumes huge amounts of energy, money, and time which you presumably need to help your son recover.
b) It mostly benefits the lawyers
c) It could potentially damage the public's perception of skateboarders.
d) If you haven't been successful in getting a claim from an insurance company (from the driver), then that means that he probably doesn't have assets to pay any judgement you might win in a suit.
e) I just disagree that there must always be "fault" and that there is no such thing as an unfortunate accident that hurt an innocent person. It happens, that's life.
f) Judging from what you wrote (which is 1/2 of the story at best), your son is arguably 50% or more at "fault" for the accident -- or at least a good lawyer for the driver could make such an argument.
12) A suit is going to get really complicated. You are likely to have to prove that the injuries came from the truck and not the skateboard fall, and that the driver is more than 50% responsible for inflicting the injuries. That could be a big hurdle.
Anyway, there's some thoughts. Please keep us informed about how this goes. I wish your son a speedy full recovery, and I hope that you can minimize how much of the medical bill you personally have to pay.
One other thing. If, in the end, you don't get any insurance money or judgement from the driver, you should be able to plead your case to the medical providers and get some reduction of fees and/or a reasonable payment plan for the bills.
Good Luck,
-- Pat
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dog
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On 4/23/2005 jesse
wrote in from
United States
(69.208.nnn.nnn)
dude richated skateboarding laws are wrong were not hurting anyone or anything so yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Skatebord vs Truck
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On 4/23/2005
Dan M
wrote in from
United States
(69.153.nnn.nnn)
We live in San Antonio Texas. My son (16 yrs.old) was skateboarding in the street along the curb of a sidewalk going against traffic. The roadway involved is considered a secondary street with numerous intersecting side streets in a fairly large residential sub-division. As my son approched an intersection he noticed a truck stoped at a stop sign. My son at a point @ 15' from the intersection, attempted to ride the board up a hadicapped ramp onto the sidewalk. He lost his balance an fell to the street. Both the front and rear passenger wheels of the truck ran over my son. My son spent 4 days in the ICU at a local hospital before being released. Fortunately, he was not seriously injured and appears to have made a full recovery from his injuries. Medical bills are approaching $25,000. The accident occurred in the evening and the conditions at the time were clear, dry and dark. The intersection is well lit. The vehicle driver states that he stopped at the stop sign and made a right turn. He claims that he did not see my son or the other 4 skateboarders who were nearby, before making his turn. There were no citations issued by the police that were directly related to this accident.It is my understanding that Texas is a comparative negligence state. My son would only be able to recover a bodily injury settlement if the vehicle driver is determined to be at minimum 50% at fault for this accident. We have yet to receive a liability assessment from the vehicle driver's auto liability carrier or my auto insurer under our uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. Based on the facts as I have presented, would anyone care to comment on my son's legal position in this matter. Any comments would be greatly appreciated. Regardless of the legal outcome, I know that we are alredy "winners" in this case based on my son's apparent full and speedy recovery.
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Thanks
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On 4/1/2005 Westin
wrote in from
United States
(208.45.nnn.nnn)
Ok... I gotcha. Thanks for your help, at leat now I can defend myself to some extent the next time I get hassled.
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Roseville Law
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On 4/1/2005
Pat Chewning
wrote in from
United States
(15.252.nnn.nnn)
Westin:
The way I read the law is this:
1) You are allowed to ride anywhere if you have permission.
2) You are not allowed to ride on public roads or publicly-accessible private property (e.g. Supermarket parking lots) if a sign is posted.
3) You are not allowed to ride on the property of a private residence (e.g. someone's driveway) without their permission (whether a sign is posted or not).
You don't want to confuse a RESIDENTIAL AREA (the public roads and sidwalks in a neighborhood) with a RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY (the actual homeowner's property).
-- Pat
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Roseville
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On 3/30/2005
Westin
wrote in from
United States
(69.4.nnn.nnn)
So I checked out roseville's laws and this is kinda tricky, everything was the same as the Placer Co. laws except for this:
B. It shall be unlawful to ride or propel any skateboard, roller skate or in line skate upon or across any privately owned property without the consent of the owner.
C. Paragraph B of this section shall not be enforceable unless the private property owner posts a sign that prohibits the conduct and references this section, provided, however that posting of a sign is not required for this section to apply to residential property.
So, lets me get this straight. It's ok to ride in say, a parking lot, as long as it's not posted... but in ANY residential area it is illegal EVEN if there is no post? D***... skateboarding is not a crime! heheh
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Placer Co.
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On 3/30/2005
Westin
wrote in from
United States
(69.4.nnn.nnn)
I live in Granite Bay, but I skate in Rocklin, Roseville, Auburn, etc... I guess if I really want to be legally prepared I should read up on all the laws in my local skate spots. I'll get back to you guys with my findings...
appreciate the help
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Placer County
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On 3/30/2005 Pat Chewning
wrote in from
United States
(15.252.nnn.nnn)
Westin,
What city do you live in? There might be a City law that is more restrictive than this Placer County law.
-- Pat
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Placer County
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On 3/30/2005 Pat Chewning
wrote in from
United States
(15.252.nnn.nnn)
My interpretation of the law (I am not a lawyer) is that you are NOT in violation if you do not interfere with pedestrians or vehicular traffic.
This is what I would consider a good skateboarding law because:
1) It makes a distinction between public and private property.
2) It only prohibits the activity on publicly-accessible property if the property owner posts a sign.
3) It does not prohibit you from using roads and sidewalks, as long as you do so without interfering with other traffic.
4) It would appear that you could endanger yourself all you want, as long as you don't interfere with other traffic.
5) You actually have to interfere with traffic, not just the POTENTIAL for traffic.
Here's the whole law:
9.12.030 Skateboards, roller skates and in-line skates.
A. It is unlawful to ride or propel any skateboard, roller skate, in-line skate or any similar device upon any sidewalk or street in the county so as to interfere with pedestrian or vehicular traffic.
B. It is unlawful to ride or propel any skateboard, roller skate, in-line skate or any similar device upon any private property in the county without consent of the owner:
1. Where the private property owner posts a sign which prohibits such conduct and references this section; or
2. Where the private property is residential property.
C. It is unlawful to ride or propel any skateboard, roller skate, in-line skate or any similar device upon any public property in the county if the property owner posts a sign which prohibits such conduct and references this section.
D. Violation of this section shall be an infraction as a first offense, punishable by a fine of up to one hundred dollars ($100.00). Second and subsequent offenses shall be subject to a penalty as defined in Article 1.24. (Prior code § 12.21).
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Placer County, CA
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On 3/29/2005
Westin
wrote in from
United States
(69.4.nnn.nnn)
I was recently stopped by a Sheriff in my home town (in Placer County, CA... near Sacramento) and the cop told me it was illegal to ride a skateboard on ANY public road or sidewalk and to read my county's codes if I wanted to argue. So needless to say I shut up and he let me walk with my board in hand... *whew*. So anyways... I came home and read up on my county's codes... and they state the following:
"9.12.030 Skateboards, roller skates and in-line skates.
A. It is unlawful to ride or propel any skateboard, roller skate, in-line skate or any similar device upon any sidewalk or street in the county so as to interfere with pedestrian or vehicular traffic."
Now does this mean I CAN legally ride as long as I don't interfere with pedestrian or vehicular traffic? I'm curious as to why they added the "so as to interfere" clause, it just gives me a loop hole to argue if I went to court.
How do you guys interperate this law?
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Research Help
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On 3/29/2005 Sketchmaster
wrote in from
United States
(4.22.nnn.nnn)
Seth: What you're being required to write is not a research paper. Research is done to determine why things are certain ways. What you're writing is an advocacy. If your instructor doesn't understand the difference then the school should keep shopping for instructors. So far you've been too vague for anyone to truly assist you. Develop an initial outline and then ask for help.
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dui
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On 3/5/2005 AenGhooste
wrote in from
United Kingdom
(193.113.nnn.nnn)
You can be drunk in charge of a horse or bicycle in england, no skateboard as of yet. Will Rodell, contest it dude, act within the law in everything else, even to the point of usin skateboard on the road with helmet (an lights at night) and if they stop you, take them to court. They cant make a by-law like that stand, its just that no one questions them. or so I think... =)
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whack laws
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On 3/3/2005 mike p
wrote in from
United States
(69.107.nnn.nnn)
my ticket wasn't for speeding, it was for "skateboard violation." It was actually illegal to even stand on a board, just like Will was saying. What is the world coming too? At least I went above and beyond in my violation of the law...
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DUI
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On 3/3/2005 Scotti
wrote in from
United States
(64.136.nnn.nnn)
I know you can get a D.U.I. while skatin, kinda crazy.
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kendal / englands sk8 laws
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On 3/3/2005
will rodell
wrote in from
United Kingdom
(212.219.nnn.nnn)
back hear in england in a small north west town called Kendal the councal set up bilaws prohibiting anyone from even standing on a skateboard in a public place. i have had my name taken by the polece for simply cruuzin to my friends house. it sucks ha!
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