Cops

[agraham]

Well that didn't take long.
Cruising up Vancouver's Oak street I got pulled over by a motorcycle traffic cop.
Was going in the parking lane, not slaloming and at a very reasonable speed (pinned but going uphill so not that fast).
I was hoping the fact that I was wearing a helmet might give me a pass but no.
He was a real jerk as traffic cops so often are. Told me to walk home and if he sees me again I'm getting a ticket.
I asked him if I could go on the sidewalk, he said no it's illegal to skate anywhere in Vancouver (which I already knew as I've gotten tickets in the past for both skateboarding and rollerblading) - and also wipe that smile off your face it won't be so funny when you're hit by a car. Thanks mom.
I'll keep boarding of course but I'll probably stay off the main roads where the cops are when possible. I will continue to use bike lanes where they run on main roads and if I get ticket for that it will be my chance to raise a stink and maybe raise a little awareness about this dumb law.

Anyone else have any trouble with the po-po in your town? How many other cities have banned skating?

 

[LockH]

Toronto here. Got stopped twice last year. First time w/four cars... maybe 6-8 officers around me. And me not in/on any sort of vehicle, but just staggering along, minding my own biz. Been gone downtown to visit friends and on the way there stopped to pick up a weed whacker. After two night "trapped" sleeping on friends empty boat, had to return with weed implement strapped securely to my belt. It's of course normal in "Big Smoke" aka "Hog Town" to hear sirens going off esp. as ambulances rush around. Had to rush while crossing street at siren noise! But turned out it was me they were sirening. Seems somebody was "anxious" at me carrying around my weed whacker (Recently moved to new abode w/back unused laneway/driveway unused and infested/overgrown.)

Officers termed my gardening tool a "machete"?

Anyway... Yucks all around (no past sneaky/rude stuff in their records, haven't had a traffic ticket or accident, etc since giving up the "car".) And invited officers to come to party coming up later that year (see uphill bike racing, where we all cheat using bettery-electric motorized tricks).

And officers asked that I kindly keep my gardening implement "under wraps", gave it back to me and I continued on my journey back home.

Moral of story? Unfailingly polite to *officers*, no past record of any sort, and me wearing a cap that had "NAVY" in large lettering may have helped?

Perhaps "cops" are used to pubic (sp?) being rude, yelling and stuff. I expect it's a lousy job (dealing with others "offspring") and maybe they respond to kindness.

L

 

[GatoBueno]

Are you talking about Vancouver BC or Washington? I have yet to experience an altercation with the police around Portland in regards to skating. I know it was banned in the downtown area a long while back, but have no idea where that stands now(never seen it enforced either, outside of someone up to other no-good activities and being a jerk about it). I generally avoid skating in downtown Portland, mainly for my own safety, since there is a lot of traffic in the streets and people on the sidewalks, but it's not a big deal for me since it's only 5-10% of my commute. Though, if I'm at school late I will cruise down 4th avenue on my way home(pretty fun street to carve down at 2am, minus the mediocre worn asphalt and occasional street car tracks), and there have been a couple nights where there are cops hanging out in their cars or driving down the road(police station/garage is right off 4th), and they have never given me any trouble that late at night when there's almost no one else out. I have had other interactions with Portland police unrelated to skating in the past, and my general experience has been, if you aren't being an asshole, they are pretty laid back compared to many other towns. Oregon State Police troopers can be a completely different, unpredictable animal, though... but usually the only time you'll encounter them is on the interstate highways outside of town, where skating is not likely to be a reason for them to want to stop you.

 

[torqueboards]

Damn that sucks... IT's horrible you guys have to go through the hassle. I could imagine it makes it unenjoyable.

I got pulled over here in SF and go figure it's because he wanted to ask about my board and how fast I was going. Also mentioned he can't wait until he can pull people over on an electric skateboard versus a bike. Meanwhile, talking to me for about 10-15 minutes another guy on the street jumped in to talk. He was also in the middle of the street not worried about any cars coming.

I've probably got over 1400+ miles riding in the city too. See cops all the time but they don't pay too much attention which is a good thing for me. I can ride freely. I try not to cause any interruption on the roads and usually wait for main traffic to pass by and/or time it that way I hit the lights at the right times. Can never be too safe riding out there.

 

[justin_le]

Well riding up a busy thoroughfare like Oak street with no real bike shoulder you are kindof asking for unwanted police attention. It hasn't happened to me yet, but since I also like to skate on main roads I expect it at any point. Usually smiling and being incredibly apologetic is the thing to do. But his response here bugs me so much:

I asked him if I could go on the sidewalk, he said no it's illegal to skate anywhere in Vancouver (which I already knew as I've gotten tickets in the past for both skateboarding and rollerblading)

This is nonsense to the max and the police need to do a huge internal education campaign to make sure that their staff know the very laws they are trying to enforce. You're allowed to skate on almost any of the side streets in Vancouver. Even in North Van which has had crackdowns on longboarders on the mountain hills still has a very sensible bylaw policy
http://www.cnv.org/Parks-Recreation-and-Culture/Recreation/City-Skate-Park/Skateboarding-Guidelines

The City promotes and encourages non-motorized forms of transportation, including walking, cycling, skateboarding/longboarding, and rollerblading. For safety reasons, when boarding or blading, users must:

• Wear a helmet (except when wearing a helmet would interfere with a religious practice)
• Board or blade as close to the right side of the roadway or lane as is practicable
• Not use roadways or lanes where the speed limit exceeds 50 km/hr
• Not board or blade between sunset and sunrise

At times, non-motorized transportation modes can conflict with each other or with motorized transportation, posing safety hazards for users. As a result, the City has identified streets where skateboarding/longboarding and rollerblading would be unsafe - i.e., streets where there can be significant differences in speeds between different modes, where traffic volumes are heavy, or where there are steep slopes. As per the City's Streets and Traffic Bylaw (No. 6234), boarding and blading are not permitted on any of the streets described in Schedule I of the bylaw unless the street has been closed to traffic.

I haven't found the exact wording for the Greater Vancouver bylaw but my understanding is that it is basically the same, skateboarding and rollerblading are fine on secondary streets, but not on main streets. The only region around here that explicitly bans skateboarding on all streets is Coquitlam, and that's quite a controversial bylaw introduced last year that is sure to be revoked when a more sensible council is elected
http://www.thenownews.com/news/boarders-face-ban-in-coquitlam-1.1202245

Notice that the, banning of skateboards, inline skates etc. from all roads is a news item. The default is for these things to be permitted.

Now electric boards are a totally different beast that have no legal standing on the roads, which is why it's nice to have boards look discrete enough to not bring attention to their electric nature. It took a lot of lobbying, government studies etc. to give electric assist bikes a formal status. I can't imagine what it would take to see eboards legitimized this way, but I'd love an opportunity to present the case to the city Councillors or agencies who make such decisions.

Was this cop aware that you were riding an assist board or was he oblivious to that detail?

 

[agraham]

Well riding up a busy thoroughfare like Oak street with no real bike shoulder you are kindof asking for unwanted police attention. It hasn't happened to me yet, but since I also like to skate on main roads I expect it at any point. Usually smiling and being incredibly apologetic is the thing to do. But his response here bugs me so much:

I asked him if I could go on the sidewalk, he said no it's illegal to skate anywhere in Vancouver (which I already knew as I've gotten tickets in the past for both skateboarding and rollerblading)

I don't try to set a confrontational tone when talking to the police but at the same time I find it difficult to be apologetic when I don't feel I've done anything wrong and the tone was set the instant he pulled up and barked at me "get off the board".
Skating was very definitely illegal throughout the city at one time but it was well on two decades ago that I got tickets under Vancouver's "coast or slide" bylaw. Sometimes I forget just how old I really am. According to this website that bylaw was repealed a while back

Finally under the mayoralty of Larry Campbell the City of Vancouver repealed the old by-law & inline skaters & skateboarders 'lived-happily-ever-after' throughout the city!

Now electric boards are a totally different beast that have no legal standing on the roads, which is why it's nice to have boards look discrete enough to not bring attention to their electric nature. It took a lot of lobbying, government studies etc. to give electric assist bikes a formal status. I can't imagine what it would take to see eboards legitimized this way, but I'd love an opportunity to present the case to the city Councillors or agencies who make such decisions.

Electric boards and scooters are poised to break through in a big way so hopefully things will change as they did with electric bikes (and also snowboards - I'm old enough to remember when snowboards weren't allowed on the local mountains because they were considered an uncontrollable menace). Many people seem pretty surprised in Vancouver to see a electric board go by but I get the sense from the sphere that in some towns like SF they are more common.

Was this cop aware that you were riding an assist board or was he oblivious to that detail?

Undoubtely aware - I was cruising uphill on a steep bit of road.

 

[sk8norcal]

[youtube]S54t5Qn7Au8[/youtube]

 

[cal3thousand]

I'd move if push skating were a crime. That's just plain oppressive.

Keep off the main streets and you should be fine.

 

[bandaro]

I pushed through the bike lane of major roads in Dublin daily for 6 months. Not sure what the laws were, but the cops never even looked twice - few concerned cyclists would say something. But seeing them ride away, and I'm pretty sure I was more controlled without my brakes and all than they were on their brakey-devices.

Keep off the major roads in Canberra though... stay on the side streets unless in the city centres, where the speeds are lower.