SKATEBOARDING IS (not) A CRIME in Fredericton?
May 14, 2008 - Lee Breen was at the helm of controversy today around high noon in front of Fredericton’s City Hall. A rally was held to protest bylaw S-9 which states ” No person shall coast or slide on a slide, toboggan, wagon, skateboard or other device on a street in the city.”
Really?…we need a bylaw to ban skateboarding AND tobogganing in the streets of Fredericton?
He refused to pay a $50 ticket for skateboarding under Fredericton bylaw S-9 and after the charge was bumped up to $100 Lee still refused. Failure to pay these fines will result in a visit to the can for 5 days…so the obvious choice here was to take the 5 days in jail.
I arrived at City Hall around 12:30 and said hello to a few of my friends, took some pictures, and enjoyed watching the swarm of media personnel around Lee. His brother Fergus addressed the crowd of about 150 or so supporters and rallied a march up York, across King, and back down to deliver Lee to the Justice building. It was amazing to see the turnout taking over the streets which allowed some of us skateboarders to temporarily skate the streets during noon hour (while being escorted by 2 police cruisers). The Fredericton Police force did a great job in allowing us to express our right to dissent against this silly bylaw.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIo9Qgpt8No
Ferg delivers a farewell speech.
Check out all the media coverage! GOOGLE News Results
Skateboarder jailed after refusing to pay fine
“Skateboarding on streets is a safety issue, said Wayne Knorr, spokesman for the City of Fredericton.
When you put individuals like that into traffic, you create safety problems, and when you are backing up traffic and preventing them from making their turns, then you are creating a nuisance along the street,” Knorr said.
- CBC.ca
Skateboarder chooses jail over paying fine
“Mr. Breen was ticketed last summer as he ran an errand to East Side Board Supply, his local skate shop.”
“He was skating down to the shop, ironically, to buy a helmet so his brother could skate safely,” recalled Matt MacLean, an employee at the downtown store.
- Globe and Mail
Will they let him take his skateboard to jail?
“Unfair for skateboarders? Perhaps but so is ending up a smear on the road. Short of building an infrastructure just for skateboards, this law needs to be upheld. Sorry Lee, but if you’re going to continue to flip off this law and not pay the penalty, figure out what the comfy cell is because you’re going to be a return visitor.”
- Canada East
Skateboarder takes on city hall
Mayor Brad Woodside said Wednesday afternoon he wasn’t aware of the case, but he maintains the bylaw banning boards on city streets is a good idea.
“I think primarily … it would be a safety issue,” he said.
-Daily Gleaner
Skateboarder Jailed After Refusing to Pay Fine
Breen turned himself in at the Fredericton provincial courthouse on Wednesday, where a judge signed a warrant for his arrest, and he was taken into custody by deputies. He is expected to be transported to the Saint John Regional Correctional Centre on Wednesday afternoon. It is not yet clear if he will have to serve the full five days.
- AOL Canada
AOL even had a poll on Lee.
See what the blogs are sayin’ here . (keywords: fredericton, skateboarding, lee, breen)
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Well done sir, well done.
Filed under: longboarding, skateboarding, Fredericton News, Politics, Blogs
Just listening to the cbc radio morning coverage…the city’s representative kept going back to the public safety issue, which I agree always has to be a concern when dealing with transportation in general, of course…but his argument seems to indicate that he finds issue with the fact that motorists don’t know how to react to longboarders (he made reference to traffic stopping during the filming for the cbc piece that was on the news, in which a vehicle paused, unsure what to do when faced with a longboard sharing the road). I’d argue that this same issue occurs with vehicles unsure how to share the road with bikes. It is more of an education issue. Any change to the rules of the road requires an effort put forth towards public awareness - both for those on boards and in vehicles so people have an understanding of what each’s responsibilities are.
Based on on the working of the bylaw:
” No person shall coast or slide on a slide, toboggan, wagon, skateboard or other device on a street in the city.”
A bicycle is a device, and when I am not pedalling the bike it is technically coasting. so does this mean that I can only be on the road with my bicycle as long as my feet are in motion pedalling it?
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this is so stupid skateboarding is not like tobogganing you can control a skateboard.if there just skateboarding what the big deal
For real? I can’t believe this is even getting coverage. Stay off the streets, plain and simple safety, grow up and get a real vehicle/mode of transportation. Roads are for cars, etc,, not protesting soft fleshy people that will end up under people’s wheels. Rules are in place for a reason, to save lives. I skate but I’m smart enough to not do it in traffic.