new queensland laws

Replies to This Discussion

Premium MemberPermalink Reply by jay cottrell on October 15, 2009 at 2:47

yah i had the same thing happen to me , they didnt seem to care , i just remember reading somewhere that there were new rules for skating at night in qld that came into effect at the start of october

Permalink Reply by Robbo on October 15, 2009 at 6:28

QLD laws are now the same as everywhere else in the country and everybody else skates whenever they want and always have.

The only recorded argument from the qld government is the transport minister saying it is for safety reasons, so completely non-descriptive

Permalink Reply by Joe on October 15, 2009 at 9:58

Myself,Pete and Ash were out skating the night the new law came into affect, when we were at the top of a run we see a cop car coming up really close with lights on. They drove past put there side light on and then drove down to the next street to turn around back towards us. But yet again nothing, they drove off.

Premium MemberPermalink Reply by jay cottrell on October 16, 2009 at 3:09

yah i hear lots of people sayin that , which is good not gettin hassled , but what im asking is....... are there any recorded documents available to the public that were used to endorse/whatever to get the law passed ? cheers
Im thinking the safety issue wasnt the one the bigwigs used to get the law passed , as they would be aware that skateboards can take all the same saftey measures as cyclists

Joe said:

Myself,Pete and Ash were out skating the night the new law came into affect, when we were at the top of a run we see a cop car coming up really close with lights on. They drove past put there side light on and then drove down to the next street to turn around back towards us. But yet again nothing, they drove off.

Permalink Reply by Robbo on October 16, 2009 at 7:43

No studies or statistics of any sort were used as there are none that really back up the argument. Just some basic comments about safety after the announcement. If they wanted to improve safety and save billions of dollars a year in public health, policing and court costs backed up by statistics they would ban drinking alcohol at night.

Like I said before QLD is only following what they were meant to do a number of years ago which all other states have already done and that is to align there traffics laws with the national guidelines. The National Transport Commission releases a document called the Australian Road Rules. This is not compulsory but is meant to form the basis of each states road rules. Each state still has to legislate to bring these into effect but still retains the power to create their own rules separate of the national guidelines

Unlike all other states in Australia, QLD only has one house of parliament so there is no need to do any creative work to get a piece of legislation through parliament. Most of the people directly affected by this are underage so they don't lose any votes yet anyway.

Listen to Haggy's interview on the ABC

Permalink Reply by Robbo on October 16, 2009 at 8:03

This is a section from the Australian Road Rules Document. note the underlined section regarding riding at night. Individual states are meant to align their rules to this document but it is not compulsory to do this.

Wheeled recreational devices and toys not to be
used on certain roads

(1) A person must not travel in or on a wheeled recreational
device or wheeled toy on:
(a) a road with a dividing line or median strip; or
(b) a road on which the speed-limit is greater than 50
kilometres per hour; or
(c) a one-way road with more than 1 marked lane.
Offence provision.

(2) A person must not travel in or on a wheeled recreational
device:
(a) on a road that is declared, under another law of this
jurisdiction, to be a road on which wheeled recreational
devices are prohibited; or
(b) on a road at night; or
(c) on a road at any other time if another law of this
jurisdiction prohibits wheeled recreational devices
from being on all roads, or that road, at that time.

(3) A person must not travel in or on a wheeled toy:
(a) on a road that is declared, under another law of this
jurisdiction, to be a road on which wheeled toys are
prohibited; or
(b) on a road at a particular time if another law of this
jurisdiction prohibits wheeled toys on all roads, or that
road, at that time.

(3A) Subrules (1) and (2) do not apply to a person who is
crossing a road in or on a wheeled recreational device or
wheeled toy, if the person:
(a) crosses the road by the shortest safe route; and
(b) does not stay on the road longer than necessary to cross
the road safely; and
(c) is not prohibited, under another law of this jurisdiction,
from crossing the road in or on the wheeled
recreational device or wheeled toy.

(4) In subrules (1) and (2)(b), road does not include roadrelated
area but includes any shoulder of the road.

Permalink Reply by ^^^DRE^^^ on October 16, 2009 at 11:28

you blokes are lucky ive had 4 fines in the past 4 months one was in brissy on my cootha, got one last weekend and has gone up to 56 bucks coppa said it is now illegal to skate on roads footpaths and carparks so pretty much anywhere they hate us down here

Premium MemberPermalink Reply by jay cottrell on October 17, 2009 at 1:23

thanks robbo , wow thats a lot of info , pretty daunting , seems like they mean business haha .

i was just wondering , "hypothetically of course " lol , what would happen if you could make it to the state court asking the govenrment to ban bike riders at night. obviously they would aregue that they have already deemed them to be safe enough and throw you straight out...... so using that info couldnt some one (with a shitload of cash) go to a courtroom again and show that skateboarders can have the same safety features installed and thus change the night time law crap ? . and yeah i know everyone skates at night anyways .....

Robbo said:

This is a section from the Australian Road Rules Document. note the underlined section regarding riding at night. Individual states are meant to align their rules to this document but it is not compulsory to do this.

Wheeled recreational devices and toys not to be
used on certain roads

(1) A person must not travel in or on a wheeled recreational
device or wheeled toy on:
(a) a road with a dividing line or median strip; or
(b) a road on which the speed-limit is greater than 50
kilometres per hour; or
(c) a one-way road with more than 1 marked lane.
Offence provision.

(2) A person must not travel in or on a wheeled recreational
device:
(a) on a road that is declared, under another law of this
jurisdiction, to be a road on which wheeled recreational
devices are prohibited; or
(b) on a road at night; or
(c) on a road at any other time if another law of this
jurisdiction prohibits wheeled recreational devices
from being on all roads, or that road, at that time.

(3) A person must not travel in or on a wheeled toy:
(a) on a road that is declared, under another law of this
jurisdiction, to be a road on which wheeled toys are
prohibited; or
(b) on a road at a particular time if another law of this
jurisdiction prohibits wheeled toys on all roads, or that
road, at that time.

(3A) Subrules (1) and (2) do not apply to a person who is
crossing a road in or on a wheeled recreational device or
wheeled toy, if the person:
(a) crosses the road by the shortest safe route; and
(b) does not stay on the road longer than necessary to cross
the road safely; and
(c) is not prohibited, under another law of this jurisdiction,
from crossing the road in or on the wheeled
recreational device or wheeled toy.

(4) In subrules (1) and (2)(b), road does not include roadrelated
area but includes any shoulder of the road.

Permalink Reply by Robbo on October 17, 2009 at 21:43

The usual way to get a legislative law change would be to apply various amounts of pressure most of which revolves around lobbying government members.

An individual always has the right to initiate litigation in the civil court but not generally to create changes in law. To have a discussion in a court room about changing a law would first require you to be what they term an "interested party". This means you would need to have been directly effected by this law, by directly effected i mean you must have had the State intervene in your normal life e.g. fined you for skating at night. Being a skater that just skates at night would not be sufficient and does not make you an interested party.

To get a common law change (judge made law) you would likely have to take this up to the Supreme court. To do this you would have to argue that there is a conflict or error in the law e.g another law gives you the right to determine what is or is not safe for you to do on a skateboard or you consider that the State is overstepping their boundary in how they intervene in a citizens life such as a constitutional conflict. You will find that most judges are not very activist in intervening in a states right to create legislative law (law created by parliaments).

So in answer to your question you can't just go to court against the state to try to change a law because you think the law needs a change.

Permalink Reply by Aych on October 18, 2009 at 9:29

There is a real difference between a law in writing and a law consistently enforced, in the UK it is illegal to spit in the street, use a taxi if you have a cold, you can still be hung if caught trespassing in a naval yard in Portsmouth, you can be banned from a county (state) for organizing a rave, but other than one occasion of the latter I know of no occasions the law has been followed.
I think until there are fines being handed out on a regular, consistent basis we need not worry; we are in the same situation at night as we are during the day, some police officers will come down hard and write us up and others will have a chat through curiosity and the majority will just not be bothered. Hooray for individuality of thought and decision within the force.

Premium MemberPermalink Reply by sean meaney on October 18, 2009 at 16:27

now there is an idea kookyfish, ok boys we got a task, every time you get pulled over by a cop, offer him a go on your longboard and give him your email or number if he is interested in it, in next to no time we will have the boys in blue riding downhill

kookyfish said:

what is needed is a few cops that get into DH

I dont know any cops so its hard to invite some along to a sesh or an out law ....
maybe we just ask them to have a go when they turn up anyway LOL.

Premium MemberPermalink Reply by jay cottrell on October 18, 2009 at 21:47

dude youre a walking encyclpodia , nice work!!

Well it would be interesting to find people who qualified as an "interested party" , im sure though that the court could make up their own minds whether they were or not !!!!
maybeye a movie about it like the castle with all those aussie actors and insteaded of the dude saving his house , its the dude saving his right to skate at night !!! lols

Robbo said:

The usual way to get a legislative law change would be to apply various amounts of pressure most of which revolves around lobbying government members.

An individual always has the right to initiate litigation in the civil court but not generally to create changes in law. To have a discussion in a court room about changing a law would first require you to be what they term an "interested party". This means you would need to have been directly effected by this law, by directly effected i mean you must have had the State intervene in your normal life e.g. fined you for skating at night. Being a skater that just skates at night would not be sufficient and does not make you an interested party.

To get a common law change (judge made law) you would likely have to take this up to the Supreme court. To do this you would have to argue that there is a conflict or error in the law e.g another law gives you the right to determine what is or is not safe for you to do on a skateboard or you consider that the State is overstepping their boundary in how they intervene in a citizens life such as a constitutional conflict. You will find that most judges are not very activist in intervening in a states right to create legislative law (law created by parliaments).

So in answer to your question you can't just go to court against the state to try to change a law because you think the law needs a change.