Skateboarding - Basic legal FAQ
The laws of skateboarding. Taken from the Australian Road Rules as approved by the Australian Transport Council and published by the Australian Transport Commission Feb 2009.
The Australian Transport council was setup to streamline national road rules under agreement by all states and territories' transport and roads Ministers. Under agreement of the Australian Transport Council all states and territories are obliged to create legislation that is constant with the National Road Rules 2009. Given that our members come from all over Australia this is the most relevant document.
In the absence of local exceptions the following information should be considered the law:
Q - What is a skateboard under the law?
A - For the Australian Road Rules, a person in or on a wheeled recreational device or wheeled toy is a pedestrian, not a rider (as in cyclist) and not a vehicle. The laws that relate to skateboards apply within Part 14 (Rules for pedestrians) of the Australian Road Rules. Part 14 - Division 1 is about pedestrian laws. Division 2 relates to pedestrians of wheeled recreational devices.
Q - Where and when can I use this toy?
A - On roads that satisfy these conditions:
- a road with no dividing line and no median strip; and
- a road on which the speed-limit is equal to or less than 50 kilometres per hour; and
- a one-way road with less than 2 marked lanes.
note 2: You are permitted to be on a prohibited road on your skateboard for the purpose of crossing that road and only when taking the shortest possible route. You are not required to get off your skateboard to do this
Q - When can I use my skateboard?
A - During daylight hours
Q - How can I skate?
A - When on a road you can skate as fast as you want with as many people as you want but you must not be any more than 2 abreast with other riders. You must also stay to the left of the road.
Q - Can I skate on the footpath?
A - Yes. However you must keep to the left of the footpath or shared path unless it is impracticable to do so; and you must give way to any pedestrian (except a person traveling in or on a wheeled recreational device or wheeled toy) who is on the footpath or shared path. On a footpath or shared path bicycle riders must give way to skateboarders.
note: You must not skate on a footpath that has been specifically signposted as no wheeled toys allowed.
Q - Skitching looks fun, am I allowed to do that?
A - NO. A skateboard cannot be towed by a car nor can a skateboarder hold onto a car if it is moving. A skateboarder also cannot travel within 2m of a car continuously for any distance over 200m
Q - Do I have to be wearing a helmet?
A - No, but you might be considered stupid not to. (Except in SA where a bicycle helmet is mandatory)
Q - Can the Police or a security guard confiscate by skateboard?
A - NO. For the state to confiscate your property there has to be special legislation or the item in question must be illegal to possess. ie drugs, knives. The only time they can confiscate something that it is legal to own is in the circumstance where special legislation allows or when a magistrate rules on this ie. the car hoon laws and this is tightly regulated as in they can't confiscate your car because you ran a red light or because of a minor traffic offense. A security guard is just another public citizen and has no special or implied powers.
The illegal dispossession of somebodies personal property is considered theft be that by Police, security guards, or any other person in the community.
The exception to this rule is in Tasmania where the state has special laws that allow you to either pay the fine or hand your skateboard over to police for 7 days but not both
Q - What should I do if the police bust me for breaking skateboard laws?
A - Be polite. If your are issued a fine than cop it like a man and move on. The fine is similar to a cheap or medium quality set of bearings ($40-$60) so don't whinge or sook about it.
Q - What is the penalty for committing one of the above offeneces?
A - Fines vary from state to state:
---- NSW - $54
---- QLD - $40
---- ACT - $67
---- SA - $87
---- VIC -$60
---- TAS - $35-$50 or except 7 day confiscation with no financial penalty
---- WA - $50
Attached is a full copy of the Australian Road Rules 2009
Tags: FAQ, Laws, Skateboard laws, cops, lawyer, lawyers, legal, police, road rules, rules
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Max Heaton on
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thnks so much bro. me and a couple of friends were busted but had nothing to back us up with. nxt time it happens il be able to point this doco out. much appreciated.
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Premium MemberPermalink Reply by Skittles on -
I don't get too much trouble in the city though... the police kinda have bi-polar here...
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Premium MemberPermalink Reply by Skittles on -
only at spirals and cops... which is right next to a cop shop...
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Premium MemberPermalink Reply by Dani on -
Ok, so another strange update from SA.
Talking with the Willunga boys and their Lawyer on Monday the lawyer tells us that he has never heard of any laws regarding skateboards, marked roads, speed limits or night time. Thinking this was a bit strange I have looked the current road traffic act for SA http://www.legislation.sa.gov.au/LZ/C/A/ROAD%20TRAFFIC%20ACT%201961...
(Part 99B, page 45) and have found that he was right. There is no where I can see that says we can't be on the road. Thinking this may be a new thing put in place I looked at two other previous acts from the beginning of 2010 until the current one and they both say the exact same thing. This would mean that anyone who has been given and payed a fine in SA has payed money that they didn't owe.
Hoping that Robbo or Haggy can shed some light?
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Premium MemberPermalink Reply by Dani on -
I have answered my own question. As far as us South Aussies go, there are two road traffic acts. There are the Australian road rules which are attached to this conversation. There is also the South Australian road traffic act which is specific to us and changes slightly from state to state.
The 1st one says all the stuff we already know. No dividing line, no roads with a speed limit of 50 or above, and no night time riding.
The SA traffic act is what the boys have been arrested for. The first thing it says is that you must ride with ''due care''. They were arrested for riding without due care. If the video footage in court shows them crossing a solid white line, cutting a corner or anything else then the police will have proved their point.
I think that is the answer anywho.
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Permalink Reply by stephen cummins on
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are you able 2 skate at night with a light on the front and back of your helmet and flouro jacket???
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Permalink Reply by Robbo on
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I cant find anywhere where the Australian Road rules have been enacted into law by amendment or regulation within SA regarding skateboards. They have cherry picked a few amendments regarding street signs and whatnot but have made no regulation regarding wheeled recreational devices. The Traffic act does not even attempt to explain what a wheeled recreational devise is. Due care is a broad term and seems to also be applied to pedestrians without again explaining what due care actually is.
I agree that there is nothing within the Act or done by regulation or amendment that says a skateboard cannot be ridden on any road at any speed at any time of day or night. I would argue that 'Due Care' is entirely ambiguous and could not possibly be understood by a citizen when its application is given no explanation within the act. Unlike almost every other traffic act in the country the SA Traffic Act also gives no explanation as to what a wheel recreational device is.I would argue that Due Care only applies and than only in an ambiguous way where a road user has an interaction with another road user.
just to make it easy for people, here is the relevant section
99B—Wheeled recreational devices and wheeled toys
(1) A person must not ride a wheeled recreational device or wheeled toy on a road without
due care or attention or without reasonable consideration for other persons using the
road.
(2) A person must not, on a footpath or other road-related area, ride a wheeled
recreational device or wheeled toy abreast of a vehicle or another wheeled recreational
device or wheeled toy.
(3) A person who is riding a wheeled recreational device or wheeled toy on a footpath or
other road-related area must, where it is necessary to do so for the purpose of averting
danger, give warning (by a warning device or other means) to pedestrians or other
persons using the footpath or other road-related area.
(4) A road authority incurs no civil liability because of an act or omission on its part in the
design, construction, maintenance or management of a road to take account of the fact
that the users or potential users of the road include riders of wheeled recreational
devices or wheeled toys.
(5) In this section—
management of a road includes placement, design, construction or maintenance of
traffic control devices, barriers, trees or other objects or structures on the road;
road authority means—
(a) the Minister; or
(b) the Commissioner of Highways; or
(c) a council; or
(d) any body or person in whom the care, control or management of a road is
vested.
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In a Court of Law, "due care" will be deemed as "common sense", and the onis is then upon the supposed offender to prove that "due care"/"common sense" was being applied.
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Due care is applied in SA in the same way as neg driving is applied in every other state. As is the case in other states it is unusual to apply the offence in the absence of some other chargeable offence. It could be argued under SA law that no chargable offence has been committed and therefore might be difficult to prove a lack of due care. Crossing a white line in a wheeled recreational device in the absence of traffic or some other dangerous obstacle could not by default be considered as an absence of due care as the original action is not illegal under SA law.
It is unusual in a legal act not explain the references to terms used inside that document when they apply to offenses. That is normally very common place stuff and is done to avoid ambiguity that can easily be exploited by lawyers. When you leave these explanations to common law particularly in an area where common law has only a small amount of application like the traffic act, you expose yourself to defenses based on a lot of interpretation. It all seems very untidy. If you read the entire SA traffic act it all looks like a bit of a hack job with no particular pattern in amendments or regulation
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Premium MemberPermalink Reply by Skittles on -
You would think that they would make all these garbage laws fit together properly, rather than putting duct tape laws all over to try and fill the gaps!
The law is basically interpreted a different way by every cop I have met... it's ridiculous, what ever happened to serving the citizens not serving your own personal opinion?
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Premium MemberPermalink Reply by haggy on -
Any half-decent lawyer, particularly one who regularly does traffic violoations, should be able to pick the "due care" provision apart. What does "due care" mean when you're riding a skateboard down a road??? Exactly, even on this site, where we all skate, there will be a 100 different answers. Arguably, depending on the circumstances, you may not be exercising due care if it results in someone else's injury. That clearly was not the case here. Another example of police making judgments about the "safety" of a sport they have no understanding of at all. Therefore there is no frame of reference for a cop to even say you were riding without "due care". It becomes nonsensical.
I hope for god's sake that you guys win this case. It's such utter crap....
I can't even believe the extent to which there actually is regulation governing skateboards, rollerblades, etc. It proves that we are way too obsessed with regulating everything in this country. I'm getting riled up!!!
On a side note, the SA Traffic Act 1961 does define "wheeled recreational device"
wheeled recreational device means a wheeled device, built to transport a person,
propelled by human power or gravity, and ordinarily used for recreation or play,
and—
(a) includes rollerblades, rollerskates, a skateboard or similar wheeled device; but
(b) does not include a golf buggy, pram, stroller or trolley, or a bicycle,
wheelchair or wheeled toy;
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so i got pulled over by the popo for going down a median strip, however i was in the bike lane, is this still illegal ????
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