So we received our fine today.
A couple of weeks back, we were skating at our favourite spot, seshing a corner. Due to one of our spotters failing to do their job, one of us had a close run in with a car. Not really a big deal, guy slid off and stopped just as his legs went under the front of the car, lady driver was frightened and we apologized, she told us that it was a good thing we had helmets and pads on and told us to be more careful next time. We apologized again and she drove off.
Later a cop shows up and asks us what we were up to. We told him we were just skating up and down that part of the road. He then told us that someone called and told him there was an accident, and he wanted us to leave the place as what were doing was dangerous. We obliged and started packing our things to leave.
Just as we were about to leave, one of us skated ahead, moments later he came back and told us that the cop was further down of the hill, and warned him that he couldn't skate down. Now the bus stop was at the bottom of the hill, and the idea of walking all the way down did not seem pleasant to us. So we decided to just footbrake down the hill, keeping our speed at jogging pace. We then passed the cop on the way down (we were still footbraking all the way). He then told us to stop, which we did, he then took our details down and told us that we would be receiving a fine in the mail.
The road we were skating had a 50kph speed limit, and when he stopped us we were footbraking down an unmarked stretch of the road, we never exceeded the speed limit. The whole time we were talking to the cop, we were respectful and calm. We received our fine in the mail today, and he fined us under RR 241 (1) "Travel improperly on a road on a wheeled recreational device". We plan to appeal this as we are confident we did not break any such law, but we would like to ask your opinions first on this matter.
So what do you guys think?
Later a cop shows up and asks us what we were up to. We told him we were just skating up and down that part of the road. He then told us that someone called and told him there was an accident, and he wanted us to leave the place as what were doing was dangerous. We obliged and started packing our things to leave.
Just as we were about to leave, one of us skated ahead, moments later he came back and told us that the cop was further down of the hill, and warned him that he couldn't skate down. Now the bus stop was at the bottom of the hill, and the idea of walking all the way down did not seem pleasant to us. So we decided to just footbrake down the hill, keeping our speed at jogging pace. We then passed the cop on the way down (we were still footbraking all the way). He then told us to stop, which we did, he then took our details down and told us that we would be receiving a fine in the mail.
The road we were skating had a 50kph speed limit, and when he stopped us we were footbraking down an unmarked stretch of the road, we never exceeded the speed limit. The whole time we were talking to the cop, we were respectful and calm. We received our fine in the mail today, and he fined us under RR 241 (1) "Travel improperly on a road on a wheeled recreational device". We plan to appeal this as we are confident we did not break any such law, but we would like to ask your opinions first on this matter.
So what do you guys think?
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Replies to This Discussion
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Premium MemberPermalink Reply by Benbro on -
unlucky,...
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Permalink Reply by tom Crane on
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yeah give it an appeal, is it $58 each?
why did they have two different cops just for one group of skaters? did they not have anything better to do?
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Permalink Reply by Bozac on
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im with guff on this one, if a cop tells you to move on and then you skate past him after he told you to not skate there anymore, its kind of provoking this sort of reaction. copping a fine sucks though. you can always dispute it on the grounds it was possibly a legal activity but it might end up costing you court fees on top of the fine
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Permalink Reply by Gilbert on
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We left as soon as he told us to, it was a long hill and we don't have any other mode of transportation down, so we decided to just footbrake down the hill. We weren't trying to provoke him in any way.
And even if we did provoke him by skating down, we still weren't breaking any laws. So does this mean that when if a cop tells me I can't walk on the street, and I decide to walk on the street anyway because I know I'm not doing anything wrong, it means that he can fine me because I 'provoked' him?
I guess we were just unlucky that that particular cop showed up, cause apparently a week before that my friends had an encounter with another cop up there and he didn't think they were doing anything wrong, just told them to be careful.
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Permalink Reply by Robbo on
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The cost of appeal in the local court is relatively low (I once had to pay court costs of $28), Its not like the civil courts. You would likely have a good case given that improper use is a matter of opinion and the cop who gave you the ticket didn't witness anything and therefore has no right to an opinion. A recreational device unlike a car or a bicycle does not have to obey regular road rules, its only when you don't that they attempt to apply the word improper as there is no actual rule you are breaking
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are you saying that the little incident with the car before the cop showed up will not hurt our case robbo?
Robbo said:The cost of appeal in the local court is relatively low (I once had to pay court costs of $28), Its not like the civil courts. You would likely have a good case given that improper use is a matter of opinion and the cop who gave you the ticket didn't witness anything and therefore has no right to an opinion. A recreational device unlike a car or a bicycle does not have to obey regular road rules, its only when you don't that they attempt to apply the word improper as there is no actual rule you are breaking
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Permalink Reply by Guff on
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Gilbert you have to remember the police are trying to protect you and the general public. What we do isn't' seen as a "normal" sport yet best just to avoid them as much as possible.However since speed was not an issue on the infringement notice and you were on a road that permits skateboarding i would question what improper use means. Road fines are usually clearly marked on the infringement notice ie:driver using mobile telephone on blaxcell st at 6:35pm .You could have a case depending on what he has written down in his notebook.He may have a statement from the other motorist stating what occurred you would then have to disprove that.
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Premium MemberPermalink Reply by sean meaney on -
call Simon, he rides and is a barrister, get him to write a letter and see what is the go, he will back you 100% probono due to the fact that any precident you set saves his arse too. The spot in quistion was one he picked out cos it was legal to the best of his knowledge, not to mention we had been told by police that they could not do anything about us rideing on that road.
Just to clear up, the spotter in quistion was very sorry about fucking up, and you should of listened to the guy who came back up the hill
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Premium MemberPermalink Reply by Fendy on -
Simon's already on it
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ASRA AdminPermalink Reply by Bugs on -
Gilbert said:are you saying that the little incident with the car before the cop showed up will not hurt our case robbo?
Did the little incident with the car involve you breaking the "travel improperly on a road on a wheeled recreational device" law? If it didn't then it won't hurt your case, as long as you can make your case to the magistrate clearly, succinctly, politely and respectfully.
Basically you have to be able to clearly say what the law is and how what you were doing did not break it at any time. Be prepared to be the one person in the court who knows what the law is, because it's unlikely the cop or the magistrate will know. It's up to you to be the authority, and to carry off being the authority. It'll require a little bit of preparation, and a fair degree of confidence. Good luck, and I hope you do it.
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