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KAMLOOPS LONGBOARDERS FIGHT THE GOVT!!!!
STRIKER posted,
May 10,2010
By JASON HEWLETT
Daily News Staff Reporter
A youth who has twice been fined for riding his longboard in Kamloops wants City council to change a bylaw outlawing the activity.
Bylaw 23-63 doesn’t allow people to use inline skates, skateboards or scooters on main roads and streets in Kamloops.
But Nikolas Marshall, 18, and his mom Charlotte Shaw believe the methods of travel are no less safe than riding a bike and are a viable form of green transportation.
“I think there is some kind of misconception that these kids are out to disturb the peace, or to create havoc or to cause problems, but they’re not,” Shaw said Sunday. “They are actually getting exercise, enjoying themselves and are out getting fresh air.”
Nikolas said longboards — which are wider and more manoeuvrable than skateboards — are classified as skateboards under the bylaw.
He was fined $100 for riding at the downtown transit exchange and then given a $1,000 fine in February when bylaw officers caught him riding on Strathcona Terrace in the West End.
Not being allowed to ride at the busy transit exchange is one thing, but Nikolas said he doesn’t think it’s fair that he can’t ride on a street like Strathcona.
“It’s a road I ride down almost every day and I’ve never had a problem with pedestrians or anything,” said Nikolas, adding he wears a helmet and other safety gear.
So he will appeal to councillors Tuesday to change the bylaw. Nikolas said he understands the City’s concerns when it comes to main roads, but believes skateboards, scooters and inline skating should be allowed on side streets.
Nikolas and his mother also want the bylaw altered so authorities cannot take away a skateboard if a rider is caught. Shaw said she was fined $500 for littering when she left one of her son’s longboards outside the bylaw office.
She said officers confiscated two boards, but one was broken and she didn’t want it back, so she left it.
Vancouver reviewed a similar policy in 2001 and councillors amended the bylaw. Shaw hopes City council in Kamloops will be just as forward thinking.
Coun. Nancy Bepple is aware of the changes in Vancouver and would like to know other municipalities’ thoughts when it comes to skateboards, inline skates and scooters.
She said riding a board of any kind is dangerous on a main road, but maybe there’s room for change on other routes.
“It’s risky, but is it enough of a risk to ban it?” she wonders.
2010 May 11 7:04 PM
STRIKER replied,
Kamloops Longboarding Club member Nikolas Marshall, age 18, is going to City council Tuesday asking to change the bylaw outlawing skateboards, longboards and scooters on city
2010 May 11 7:05 PM
Saltfactory replied,
nick has done alot of work on this and i
respect him for givin er like he has done!
i think he had the fine taken away as it
was clear that he was being singled out by
a lunatic bylaw. but as for changing the
laws, we are going to have a hard time
doing that while squares are in power.
Striker, run for prime minister will you?