I spoke this evening with a man from Long Island, NY, who said that he was
riding his Savage giraffe this past week when a cop gave him a ticket for
riding in an unauthorized location. This happened after the cop had seen
him riding on or near the boardwalk of a beach. There is no bicycling on
this boardwalk, so…
I asked him to write up a longer account and to photograph and scan the
ticket, if possible. He is going to fight this one in court.
David Stone
Co-founder, Unatics of NY
1st Sunday / 3rd Saturday
@ Central Park Bandshell
1:30 start time after 11/1/01
> I asked him to write up a longer account and to photograph and scan the
> ticket, if possible. He is going to fight this one in court.
I wonder who it was. Anyone I used to know?
But I don’t think he will do well in court. The reasons for the no-bikes
rule are obvious, and would apply equally, if not moreso, to a giraffe
unicycle. During the summer the boardwalks are pedestrian areas, tend to be
crowded with lots of families with small children, and the larger and faster
vehicles are a safety hazard. My friends and I used to obey the rules in the
summer (after being yelled at a few times), and enjoy riding the boardwalks
in the off season, when it’s legal.
My Sister in law is on the Ontario Provincial Police, and she told me that unicycles and tricycles fall under ‘Bicycles’ This may be different in the states or other provinces.
Definetley fight it in court, the cop may not show up and the charge will be dropped
In message “Re: Ticket while on a uni”,
Bill Huff wrote…
>Maybe if he rides the giraffe in the courtroom the judge will be so amused
>that he or she throws out the ticket.
Years ago I was on a giraffe (6-footer,I think) idling by a railway crossing waiting for the
train to pass. A cop came by and started making noises about this being illegal and
ordered me to get off. I did not so he grabbed the frame and started shaking it forcing
me to dismount. After I made it very clear to him that there is nothing in Japanese
traffic laws on the matter, he said cops have the authority to decide what is a “dangerous
activity”. I went into a long discussion about how safe unicycles are and he finally let
me go, unconvinced. Another time I was stopped on a regular uni for riding without a light…
Just my two cents.
Stay on top, Jack Halpern
Executive Director for International Development
International Unicycling Federation, Inc.
Website: http://www.kanji.org
She’s definately right that uni=bike in Ontario (someone posted the relevant
legislation a couple months ago) However, I’m not sure if that applies to
municipal bylaws. When you see a ‘no bikes on the sidewalk’ sign, it
normally says Bylaw 123 (or some more meaningful number) so it would be
interesting to see if that actually includes unicycles.
I know this matter has been brought up already, so I’ll be brief. I know that the “no bikes” law is meant in the spirit of the law, however, you can get them on a technicality. Tell them that once they make a law that says “no unicycles” then you will stop riding. If they make a law thats Unicycle specific, scan the page in the law books and post it.
In a court you can say that for years unicyclists have been trying to separate from the one wheeled bike thing, just because, they are nothing like bikes. For example, some luggage has wheels, and can be ridden on (not common, but possible, Like unicycles) and that is not a bike. Would a cop try to say that is a bike? I think not.
-David Kaplan
John Foss (jfoss@unicycling.com) writes:
>> I asked him to write up a longer account and to photograph and scan the
>> ticket, if possible. He is going to fight this one in court.
>
>I wonder who it was. Anyone I used to know?
I can’t say for sure – Jim, do you recall the famous John Foss?
>
>But I don’t think he will do well in court. The reasons for the no-bikes
>rule are obvious, and would apply equally, if not moreso, to a giraffe
>unicycle. During the summer the boardwalks are pedestrian areas, tend to
>be
>crowded with lots of families with small children, and the larger and
>faster
>vehicles are a safety hazard. My friends and I used to obey the rules in
>the
>summer (after being yelled at a few times), and enjoy riding the
>boardwalks
>in the off season, when it’s legal.
Well, technicalities are a big part of our legal system, so while the idea
behind the law is sensible, he may still get off since he was not
biking…
>
>
>Was this Jones Beach, Long Beach, or elsewhere?
Did you say Jones Beach, Jim?
David
>
Co-founder, Unatics of NY
1st Sunday / 3rd Saturday
@ Central Park Bandshell
1:30 start time after 11/1/01
bicycle means a vehicle with 1 or more wheels that is built to be
propelled by human power through a belt, chain or gears (whether or not it
has an auxiliary motor), and-
(a) includes a pedicab, penny-farthing, scooter, tricycle and unicycle;
but
(b) does not include a wheelchair, wheeled recreational device, wheeled
toy, or any vehicle with an auxiliary motor capable of generating a
power output over 200 watts (whether or not the motor is operating).
Note Vehicle is defined in rule 15, and wheelchair, wheeled recreational
device and wheeled toy are defined in this dictionary.