You come across sounding like a know-it-all old fogey, grow down. You decided the footpath was not where I was entitled to be.
Who are the Police that you talk about? The Police in general or rogue Police officers who make up laws? Most Police recommend that the footpath/sidewalk/pavement is the best place to ride, and applaud you for your skill. The anti-unicycling officers are the minority in the Police.
Now a unicycle is as dangerous as a loaded gun? I’ve had a unicycle tires explode but gun control is a whole other debate. If you read Sugra vs The Police there is great details of how a unicycle is not a “thing that in the absence of precaution or care is likely to cause injury”. I’ll decide when it is safest to ride on the footpath or the road thank you! The Police agree that until I hit someone it is proving to be safe.
Who needs levitation when you can have balance and control? Foot traffic does not levitate and yet it manages to use the footpath. You assume that your perception of the danger of unicycling should automatically make it law? That would be unfair, unfun and discriminatory I think and you should back it up with fatalities and injury statistics caused by unicycles.
What has people being on the footpath got to do with it? The question is whether it is a misdemeanor for a unicycle to be there at all, and of course it is not! Yes, I do see cars and motorbikes driving legally on the footpath from time to time, couriers and promotional vehicles. Also driveways cross footpaths so people have to drive on them all the time, but care must be used.
With what attitude? With the attitude that cycling is a sustainable and healthy activity that should be endorsed and encouraged by all, without unfair impedance. It is with others in mind that I think these Police need to stop acting without laws. The Police here have no hesitation to admit that I get stopped because I am different.
I agree.
Common sense applies: drive (ride) to the conditions, and keep to a similar speed as the (foot) traffic. Going slow on a 36" is easy. I assume that riders without much skill are not going to be in busy pedestrian places unless they are supervised by me or some other competent rider who can evaluate the risks, because a unicycle is a high precision instrument that is not likely to get you far unless you are skilled with it.
I’m not sure that you can be with both of us, I agree to choose which is safest, Nubcake seems to be resisting the idea of using unicycles for transport. Maybe once he rides a bit more his eyes will open to the many wonderful possibilities the streets can hold.
They are very maneuverable, and the slim possibility of taking out a pedestrian is not a reason to prevent all unicyclists from riding. The perception of danger is different depending on who is doing the looking- to someone who can’t ride a unicycle it may seem uncontrollable and impossible and a certain recipe for broken skulls. Trucks are allowed on the road and they don’t seem maneuverable and are scary to me but I trust in the skill of the drivers not to squash me.
Good on you for commuting by unicycle Colin. In NZ they have tried to clump unicycles in with the WRD’s too (reminds me of WMD’s), but they haven’t yet redefined the legal definition of “Vehicle”, so while they harp on about a unicycle being a vehicle that must do this and that and stop at the red man (common sense), a vehicle has wheels, so a unicycle is not one. A unicycle is not similar to other wheeled recreational devices, unless you get good at downhill coasting (anyone got any good videos of that? I’ve been practicing it a bit). Being limited by how fast you can pedal makes it relatively safe in my opinion.
I don’t see how enjoying your right to be a unique part of the community makes you a tool. I don’t see these punks that you see, I’m sorry. I see the world with my own eyes. I hear the majority of positive comments from people outweighing the criticism by far.
There already are clear cut rulings, duh! And common sense does prevail but unfortunately, it isn’t that common. If you were a victim of Police corruption you might feel differently about having blind faith in their authority. Mistakes can be learned from. As long as we can have some input in the laws as they are being made, there is nothing to fear from them. Now we need to legislate more cycle lanes, shared pathways and cycle-friendly facilities, to help ease the confusion about where is safe to ride. If only people will teach their children to share what they have instead of only looking after #1, perhaps the streets will become friendlier again.
New Plymouth is one of New Zealand’s Model Walking and Cycling Communities, we are hoping to lead by example in how you can change peoples attitudes to make cycling/walking more comfortable and enjoyed by more people. We have a long way to go, but we have to start somewhere…