unicycling and law enforcement

I was unicycling threw a park one day with no other intention then
getting to the other side when a policeman stops me and finds me 175$
for "bicycling" in a park. Even though it says in the bylaw no.1380
division X, nuisances relating to streets and parks, under bicycling,
skate boarding, in-line skating that "it si forbidden to circulate by
bicycle, skateboard or in-line skates in a public place, exept when such
activity is performed in an location authorized by the town."

What this means is that no matter where you unicyle you are always in
infraction of the law.(even thought the bylaw does not mention
unicycles) And for some reason bycicles in the streets are okay....and
skate boarders get a skate park....

I ask you, fellow unicyclists, IS THIS RIGHT ?!

~Owen



-bicycling-


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Murde Mental
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Murde Mental wrote:
*I ask you, fellow unicyclists, IS THIS RIGHT ?!*
This is what all the democrats are currently asking in California. But
this is beside the point, unless you plan to campaign for new
legislation. Your more immediate worries should be
- Am I guilty of this infraction?
- Am I going to fight it in court?

Certainly a big fat fine out of nowhere, if you are in such a legal gray
area, does not seem appropriate. Was this your first interaction with
the law, or had there been previous encounters?

Also, were you riding in a straight line through the park, or doing
something else, such as practicing. The law you quoted seems to deal
with public nuisance, which riding from A to B doesn't sound like it
should fit under.


--
johnfoss - Now riding to work

John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
"jfoss" at "unicycling.com"
www.unicycling.com

"In three months or so, he won't be doing that any more." -- Kris Holm's
cousin Derek, 13, on Kris' unicycling now that he's married

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I would fight it, Thats a hefty fine for riding arround. Even if you go
to court and say your sorry for not fully understanding the law you
usually get a reduced fine here in the states.

Also you might want to look at the defenition of bicycle in Montreal it
could be in your favor on this one.

Best of luck
Mike


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Checkernuts - Me Fail English? That's Unpossible

No one said it was gonna be easy and I'm not afraid to try, with the
odds stacked up against me I will have to fight, One Life One Wheel got
to do it right. H20
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What kind of park was this... It wasn't a baseball diamond or garden or
something like that was it?

Is this the city of Mont Royal?
http://tinyurl.com/poey

Read through it. It's a hoot.

It is forbidden to walk, run or circulate in a public place in amanner
that disrupts the peace or tranquility of persons, causes a
danger,disturbs or bothers the public.
(The ministry of silly walks would have trouble here.

It is forbidden to plant a poplar, a weeping willow or a silver maple
within the Town, without having obtained the prior written consent of
theTown
(Tree fascists)

It is forbidden to loiter in a public place
(So evidently one can't just stand in the park wondering why there are
no poplar trees)

It is forbidden to play Frisbee or practice hockey, baseball,football,
soccer, softball, golf or any other ball sport in a public place,except
when such activity is performed in a location authorized by theTown
(I can't play Frisbee.... in a park?????)

These people are waaay too anal. Move now before you're assimilated!

-Cubby


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Cubby
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Murde Mental wrote:
*"it si forbidden to circulate by bicycle, skateboard or in-line
skates in a public place, exept when such activity is performed in an
location authorized by the town."
*


What's the legal definition of a bicycle? If there is none, then I'd
say it's a totally bogus charge. A uni is not a bike: 1) the "bi" in
bike means two, and a uni only has one; 2) almost everyone can ride a
bike, only a small percentage of people can ride a unicycle (can the
judge ride your "bi"cycle? the cop?) - lacking a legal definition
otherwise, a unicycle is clearly _not_ a bicycle.

duaner.


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duaner - -
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no it's not right, but neither is the judicial system so what's a guy to
do? while i disregard these kinds of things and occasional "warnings"
from police officers telling me "that's the same as a bike" (it's not),
i usually consider the severity of the situation and the consequences.
unicycles are totally different vehicles, and probably the safest of any
under those kinds of laws. so there's no way a blanket statement about
"bikes" could be logically applicable, but police aren't about logic.
since this is money coming out of your pocket, i'd act depending on the
most probable outcome out of the possible actions you could take.


--
zach_jucha - disposable information

-Lego... my only weakness...-

- Phil
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Here are the facts: I had already been warned not to unicycle in another
park some few months ago where I was practicing hopping on short tables
a remote part of the park. At the time I was the only one in the park.

This time was different, I wanted to go to my friend's house so I
decided to go through a small park instead of taking a more dangerous(
by this I mean oncoming traffic) detour. On the way there I passed in
front of the local police station. I then went up the road, through the
the park where a police car was patiently wating for me. He then asked
me for my name and told me that I was in infraction of rule so and so.I
then told him my name with no visible expressions of anger.

thats it.

check out the bylaws at
http://mont-royal.ville.montreal.qc...n/pdf/1380A.pdf


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Murde Mental - Unicycling Martyr
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In my home town New Plymouth a little costal city in New Zealand the
police are more than awear that unicycles are not bikes. Rowan, Ben and
myself went to the local police station to arguee a ticket rowan got for
some "unlawful transport" namely riding without a helmate and on the
foot path (both illegal in New Plymouth). So we rolled down there
(hehehe, i did a pun) and asked to see the law that covered unicycles,
all the laws we wanted to see! All of them! you know what they gave us?
NOTHING! In new zealand there a NO laws that could be found to cover
unicycles! Some laws totaly rulled them out but some other laws where in
grey areas, like riding at night with a light. So here are the
conclusions we came to, If you ride at night you have to have a light,
ride on the footpath or road, you can ride in parks and walkways aslong
as speeds don't exceed 15KPH (suites me on my 24X3) you have to use
handsignals. The tree laws (light, not over 15kph and hand siglans did
not include or exclude unicycles so in my mind it would be good to
follow them.


Skip forward about 2 months and Rowan and myself where out for a day
riding and filming in the park when we come across a rather
anal-retentive security officer chatting up a single mum in the
playground, Obviously trying to show off his power and authority told us
to get off and walk. We explained to him about the laws and he said that
we would have to check with the local city council to check the recent
bilaw prohibiting B*kes in the park. So Rowan and I walked the 10 meters
to get out of his site and went to the local councel. There we looked
over the bilaw and found about the 15kph thingy. While there we also had
a chance to talk to some bigshot from the local councel. He was nice and
we exchanged cards me promissing to email him outlining some of the
facts of a unicycle (like how fast are they going to go in the park, how
manuverable are they) and him with the promiss of bringing it up at a
future board meating.

Skip 2 weeks ahead. I finaly got the motervation to email this guy and
told him all i know about what a unicycle is and does, he replyed
thanking me and informing me that i was more than welcome to use the
park and thank you for spending the time coming to see the councel about
the matter. He also stated that he would bring the matter up the next
time the bilaw was reviewed, with some comment about how he would try to
make it so that unicycles could be used in the park. He ended the email
with a story about how he was out with his grand daugtor in town and say
someone (sounded like the discription of Rowan) riding through town and
he said his grand daugtor though it was great!

Skip forward 2 more weeks, I was at the local fish and chip shop and
police man came into the shop say my unicycle and came over to talk to
me, my first reaction was "here we go im going to get hit up about not
having a helmate again!!!" But no i was wrong the policeman told me
about how he was told a police meeting that unicyclists where not
required to wear helmates and that we could ride on the foot path, he
thought they where great things and we had a good chat. Turns out this
guy at the councel was responsable for "Predestrain safty and planning"
amoung other things, i almost wet myself laughing, we got the right guy,
he went down to the police station personaly and informed the boys in
blue that we could do pritty much whatever we liked and that he didn't
want any complaintes from unicyclists about being harased. I thoguht
this was all a little weard that he would feel so pationate about it but
this sort of sliped to the back of my mind and i got my food and left.


Skip to yesterday i was at a friends house and there was this man there
i thought i knew the face but couldn't work out who he was, anyway i
went outside to help my friend with some more unicycling tips and the
like. When i came in the guy just handed me his card.............he was
the guy from the councel!!!!! turns out i had been teaching his daugtor
how to unicycle for the last month!!!!!!!!!


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James
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Far out, interesting twist. Thats some good news anyway James. The cop
wrote me out a $140 ticket for no helmet and riding on the footpath, and
said it would be sent to me in the mail, but it never arrived. I had
told him what the law was and how I wouldn't have to pay if it went to
court, so he probably just threatened me and whimped out from writing
the tickets.
[image: http://www.addis-welt.de/smilie/smilie/mix/Slip.gif]
Police don't like being told how to do their job, and if you say "No
sorry officer this is not a -Bi-cycle it is a -Uni-cycle" in the nicest
possible way, chances are they will still take it as a personal insult
to their intelligence. Good luck in getting off the fine Murde Mental,
it's a pity when police misappropriate their time and efforts into
victimless crimes and badly worded, misunderstood or obsolete laws.


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Rowan - •·.·´¯`·.·•
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James wrote:
[Bwe come across a rather anal-retentive security officer chatting up
a single mum in the playground, Obviously trying to show off his power
and authority told us to get off and walk. [/b]


On a point of detail: that's not anal retentive behaviour.

An anal retentive works like this: you ask him for something and he
shows his power by refusing to give it to you. The opposite (various
names give, such as anal expulsive) shows his power by (metaphorically)
sh*tt*ng on you.

This guy was clearly the latter.

It would have been anal retentive if you'd asked him nicely for
permission to ride and he'd refused to grant it - without valid
reason.

It comes from a theory that a baby's first chance to exert control over
other people is when it's being potty trained. Mother clearly wants
baby to poo in the potty. If the baby wants to assert its independence,
it can either (1) refuse to poo (anal retentive); or (2) poo somehwere
else, making a mess (anal expulsive). These character traits are then
supposed to remain in later life.


--
Mikefule - Roland Hope School of Unicycling

Freedom's just another word for nothing much to lose. Nothing ain't
worth nothing, but it's free.
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