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A rollerblading pensioner has been fined £300 after he was filmed skating along a street in Southport.Geoff Dornan, 71, of Ormskirk, Lancashire, was caught on CCTV skating through Chapel Street in October 2008.
He said it was to keep fit but Sefton Council said his rollerblading was a nuisance and a danger to the public.
Sefton Council said his rollerblading was a nuisance and a danger to the public.
Why did they ban rollerblading/skateboarding? Because of disrespectful youths abusing the sport, tearing about pedestian areas with no concern for anyone else using those areas, displaying an obvious potential for injury and liability.
I spent a lot of time in the ground RC hobby (still do, not as much.) People drive them in the streets, drivers have taken out mailboxes and other property has been damaged avoiding someone's RC in the street.
People bust into fights in big cities due to frequencies crossing over.
Kids, and even ADULTS, fire up their nitro RC at 10 PM and say screw everyone else, I'm doing what I want, no one's going to tell me what to do . . .
As a result, many urban areas are specifically outlawing the use of ANY RC vehicles except in designated RC tracks/recreation areas.
As for the aging rollerblader, a law is a law, and it applies to everyone, not just youths racing about with reckless abandon. It's an example of how a simple positive thing gets turned ugly out of selfishness of the general public, it's awful IMO.
The by-law states that "no person shall skate, slide or ride on rollers, skateboards or other self-propelled vehicles in such a manner as to cause danger or annoyance".
That's not the same as saying "no rollerblades, period".
Trouble is, concepts like "danger" and "annoyance" can be pretty subjective ...
Because of disrespectful youths abusing the sport, tearing about pedestian areas with no concern for anyone else using those areas, displaying an obvious potential for injury and liability.
The appropriate response to kids being kids isn't to ban them and their activities. The appropriate response is to grin and bear it as you realize you're getting old enough to not get worked up about some kids trying to act cool :).
The appropriate response is to grin and bear it as you realize you're getting old enough to not get worked up about some kids trying to act cool
In reality, he chose the location because a moving obstacle course is more fun.
I worked as an ice-steward for over ten years - his skating did not appear dangerous (in the clip) however, it was inappropriate for the location. The offense may be minor but if it persists after warnings, then action has to follow (but being forced to pay substantial court costs seems excessive).
Kaled.
so why didn't he buy an MP3 player?
Many jurisdictions ban using both ear buds (or headphones over both ears) when driving, biking, jogging, etc. (and I assume roller blading & roller skating). And for good reason.
