Free Lee Breen! Jailed for Skateboarding in Public
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 05.15.08
Lee Breen lives green; his day job is running a landscaping company that uses push mowers, hand clippers and organic compost. He says that the City of Fredricton, (New Brunswick, Canada) should be encouraging non-polluting forms of transportation. But even though he was skating at the edge of the road, wearing a helmet and actually using hand signals, he was arrested last summer for breaching a local bylaw that prohibits the use of "a sled, toboggan, wagon or skateboard on the streets of New Brunswick's capital."
In April, a judge fined him $ 100 or five days in jail. Lee knew what he had to do; "If I pay the fine, I would be admitting I was doing something wrong...This isn't the first green activity I've been involved in. I even started my own gas-free lawn care company ... . This is a way of life for me"
So yesterday they jailed him.
Curiously, Fredericton has a "Green Matters Initiative" that promotes alternative transportation. Lee's brother Fergus Breen writes in the local paper:
"I personally use a skateboard for transportation from my house to my place of employment in downtown Fredericton. I wear a helmet, use hand signals and stay to the side of the street. The argument that this is more dangerous than biking simply does not hold water.
Fredericton's Green Matters initiative on active transportation reads as follows:
"Canadian adults take over 2,000 car trips every year that are three kilometers or shorter. Leaving the car keys at home and pulling out the walking shoes or bike helmet can save you gas money, reduce your emissions by up to 250 kilograms of CO2 per year, and help you become more physically active."
Skateboarding is active transportation. Lee is being incarcerated for adhering to Fredericton's Green Matters and active transportation policies.
I am certain that future generations would support Lee and condemn a city council who jailed a man for using zero-emissions transportation when the perils of global warming and increased carbon emissions had become so apparent."
watch video here
It is surprising that Fredericton allows bicycles; "It's a public safety issue," said Wayne Knorr. "It's not about a 12-year-old kid going through a neighbourhood, it's about an adult male, endangering himself and the motorists around him.
"The bylaw itself is related to nuisances. When you're out in traffic, obstructing traffic, backing up traffic, you're creating a nuisance by endangering yourself and others."
This story is making the City of Fredericton look stupid around the world; it was even picked up in South Africa. Get over it and Free Lee Breen. ::The Star
You can e-mail the mayor and council here. http://www.fredericton.ca/en/citygovernment/CityCouncil.asp
They should ban driving as a public nuisance instead.
Everything can be a nuisance including bicycling if done without thinking about your safety or others. Lee seems to be thinking about his safety and others while using his board to get to/from work, etc. They should allow the proper and safe use of alternative transportation methods but regulate (and ban) nuisance and unsafe practices. This would support their green initiatives while making their streets safe.
Thank you, Richard. I'm e-mailing the council right now. Very soon even walking could be considered dangerous!
Since he wasn't acting like a fool, why bother him? I think the police officer should have been trying to catch the cars running red lights and not stopping at stop signs.
I suppose my take would be that:
a) He DID break a law by skating on the road, despite the safety precautions he took.
b) It's a bloody stupid law. And whoever's handling the issue should have the common sense to see that it's the law that's at fault here.
The law is there to protect people, kids mostly.
Suppose they change the law, and then some 10 year old is killed because an adult skating on the street. Then all of you would against this law would be singing a different tune I suspect.
Some laws are reasonable and this is one of them. Existing roads are not designed for skateboard. Realize that's not desirable for most, but there are other solutions, including a bike which would be legal.
There are as many kinds of skating as there are driving; each has its' dark side of danger and destruction. Laws like this throw out the baby with the bathwater. Refine the legislation, share the streets, and still keep the tobogganers from grinding the rails.
"The law is there to protect people, kids mostly.
Suppose they change the law, and then some 10 year old is killed because an adult skating on the street. Then all of you would against this law would be singing a different tune I suspect."
@Joe
No, then I'd be saying, "Why did this parent let a 10 year old skate in the street?" Much like I would say, "Why did this parent let a 10 year old drive their car?". A legal adult is using their own personal method of transportation which only poses threats to their own safety, much like you have a better chance of dying if you're driving 100 mph over the speed limit. He is not a danger to public safety in the least, if he got hit, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be the driver of the car that got hurt. And no, if he did manage to get hit, he couldn't sue the city, he could sue the driver (just like drivers of cars sue each other, not the city, when they get in accidents).
And IMHO, obeying a law for the sake of following a law without critical thinking on the part of the citizen is tantamount to intellectual suicide. That being said, he probably knew he was going to get in trouble for something like this sooner or later and should have lobbied to have the law changed prior to getting caught and/or arrested. Either way, in my eyes he stands on much higher moral ground than the politicians in this case.
The law as it stands is stupid. It should be changed. The city should come out of the oxcart age and into the 21st century.
vsk
Wow. Lots of respect for Lee.
Talk about the absurdity of the "justice" system here.
The automobile has created more of "a nuisance by endangering yourself and others," than any other form of transportation (except maybe the Razr Scooter).
What a shame that this cities council is so backwards thinking.
It's ironic that a city that will be one of the first to sink under rising oceans is actively resisting climate change mitigation.
I am deeply disturbed by the story of Lee Breen. I had no idea that any cities in Canada would have such ridiculous and archaic bylaws. He could not have been acting in better faith and I think that every Canadian should look to the case of Lee Breen if they wanted to see an example of an excellent Canadian role model. As for the excuse that the bylaw is there to protect children that is also absurd. I remember when the Ottawa-Carleton school board that I grew up with removed all of the play-structures in school yards after deeming them "unsafe." Under the same pretense they replaced all of the sand in the sand boxes with wood-chips (Check out my sweet wood-chip castle!!!). Sometimes safety laws simply go to way way to far and just end up limiting constitutionally guaranteed freedoms and overall fun. Kids get hurt, thats life. If you really wanted to protect the children then do not allow them to travel in motor vehicles, which surely leads to more injuries in children than skateboarding. On top of all of this Lee Breen is 25. He is most certainly not a child.
I have the same situation living in SC. There's roads all over the place, and no place to safely ride a bike.
Skateboarding isn't endangering the public, the cars are. How many people get ran over by a skateboard or a bike each day? What's really endangering the public?
Arrest the real offenders!
So... rollerblading, rollerskating, rollerskiing, powerbocking, stilt-walking, "magic-wheel"-ing, unicycling, cargo-biking, mono-wheeling, push-scootering, etc.* along the side of the road are all fine? Most of these forms of transportation create just as small a profile as a skateboarder. Some of them are less stable, to boot!
The issue of skateboard bans has - I believe - nothing to do with public safety, but rather a perception of a public nuisance. Using a skateboard on the sidewalk can easily become a nuisance - both to the boarder and to pedestrians - much like using a bike or being a jogger (or any of the above-listed alternative modes of transport), since it operates at a speed that is an order of magnitude faster than walkers.
Finally, I feel that a ban on using a skateboard as a mode of transportation is about as dumb as banning the use of personal re-usable bags at a store as a means of goods-schlepping.
* All of these and more can be found by browsing through Treehugger's archives.
Another sad aspect is that city governments and boards are often staffed by older folks (55+) because retirees have more time than other people to go to meetings and things during the day, and they often resist change on principal. (Not all but many.)
...tantamount to intellectual suicide..."
So this little law can threaten your intellect?
Geez then you don't seem to have that much intellect to begin with.
Maybe said intellect would be better used writing petitions and finding support in order to participate in the political system. When they shut you down after you tried, you may then do whatever intellectual self-harm you wish.
I will never support breaking the law unless the law deliberately instructs you to hurt another person.
That anarcho thing is just a poor statement about not being willing to participate by using our political options.
That being said, what a small minded product of the city council, very sad.
My 10 cents
I like how they promote transportation here
http://www.fredericton.ca/en/transportation/activetransportation.asp
I wonder if the city had a no skateboarding law on the sidewalks as well. Because I can't see any other reason to board on the street (aside from the lack of cracks).
I emailed them. I think cars are a much greater danger, in many ways, than skateboarding.
Lee was released today after 1 night in jail. Read the newest update here: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2008/05/15/nb-skateboard-release.html
While I think the bylaw needs to be reviewed and support the right to take his life into his own hands, I can also understand a possible reason for why this bylaw exists. I live in Fredericton and we have some of the worst drivers with a couple of pedestrians being hit and killed in the past year, including a young adult just in the past 3 weeks. Obviously, the skateboarders etc. cannot do anything about the bad drivers, but perhaps council put it in due to fear of accidents like these. Over the years, the majority of people I've seen skateboarding have not been those using it for transportation. I'm glad there's a catalyst to move a review forward since there isn't a mass of people publicly doing it. We still don't have that many people biking here and those that do are not always given the respect they deserve. Many still don't seem to believe they have a right to be on the roads.
While Fredericton has made a start in some areas, there is still so much to be done, particularly in terms of transportation.
I just think no vehicles should be on any road that you can't attain a respectable speed that's at least around 15-20KM/h under the posted speed limits. If you are driving your car and just switch it to (D)rive and coast everywhere you go, you'll be asked to be off the road or follow the rules too; even if you claim you're saving the polar bears. Plus, any vehicle that doesn't have a direct braking system capable of stopping the vehicle without danger from this speed needs to be excluded from the roads designed for such vehicles.
Using the arguments that he isn't bothering anyone you should also allow dirt bikes, and 4-wheelers on the road as long as they follow the rules. Why can't I drive a double trailer transport truck on any city streets too? Because they aren't designed for it and it causes problems with traffic flow.
Drivers already have enough to think about without worrying about some weaving skateboarder on their right side between parked cars and them while not going across the line to avoid oncoming traffic. Until they make specific lanes for slow vehicles tell him to get a bike or an electric powered scooter with brakes.
Throwing people with a conscience in jail makes prisons safer, but the streets less so.
In Alberta alone, there are 104,000 car crashes a year, with 27,000 injuries and 400 deaths.
1 collision occurs in Alberta every 5 min.
In Canada, there are 3000 traffic deaths a year.
Globally, 1.2 million die a year in traffic accidents. 50 million are injured.
These figures do not take into account death and disease caused by car pollution.
How many deaths do skateboarders cause a year?
Traciatim said: "I just think no vehicles should be on any road that you can't attain a respectable speed that's at least around 15-20KM/h under the posted speed limits."
!!! - NO! Roads are not for the biggest and fastest. Everyone has a right to use the road. And in sensible countries without jaywalking laws, pedestrians have every right to use the road (which is as it should be).
anyone have any information on his landscaping company. i love the idea of push mowers and organic compost, etc. i was trying to see if there was a website or anything pertaining to lee's specific job, but i could not find anything and i would really like to explore this great idea.