Alf is keeping an eye on the Nelson skateboarder who has been hit – hurrah for the judge or whoever imposed it – with a $750 fine for cruising down New Street on his board.
This churlish bugger has the gall to say he won’t pay what he calls an “overly excessive” infringement penalty.
He sounds like he has a strong uppity streak, because the Stuff account of his carry-on says:
Sascha Krueger, 33, says the police officer who dished out the ticket had not done his homework properly, and it was only illegal to skate on the street’s footpath – not the road.
“I think he abused his power and tried to teach me a lesson.”
The skateboarder sounds like a braggart, too.
“It’s the most reliable and cheap transport and I would consider myself an experienced driver.”
And he’s a moaner.
Mr Krueger said while the officer checked out the rules inside his car for 25 minutes he was left standing outside – making him late for work.
Mr Krueger said he was not happy with the way he was treated, and as well as planning to apply to have the fine withdrawn, would also lay a compliant with the Police Complaints Authority.
At his age, of course, he should have moved on from people-powered transport to something more becoming a grown-up.
Krueger (he skateboards to work six days a week “rain or shine”, according to the Stuff report) is the sixth skateboarder to be handed an infringement notice since 2005.
In Nelson, Alf presumes.
Obviously the authorities aren’t trying hard enough. If Alf was running the show they would be rounding up the buggers on a daily basis.
It seems that under Nelson City parking and vehicle control bylaws, skaters are not allowed to skate on footpaths in a prohibited area, which covers most central Nelson streets.
Mr Krueger was taking his daughter to see his partner at Zippy’s Cafe on Hardy St on Tuesday when he was warned by a police officer that he was entering the no-skate zone.
Mr Krueger hopped off his board and after dropping off his daughter got back on his wheels to skate down New St. He saw the same officer who waved him down to issue the ticket.
“I said that he was in the wrong and I was allowed on the road – I was not on the footpath.
“The fine is way more than what I earn in a week.”
Shame.
If the law does not now classify a skateboard as a vehicle, then Alf will make sure it is.
He is only too aware that skateboarders are apt to frighten and intimidate the elderly.
They are apt to frighten the bloody horses, too.
Moreover if this Krueger fellow does not pay his fine, then Alf will press for the authorities to confiscate his skateboard.
And if the law does not allow this, then he will have a private member’s bill introduced to Parliament to take care of the problem.
Skateboarders should be treated like cyclists, and both breeds of pest should be discouraged if they can’t be exterminated.
Alf Grumble 