Electric Skateboard Legalities - local laws and what you do about them

General Discussion
21

You’re being asked to put tail numbers on your drones because ass hats keep crashing into stadiums, little kids, and helicopters. Every day i read another article about another drone crashing into something it was never supposed to be anywhere near. When they aren’t doing that, they’re flying over people’s properties and getting boob shots. Some of them are even being shot down and the shooters are winning the law suits.

Meanwhile the other 99% of drone enthusiasts are going out to open fields or other good areas and having fun and not bothering anyone.

What worries me regarding esk8s is all these damned commercial companies putting shit chinese boards into the hands of the unwashed masses. We, the boutique and garage makers and prototypers and enthusiasts, are going to suffer for it.

Some eboard asshat is going to run over a kid and then we’ll start to see signs specifically banning our rigs instead of signs somewhat vaguely banning our rigs.

then we’re screwed.

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22

Well skateboarding was banned in so many places and still is today. That doesn’t stop people from doing it. I guess in a way breaking the law is part of skateboarding.

23

I can’t add anything to that other than WORD!!

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24

Does anyone remember when blank tapes were sold? Now they sell blank CDs, DVDs, and Blu-rays. What do you think those are for? Nothing legal, I can assure you. Oh sure, “backups and other legitimate purposes”.

We copied music and made mix tapes. We burned movies from Netflix, and now we’re torrenting shit. People smoke weed all over the place, buy illegal weapons, keep weird animals like tigers and cobras, tear out the exhaust treatment systems on their cars, and text while driving.

We will also skate regardless.

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25

Also…

those signs that you see the back of because they are facing the other way…

NO MOTORIZED VEHICLES

15 MPH

Yeah. I made mixed tapes. I skate where i want too.

26

ATC guys don’t have the time to mess around with 100’s of drones randomly popping up on the radar screen. That is a terrible idea. (I’m a certified tower operator with radar experience + pilot). 99% of drone fliers don’t know how to read sectional charts that show the airspace limits in their area. Registration is more about making people accountable. As a RC guy myself, I fully support registration.

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27

My local trails just updated the laws on electric bikes. Speed limit is still 15 but you can ride an electric bike up to a certain amount of watts. They say nothing about skateboards (motorized or not). I should be in the clear for a while. I have never seen a cop on the trails to enforce the speed limits (they aren’t allowed to use radar anyways). Like everyone else has said, the bike guys ride full blast all the time. I almost get clipped daily in the summer by some. I don’t think anyone will pay any attention to me when they have those guys to worry about.

28

I’ve never seen a cop on the trails where live either. The laws regarding esk8s are a complete non-issue in my area because they simply aren’t enforced in any way.

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29

Of course they don’t have time, but I’m pointing out that the FAA, in trappys’ case at least, said that model aircraft, including drones, are real aircraft, and should be held to the same standards as regular aircraft.

How will registration hold anyone accountable? The only way they will find out your not registered is if you crash your drone, and if you didn’t register, they will never find the owner. People simply won’t register, as the chance of being caught are slim to none for not registering (I know I won’t be registering).

Not to mention, according to the FAA Modernization and Reform Act, “the Federal Aviation Administration may not promulgate any rule or regulation regarding a model aircraft”, which will be used as a defense if someone is caught violating this new “policy” as the FAA calls it.

At the end of the day, there are bigger fish to fry here. You know very weel as an ATC that there is a shortage of ATCs. That poses a bigger risk to public safety then a drone, which has never crashed into a manned air craft.

There’s also been complaints lately of so many drones by Golden Gate Bridge. I myself have taken videos and photos there. However, I see no mention about the helicopter tours which take people UNDER the bridge, coming very close to hitting the bridge, which would kill hundreds to a thousands of people.

At the end of the days, this comes down to more government intrusion into our privacy and racketeering (estimated 1 mil in drones this holiday season will be sold and $5 a piece, as this will be most peoples first and only drone, means $5 million in the pockets of the FAA this year alone).

Am I going to have to register my stove now? or how about my dryer? those could cause fires and pose a risk to safety. Where does this draconian law end?

30

This is sort of sliding off topic with all the drone talk, and we need to bring it back. but i will say this:

It doesn’t matter what it is. Drone, skateboard, electric bike. When it flies out of control and hits a kid, irrational legislation is going to happen. “Think of the children!” they will all shout in unison as they attempt to govern things they know nothing about. If an electric skateboard could fly out from under my feet and interfere with a heart transplant helicopter, you better believe we’d all have tail numbers on our single kicks.

Eventually we’re going to have to register our PEVs. Just like we’re going to have to register our drones. Why? Ass hats and knee jerk reactions to ass hats.

But in the meantime we get to enjoy the fact that most states have no idea how to classify electric skateboards and don’t pay any attention to them in the big picture. California is one notable exception because much of the commercial esk8 industry is there and commercial industry drives legislation, so much much more attention is being brought to the topic there. Cali leads the way in so many ways, so this isn’t surprising.

The laws as written in Florida, which is sort of the east coast, gun toting, bible thumping, less productive and racist version of Cali, vary in ambiguity from reader to reader. Allegedly esk8s fall under a certain class of vehicle by default, not by definition or decision. But cops have their hands full with Florida Man and flakka, so zero enforcement.

I’m no prophet, just a cynic. but i predict all hell’s going to break loose here in Flalala when some kid on an eboard gets beat up or shot by the cops because they don’t like his skin tone. It will draw the wrong kind of attention, and very negative discussions will be had, and very negative laws will result. We sort of have a serious problem with systemic racism here.

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31

Agreed, there will always be this kind of reaction when new technology causes a problem. And I think your right. You know, originally, I bought one of those pistol grip controllers, thinking its smaller than the rest. The issue is, it looks too close to a gun, and with the trigger happy police we have in this country, I can see someone getting shot for holding a controller that looks too close to a gun, so I decided to get a bright orange controller instead. There’ no way a cop can claim my controller looks like a gun. But it might happen to someone else.

BTW, I think most people racist to some degree, as I can’t imagine there hasn’t been a time in ones life where they blamed something which happened to them to the stereotypical behavior associated with a race. But that’s a little off topic, so I’ll leave it at that.

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32

Yeah… i read some where that i kid got stopped because they thought he had a gun but it was his transmitter. Someone called the cops on him.

33

using a brightly colored, less gun shaped transmitter is a good idea. I’m using red shapeways prints of bad wolf’s GT2B mod on my builds until i can find a more interesting trigger controller. I think the color should help even if the shape is still vaguely gun like.

34

Dude you should put that on your wall, its almost poetry.

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35

If they could only issue you a summons for stupidity, (i.e. riding anything 30mph in a crowded NYC pedestrian walkway or flying a drone on the beach in the flightpath of the JFK runway approach) all these legal/legislative things would all be solved. It’s the stupid ones that ruin it for all of us sensible people. Simply use your head and not create problems and they will leave you alone.

2 Likes
36

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-25/electric-skateboards-bans-prompt-call-to-rethink-christmas-list/6971796

A ban on the use of electric skateboards on roads and footpaths in South Australia prompts a call for parents to rethink their Christmas shopping list.

In an earlier post lowguido has advised all states make electric skateboards illegal. At the end of the day if your being carefull with the surrounding users its jyst going to be bad luck you get fined by police. They have better things to do. Jus a shame its so regulated because idiots will try and ride in the middle of roads etc.

37

haha funny, I was just reading that article earlier today. but yeah in Australia once it has a motor on it its illegal. I don’t hold high hopes of that changing any time soon.

I kinda hoped that the spate of so called “hoverboards” might entice someone into creating some more relevant laws, but it would appear all the bad press and spontaneous combustion has just drawn more unwanted attention to the electric propulsion community, and will probably cause some vigilante cops to start targeting us.

i’ll continue to skate, but try and stay stealth… cant wait for my hub motors.

38

Another article. So I read it as being it maybe ok if you ride on footpath, but not on road as would be considered a motor vehicle. Which you cant register in VIC.

Stay stealth. Isnt it no different to riding a bike. They can go fast on the roads. Doesnt make sense.

39

nah they are prohibited from all “public areas” which includes footpaths and bike paths

The following vehicles (irrespective of the power output of the motor or engine) are also banned from use on roads or in public areas:

Electric motor or petrol engine powered foot scooters (with or without a seat)
Mini bikes or monkey bikes
Electric motor or petrol engine powered human transporters such as the WheelMan, or SEGWAY (exemptions apply)
Electric motor or petrol engine powered skateboards
40

I think we will have more trouble with idiots riding on the sidewalks blasting past old ladies and clipping children. All a matter of perspective. Here in New Mexico things are much more relaxed. I just wave to the sheriff and smile as I pass him doing 35mph.

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