A 25-year-old man who faced charges for longboarding down a hill on Highway 93A was acquitted in Jasper Provincial Court, May 12.
According to Judge D.C. Norheim, Ian Brown was longboarding with four of his friends last July when a Park warden stopped them and subsequently charged him for performing a “stunt” under the province’s Traffic Safety Act.
According to the act, it is illegal to perform or engage in any stunt or other activity that is likely to distract, startle or interfere with users of the highway.
Despite this, Norheim reasoned that Brown was not trying to perform a stunt because he was travelling in a careful and prudent manner.
“I find the defendant did not commit the offence of stunting,” Norheim said. “In coming to this conclusion, I am not precluding the possibility that a longboarder, in certain circumstances, may be guilty of stunting or other infractions.”
To back up his decision, he pointed to the fact that Brown was wearing safety equipment, he was not exceeding the speed limit, he was travelling in the correct lane, could safely stop and there was a car following them with hazard lights on to warn other motorists.
He also noted Brown has been longboarding for eight years, participated in over 50 sanctioned competitions and longboarded 2,100 kms for various charities over the years, such as Push for the Cure.
Norheim also said there are no regulations against longboarding in the Canada National Parks Act.
“The wardens cant just outlaw longboarding on a whim,” said Norheim, during his decision.
Following the decision, Brown said being acquitted was a huge weight off his shoulders.
“It’s nice to have a clearly defined law,” said Brown, who lives in Edmonton.
“The judge made it very clear that longboarding is not illegal and that I did not actually commit that crime.”
Brown admitted that he had been warned at least once not to longboard but said he did not believe that he was distracting, startling or interfering with other users of the highway.
Although he was with four other people, the warden indicated that Brown was supposed to share the ticket with his associates who were with him that day. Had Brown been found guilty he could have faced a $543 fine.
“It’s unusual what we do and not everybody is aware of it or is sure what’s going on, but the biggest thing is that we know what we’re doing,” said Brown.
Paul Clarke
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