Skating in London

by Mykel Ziolo

2001 seems to the year for skating in London. Increasingly mentioned in the media, reported to be the “in” sport and is also proven to be aerobically better than cycling and aerobically healthier than cycling and jogging.

Although skaters are still a minority in London - two group skates a week where traffic is delayed by up to ten minutes at a time - we find ourselves consistently and controversially brought before the judgment of the law.

The purpose of this article is to report on the rights of the skater in London streets, parks and on “unorganised” skates. It should be noted that although the aim is to publish an account of the legal rights and liabilities of skaters, it is not always possible to include everything and the author is grateful for any comments you may have. This article is solely intended as a guide and is by no means a legal document.

“Unorganised Skates”

You may notice that neither Friday nor Wednesday night skates have a contact name or number on their web pages. This is because if more than fifteen people were to skate together on the streets of London it would be seen to be a riot.  Approximately two hundred people attend each skate therefore if one individual represented the skate the police would be able to (1) shut the skate down by (2) simply arresting the organizer – who could be convicted of a variety of crimes. You may find that the Mayday website is organized by one key protester.

While this means that it is more difficult to stop a skate it is by no means impossible. Skating on the roads means that we have to follow the same regulations as cyclists. This means that no more than two skaters may ride abreast on the road at one time. (Could you imagine Wednesday Night Skate in single file?)

However, lets say for arguments sake that one Wednesday the Chief calls his five police on duty and says I want you to go out and stop the skate. So off they go and attempt to arrest individuals in the group. An instinctive reaction to this action is to protect fellow skaters or in other words, a riot.

Therefore, the actual likelihood of an individual being held liable for the skate is minimal. At least not until an irresponsible skater injures a pedestrian on the sidewalk or an aggressive taxi driver kills a skater. If this were to happen the police would potentially take all measures necessary to stop the skate.

“Skaters and the Park"

Statutory Instrument 1997 no. 1639 states the following (interpreted solely for skaters) – “no person shall intentionally or recklessly interfere with the safety, comfort or convenience of any person using a park. A person using roller skaters, roller blades or a skateboard may only do so on a Park road or in a designated area which is marked as being for that purpose by the Secretary of State. Skaters will not fail to comply with any direction for the regulation and control given by a constable or by a notice exhibited by the Order of the Secretary of State.”

What does this mean for you? At one extreme anybody can be asked to leave the park at any time for interfering with the safety of others in the park. In this case the skaters would have no choice but to leave. The actual repercussions of disturbing the peace have yet to be realized (by the author) but it would nonetheless ruin your day.

One of the few skate v. public cases involves Regents Park. Briefly a gentleman was stopped by police in Regents Park and summoned for failing to comply with a direction for the regulation of skating given by a notice exhibited by order of the Secretary of State. This case was dismissed on a technicality that a painted sign on the pavement does not constitute a sign posted by order of the Secretary of State.

Skaters commonly misinterpret this to mean that they can in actual fact skate in Regents Park (and officially in some areas you can – see below) and the legislation surrounding this is certainly grey. Information gained from websites and conversations with Park Police point to the fact that Regents Park definitely has no skate areas – and whilst the aforementioned case was successful this is not likely to occur a second time. Police could potentially ask you to leave the park on the basis that it does say no skating. It could be argued that other park users, as a result of this sign, would not expect to see skaters and this could put themselves or others at risk.

Regents Park is also considering putting aside an official area for skaters. The relationship with all Parks and skaters is tenuous – unnecessarily risking or destroying this relationship would be a sad waste and would ruin it for those who have yet to discover skating.

“Behaviour, The Skater and Skating”

How to behave on “unorganised” skates

The police have made it clear that they don’t want anything to do with London skates. They have so far refused to support them and popular police attitude is that as long as skating doesn’t represent the general public we will not get proactive support from them.

By law the police keep a log of all complaints. Traffic jams generated by these bi-weekly expeditions have created more than sufficient evidence that there are more people negatively affected than positively –for example 500 people get delayed, 200 people skate. All it could take – as mentioned before – is one pedestrian or skater badly hurt, and that will be the end of all “unorganised” skates.

The individual can help keep these skates going by following the code of conduct mentioned below and taking into consideration the following key instructions.

• Listen to the Marshals – Skate where they say to skate, don’t skate in front of the first marshal, and don’t fall behind the last marshal.

• Be outwardly aware – of pedestrians, other cars and cyclists. Most people will respect and stand clear of the skate but there will always be the few brave/dense people who try to push their way through the centre or cross the road impatiently.

• Do NOT skate away from the group under any circumstances. Unless leaving, and inform a Marshal before doing so.

Finally “unorganised” skates are about skating together in a group. Go be brave, macho, and clever in your own backyard.

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