John Warren
For 13 years, Richard Dipeppe has skated the streets of Ghent minus any interruption, save for the occasional car from a side street.
That lucky streak ended nine days ago, when he was issued a warning by a Norfolk police officer. It wasn't a fluke. The next day, he was issued another warning, by a different officer.
Dipeppe knew he had been skating around a law enacted in 1997 that prohibits in-line skating, or rollerblading, on city streets.
He figured it was a law made to appease someone, not deemed worth enforcing by officers. In fact, police spokesman Chris Amos said, enforcement is left to the officer's discretion.
Dipeppe is a 50-something medical school administrator, not your picture of a scofflaw. Around 8 a.m. every Saturday and Sunday, he dons his skates and rolls a circuit from his home on 51st Street to Colley Avenue, which he skates to 26th, to Colonial Avenue, through Stockley Gardens, to the Hague and back home.
Until nine days ago, Dipeppe said he was never stopped by an officer - never cited, never warned.
One of the officers told him it's a matter of safety, Dipeppe said. "Having spent 19 months in Vietnam," Dipeppe said, "I feel confident in my ability to assess personal danger."
Dipeppe has a couple more issues with the law.
First, he said, the sidewalks along his route are not safe for in-line skating.
"They don't understand a social compact," he said of the city's insistence that skaters keep to the sidewalk. "They are not keeping their end of the bargain."
Second, he said, the law prohibits bicycles on sidewalks.
"The idea that a bicycle is less of a danger on the street than a rollerblader escapes me," he said.
Dipeppe hasn't decided whether he'll skate his route again.
"I don't want the hassle," he said. "I'm not interested in a confrontation with the city."
Amos said his option is to approach his council representative and push for a change. Otherwise, Amos said: "If warned repeatedly, it is just a matter of time before he is cited for the violation."
What do you think, readers? Go to PilotOnline.com and weigh in on an online poll.
New street-sweeping hours
Over the past several weeks, The Warrior's been spotlighting the outcry in Ghent over new monthly street-sweeping hours.
The new hours meant residents in the densely populated Norfolk neighborhood had to move their cars by 7 a.m. - not convenient for folks who generally leave for work after 8 a.m.
Norfolk Public Works spokeswoman Pamela Marino told The Warrior last week that the hours have officially been changed.
The "no parking" restriction in Ghent, West Ghent and Freemason will now be from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. monthly.
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Ghent skating
I just got back from Duluth, Minnesota where more than 3500 skaters competed in the Northshore Inline Marathon race where sections of interstate were closed for skaters! Rec and fitness skaters joined world class athletes in North America's largest inline race. All around Minneapolis there are paved trails shared by cyclists and skaters without problems. I skate at speeds of more than 20 mph and can stop as fast as a cyclist so the street is the only safe place for me to skate. Why are skates any different as a means of conveyance than bicycles? By the way, I always wear a helmet and obey traffic signs. I'm not hurting anyone and accept the risks, so why the fuss? Skating is way more fun than running and much less stressful on the joints. Here in the 3rd fattest city in the nation we need more people running, cycling, and skating, so drivers give all of us a break and share the road.
Just plain...
Well here we go again with the government making safety laws for you. I find this to funny that big brother has to tell you that you can't do this or that. Its kind like sitting at that red turn arrow with no on coming traffic. ???
If a 50 year old dude wants to rollerblade and he has been doing it and not hurting any body WHO CARES!!!!!
marym63204
I agree...Innocent until proven guilty is just as important as illegal until proven otherwise. Follow the law, or pay the price. Use the money and energy you save from not being ticketed to try to do something about changing the law.
?
People still rollerblade? I didn't even know they made rollerblades anymore...
Again, we put the laws on trial in the paper . . .
Same old, same old.
Every time a law seems unpopular in any sector of our society, we open it to comment and a "poll" in the paper. We are convincing our young people that laws can be made and changed by way of textmessaging.
How about this? We obey the laws while we work to change them if we don't agree with them. Yes, the process takes a while. No instant gratification there. But we will have the gratification of knowing that we are a country of laws and that we have a right to question them, in an orderly way, not just by breaking all of the laws that we find personally inconvenient. Cheers, MGM
Find a flaw? Change the LAW.
Considering how uneven therefore unsafe some areas of the Ghent sidewalks are I would not like to walk on them and would not even think of rollerblading on them. When I moved into my home, I was told to call the city and have them replace my unsafe side walk and they did. That is one solution that has not yet been and needs to be addressed.
Sidewalks are for baby carriages, people in wheelchairs and walkers, and people strolling through the beautiful neighborhood of Ghent. Rollerblades, roller skates, and bicycles do not belong on the sidewalks because they cause safety issues to pedestrians.
Roller blades and bicycles are designed to be used on the streets. Bicyclists are to be afforded the same rights and responsibilities to the public roads as cars and so should roller-bladers. The responsibilities are to obey all traffic signs, signals and speed limits.
So City of Norfolk, please make the law so it makes sense, rather than make the Goofy Laws of Fame book again.
it could be worse...
The police could have caught him lawfully carrying a firearm!!!! Then he would have had his rights, AND his skates taken away.
What is the rationale for the law?
I can't see where rollerblading safely in the street and obeying rules of traffic should be any different than bicyclists. Additionally rollerblading on sidewalks seems dangerous to pedestrians on foot and rollerbladers.
Let's give the guy a break and perhaps find something important for Norfolk's finest to be "policing" while the city gets busy changing the law.
Not quite right in the head. .
Credentials aside, I'm an engineer and a very avid cyclist, but making a comparison to an skilled cyclist, a roller-girl (opps. .roller blader) looks looks like a flapping fish on the road. For once I actually agree with the fuzz I despise. A real cyclist has front and rear brakes and better contact patch with the tires on the road to avoid crashes.