Politics & Government

Resident Says Police Should Ticket Teens in Street

Borough resident who lives near Lions Playground addresses Emmaus Council for the second time about teens skateboarding in the streets.

An Emmaus resident who addressed borough council last month about teens loitering and around returned last night to share what he believes to be a solution to the problem – ticketing the youngsters.

Jack Nonnemacher, 503 Franklin St., addressed during the public comment portion of last night’s council meeting to tell council that he had been delving into the “rules and regulations” that Borough Manager Shane Pepe had emailed to him.

Nonnemacher said that based on his interpretation of various parts of the motor vehicle code, the teens hanging out in the streets in the borough are breaking the law. And, he said, that includes those on foot, on skateboards, on rollerblades, on bicycles or on scooters.

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According to the code, if there is a sidewalk, they should be on the sidewalk, he said. If there isn't a sidewalk, he added, they should be as close to the side of the road as possible.

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“Technically they are violating the vehicle code and they should be warned and fined,” Nonnemacher said. “There is no reason for anyone in this town to be riding a skateboard in the middle of the street."

Tickets could be used as a means to change the growing habit of disrespect. (The law) should be enforced with a grain of salt. It could be a solution that will still make Emmaus a good and friendly community to live in,” he said.

Borough Councilman Brent Labenberg sympathized with Nonnemacher's concerns about the skateboarders in the streets. He said that when he worked the Central Fire Station polling location on Election Day there were four teens on skateboards in the middle of the street the whole time he was there.

“They were not on the side of the street, they were in the middle of the road. This needs to be enforced. This is ridiculous,” Labenberg said.


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