Traffic ticket while riding bike??? (Page 2)

First week of college, my freshman year.  Wake up late, hop on the bike, off to class.  While riding the wrong way down a one-way street behind the building my class was located in, I get whistled down by a campus cop.  Being a freshman, I rode right on over, where I got a "campus appearance citation".  I had to go before the judicial board and promise I'd never do it again, get threatened that this would go on my "permanent" record, all that jazz.  Meanwhile, the folks that were drinking underage didn't get jack.

I still am very careful about one-way streets...

I only blow through stop signs if on a group ride and surrounded by 20+ other cyclists, doing the same.  I'm not going to be the one that slams on the brakes on the group ride and causes the crash.  If I'm solo, I'll stop.  We stop on our long small group (less than 5-6 riders) rides too, except for 2 spots with zero traffic, ever.

I hate that! I have a light that I come to at the end of all my rides. It's at a T-intersection, and make a left there (I can only go left or right). Unfortunately, the cars approaching from the right are coming around a bend and I can't see the traffic well enough to risk pulling out when the light is red. Early on Saturday mornings, I have sat at that light for 4+ minutes (never as long as 5, thank goodness) waiting for a car to come and trip the sensor as my bike can't do so. I would probably run the light if I didn't consider it too dangerous.

I hope everyone is wearing a helmet!

I got a jaywalking ticket once.  I thought it was a joke, so I didn't pay it.  Imagine my surprise when I was pulled over one day to find out that my drivers license had been suspended.  It took me six months to get my license back, all because I got a ticket waliking.

  The point to the story is that if we want to have privilages to ride on the rode, then we have to obey the rules of the road.  If we off enough drivers, we may run the risk of being banned from using the roads.  It might sound extreme, but I don't think it is too far fetched.

I doubt he was looking at his radar.

You can not have it both ways.  I would imagine the reason local citizens think the bikers are a menace is they are tired of both seeing cyclists run stop signs, and stop lights.  Just because YOU rolled the stop sign does not mean your fellow cyclist are rolling it, many of them are likely blowing through it.  If that is what they are doing having local law ENFORCEMENT pulling cyclist over and ticketing them will hopefully prevent some moron from getting killed.

While I understand the problem of traffic lights not working for a bike, I can think of 2 solutions, both of which I think would be legal.
1. GET OFF THE STUPID BIKE AND WALK ACROSS THE CROSS WALK - you are now a pedistrian and can cross, however you would be wise to wait for a walk signal to prevent possible a jaywalking ticket.
2. Right turn on red, ride down the street turn left and then turn around (without doing a U-turn, which is also illegal) and come back out onto the street.

Law or no law I think anyone who gets a ticket for running a light/sign is just getting harassed by some cop who had seeing cyclist on the road.  Sorry if this offends someone and yes I would still pay the fine.   I typically avoid roads but the ones I do ride on are in the country and happen to be near were the OP lives.  There are not cars on most of these roads but there are stop signs and I do not stop unless I can see a car even if it is a 100 yards away then I stop and let them go.  I figure if nothing else it is showing good will to the larger vehicle and maybe they won't run me down.  I stop at all lights on this route because they cross major intersections and I am not about to get hit.   A bike or a car for that matter who runs a stop sign in the middle of the country going 15 or 20 miles an hour where you can see for a mile is not going to hurt anyone.  If you are riding in the city and not stopping that is different.   Plus where I ride at the points I do run signs there probably will not be a cop looking to bust people anyways.  Sitting there looking for speeders would be ridiculous because there are no cars. 

I am just saying that the police should use some common sense when ticketing for this and preface the ticket with "this is a busy road and you tried to out run a car coming the other direction".

LOL, best post in the thead.....

Where's mr2tony when you need him???

I guess I don't understand the "you're not hurting anyone" argument.  So, I should be able to park at an expired meter and then successfully defend a ticket since I wasn't hurting anyone?  The argument is a non sequitur to me.  Under that logic you'd never get a ticket for running a red light, since if you didn't get killed, or no one else did, then non one got hurt.  That's not the std of how laws are enforced.

In our town last summer they actually put up signs on two popolur routes,saying "bicyclists shall obey all signals and stop signs."  I know two people that got tickets for running a stop sign (the same one, actually).  Still, what did we do (and what do we do)?  When we come upon stop signs at 5:30 a.m., we slow down a bit but blow through them.  Signals, go through if no traffic.  During the day?  We slow down some more, and check behind for cops, then roll through. 

It's funny though, if there is a cop, we all yell "stopping" to eachotehr so we all know.  And the cop does as well.    Frankly, it's not hard to come to a complete stop and then start again while clipped in.  Don't even need to know how to do a track stand (for stop signs).

And heck, I know the law.  If I get a ticket for rolling a stop sign I'll and moan, but I certainly wouldn't give the cop any attitude, I'd pay the darn thing

Actually, you do want to consider this situation.  In many states if you get written up for a violation on your bike and present your automobile drivers license as identification, the offense will often go on your driving record and could affect your risk as far as insurance rates.  Much better to offer some other form of identification in case you get stopped.

"Yes officer, my name is Joe Smith...here is my library card."

Yes..this has happened to ME...

I don't know how to put the post link in this message, but if you search my name, you'll find my post a few months back about it.  I am currently waiting for my traffic lawyer to take care of it.   The cops in my town don't ticket ( I asked after it happened ot me, and the cop said they would be laughed at by their peers and the court)  But ths tiny town that it hapepend in,does it every week (actually I just found out that the cop no longer sits at the intersection since he was giving away too many tickets and  got in trouble with the courts for tying up the courts for this minimal infraction of the law) My group I ride with obeys all the traffic signals, however, when we ride, there will be many bikers that fly right by us at the red light...kills me. I have also heard of groups getting speeding tickets on A1A 

Yes, I do understand the law, yes, I agree that people should be resposible for breaking the law, but it doesn't mean that I can't find it ridiculous or a waste of my taxpayer $ for having a cop just sit there waiting to stop a biker when there are many other problems that can be focused on. 

And lastly...about the license part...we are not required to have a license to ride a bike...so being asked to prooduce a drivers license when being pulled over IMO is a form of intimidation....what if the person was 13....do they get off sicne they are not required to even know the driving laws of a motor vehicle?  how would they even know to stop anywhere when htey have not even taken a drivers course...you don't get a motor vehicle manual when you buy a bike...

<end rant> 

-Jamie 

If you check out my logs a few days before the Labor Day weekend, you'll see my lovely story about being ticketed at White Rock Lake in East Dallas for rolling through a stop sign.  I was absolutely ready to pay the fine, I offered no argument upon being pulled over, and the cop is a local police officer who tickets just as many motorists for reckless behavior around cyclists as he does cyclists for traffic violations, so I had no problem being stopped. 

However, if you get a ticket in Dallas (or wherever), be prepared for hell.  First, the fine for running a stop sign on a bicycle (even in a park or other area where there is a clear expectation of recreational traffic) is $215 in Dallas.  That is almost 3x the amount of the fine for running a red light in a car and being caught by the cameras.  Not to mention that the fine schedule and fine payment setup in Dallas is nothing short of insane.  If it weren't more expensive to get a lawyer than to pay the ticket, I'd fight it based on sheer principle.  Just be forewarned that if you get a ticket, you need to figure out how much to pay and how to pay ASAP.  It sounds easy, but trust me, document all attempts to contact the city and all internet attempts.  It may take up to 14 days of your allotted 21 to even get your ticket "entered into the system" in order to figure out how much you owe!  It's not a trivial matter, and it can result in a warrant out for your arrest, so trust me, I'm stopping at stop signs from now on.  It's not worth dealing with, even if you intend to be honest and pay up.  It's worthwhile to simply obey the law, however annoying it may be to stop.

Oh, I've broken the speed limit on my bike countless times.  You don't happen to live near me, do you??? 

I got busted in Boulder during a blizzard 15 years ago (dang, has it been that long?) for rolling 2 stop signs.  I fought it in court and had to go to bike safety school where the other offenders (mostly kids from CU) and I watched a bike safety video. 

Flash forward to the present.  I worked for the Texas Bicycle Coalition 10 years ago and am now a municipal court prosecutor for many smallish cities in the Fort Worth area.  While I haven't had to prosecute a cyclist for a moving violation, I'm sure that day will come.   Bicycles are vehicles in Texas.  Use your own best judgment when riding (the Bear has some good comments on p.1) but be prepared to pay the consequences if you blow a stop sign and the cop who sees you decides to write you a citation.  But, fight it like any other moving violation - hire a traffic lawyer or go to court yourself.  Seek deferred adjudication (probation) from the prosecutor to keep it off your record.  It's a moving violation.

Because we're unique (pedal power) we're more noticeable, so be a good ambassador to the sport of cycling (commuters, recreational, all y'all).  My own personal peeve?  The big groups who don't slow down, ride 3-4 abreast and block the nice country roads they ride on.  It's no wonder little old ladies want to throw a rock at you - not to mention Bubba and his beer cans.  Share the Road goes both ways.  I hear more complaints from non- cycling friends about the groups hogging the road.  It truly gives all of us a bad image and is effing arrogant.  Your actions do have a ripple effect on the greater community.  I doubt anyone would begrudge a cyclist or 3 if they slowed down and carefully rolled through a stop sign, or treated a stop light like a true stopping situation but continued on before it turned green (perhaps not even the county sheriff's deputies).  It's generally what I do.  But to simply disregard it as being inconvenient, or worse...well, if you read this far you already know what I think about that.

So, share the road and ride responsibly because we want to give bikes the right (and keep those rights) on our public roads.

And you're also a crossdresser?  Cool, glad to see another gurl on BT! 

(Sorry for the OT blurb...back to the original subject)