ureal

Ok, I was late for work and decided to cut through the middle of where I lived and got a summon for riding on the sidewalk. The ticket says that i have to go to 346 Broadway which is a Criminal Court. Last I check code 19-176 falls under the Jurisdiction of The Environmental Control Board so will it be possible for me to beat this ticket if so how should i proceed?What should i say? My court date is June thanks for any insight.

AndrewP

the locations of the Environmental Control Board https://www.nyc.gov/html/ecb/html/loc...ocations.shtml
346 Broadway isnt one of them. I would just obey the ticket, taking a copy of the regulation and tell them they werent competent to consider the case since thay are not the authority cited.

Scaryspice

I live in NYC and IT'S a LAW not to ride your bike on the sidewalk, your are suppose to get of the bike and walk it, but anyways good luck with your court date and let us know how it goes.

Galls

Unless you are under 16(?)

Scaryspice

12 yrs and under are allow on the sidewalks in NYC.

ureal

Thanks AndrewP
Scaryspice I know I broke the law, and i would plead guilty if i go in front of the ECB but from a technical standpoint I shouldn't be guilty if procedure is not followed (you hear about how people get away with murder due to a technicality)... By sending me to criminal court and not to a hearing in front of th ECB there is an error on the part of the cops. Just need someone familiar with law to read the lingo and give me their read on it so I dont piss off the judge

The Human Car

FWIW When Baltimore City police were strictly enforcing the sidewalk law a lot of cyclists were ticketed for riding to/from their front door to/from the street. That raised a few eyebrows during the hearings as that is not the intent of the law and enforcement failed to show due cause for giving the ticket.

dobber

Perfect. You bunch of sillies sit around whining about autos obeying the rules of the road and what not, but the moment a cyclist is ticketed for breaking the law..............

dmac49

Do the right thing.... PAY THE SUMMONS after all you earned ! So the cop wrote it on a universal summons instead of the ECB still is a summons. You can write a parking summons on a universal also. Just pay the thing.

irabidfish

I am no advocate of cycling on sidewalks, nor of blasting through stop signs or red lights. However thats not to say I have not at some point been guilty of all of the above. Sometimes instead of crossing two lanes of heavy traffic to make a left, ill just wait for the crosswalk. I am not sure if that is legal, even if it is it certainly is not the ideal.

We all make mistakes, and when we have to pay for them it sucks. Thats why people try to duck tickets in general. I'll bet most of us would sacrifice our moral high ground to avoid paying a ticket through some minor technicality if we could. Even if we would not admit it.

We talk about lofty ideals, and "best practices" often, but thats not to say we don't all make mistakes and do the wrong thing sometimes. Give a guy a break.

dobber

Let's remember that sentiment next time we're tar and feathering some motorist for his perceived transgression.

Allister

I'm with dobber. Take your lumps, and get on with life.

TiberiusBTkirk

Possible? any this is possible but in most of these types of infractions the odds are against you.
I've gotten a couple of tickets/summons for stupid things in my younger years and nothing came up to affect me yet.
I went through a few thorough background checks and passed all of them. knock wood.
credit checks are a different story.
How much is the fine?

Dahon.Steve

You have to go to court for this ticket or it could count points on your license. In addition, the next time, the fines double and you'll end up paying over $400 dollars for the same infraction or ANY infraction!

Here's what to do. Loads of "Attorneys" in traffic court and for about $100.00 bucks, they make the ticket go away. You would be surprised how many motorist are on the street today who would have been convicted of DWI if it were not for these lawyers working inside the municipal court. If the motorist can walk for not having insurance, why can't you get by for riding on the sidewalk?

By the way, if you go to traffic court, you'll see just how much of a joke the whole thing truly is. The judge just tosses out tickets like water and the cops have to lie through their teeth making up stories just to make the ticket stick! It's totally insane and the judge knows this which is why the tickets are tossed out. Traffic cops have a quota to make and give out tickets like candy even to cars that are parked legally!

If you want to be honest, pay the ticket but next time, the fine will double and it may count points on your license.

irabidfish

I am with you too doober. My comments don't just apply to cyclists.

CB HI

So the cyclist were riding on private property (their own private property) and the cops were too dumb to know better?
Do they go to the race track and give drivers speeding tickets as well?

The Human Car

There still is a bit of public sidewalk you have to cross/use to get to private. This effort was actually part of a drug crack down (you know how them cyclists are .) That was a few years ago, things are getting better.

ureal

A no or a yes would suffice. I already said I will plead guilty and pay the fine but wondering if it a technicality will let me off the hook... I know if a cop pulled you over and the ticket has the wrong type of car, or some kind of misprint the court will throw it out. Dobbler I have no idea what you are saying and does it relate in anyway to my question?

cudak888 

Only thing I've heard of quite like that is when a cyclist was chalked up in the ticket as an automobile - being that the ticket cited the individual for doing XYZ in an automobile, not a bicycle. It was thrown out. YMMV.

This said, it still doesn't excuse what you did - sidewalks are sidewalks, don't ride on them. I'm sure the peds get cranky over it, same as you would if you found someone fast-walking down a bike lane (...whilst trying to look as close as possible to some 1980's fitness dodo, plugged into their iPod and oblivious to anything around them, for that matter ).

-Kurt

invisiblehand

Talk to a lawyer.

cudak888 

That statement looks funny with your signature just below

-Kurt

invisiblehand

Hah! Very good.

littlewaywelt

There's no such thing as a minor technicality. The rules/code/law is it. Do you think they are interested in cutting you breaks? If the gvt can't play by the rules, then you're not getting your due process. I'll admit it. Regardless of what I do, I'm going to make the gvt work for whatever they get. It's part of having a judicial system and I have no intention of laying down for them.

The Human Car

I'm going to disagree, some motorists in the city got a ticket for running a red light and not only did he get off the city had to change the timing on most of its traffic lights.

Attend traffic court sometime and see all the speeding tickets for going 1-10mph over the speed limit get laughed out of court, the silly whining motorists do it all the time.

TiberiusBTkirk

like my post above, I've gotten a few stupidly embarrassing summons in my years
that were like this. it's basically what the cops says and what you say,
and the judge will side with the cop. the cop saw you riding on the sidewalk,
that's a summonable offense.
don't believe the hype about the cop not showing up, mine showed up.
sure you can bring your case in front of a judge, that's what I did.
yes, all this was in NYC. don't know about points on your license thing,
mine were fines. though I never heard of getting points on one's license
for a bicycle infraction, so, who knows? maybe?
I don't have a driver's license. how would they point me?