I-Like-To-Bike

Are skateboards and roller skates violations mentioned as "exemptions" in any state?

BTW what do you mean by "you will be charged"? Any traffic violation, moving, parking, pedestrian, points assigned or not, whatever, not on the so-called exemption list, will result in an increased car insurance rate for the violator?

DogBoy

moving violations can (rather than will) be charged if they do not run afoul of the insurance regulations in a given state. For example, one state's regulations say that a speeding violation that occurs on a freeway cannot be used to surcharge insurance unless it is greater than 10 mph over the limit. Moving violations typically are of the type "failure to yield(stop signs/stop lights)", "speeding", "improper lane use" etc. Within the insurance regulations, there are exemptions to what can and cannot be used to adjust insurance rates. Parking violations are not moving violations, nor are jay-walking etc. Most legislatures also prohibit mobile camera tickets from insurance rating. If you want to know what can and cannot be used, give your friendly state insurance department a call and ask if those things can be used to impact your insurance. What is typically not collected in these is the vehicle type involved. So, if you run a stop-sign and get a traffic ticket, and it shows up on your MVR or you are convicted of a moving violation, the insurance company can use it as a surcharge.

mconlonx

Moving violations you receive on your bike should certainly affect your automobile insurance. It's a shame it does not in some states and situations. Bad driving is bad driving, whether you're on a bike or in a car.

I-Like-To-Bike

Thanks for the clarification.

Still not clear on your use of the term "charged" As in "moving violations can (rather than will) be charged."

Does "charged" in this context mean a moving violation is entered on the insurance company database, or does "charged" mean that a single moving violation, without consideration of the violation severity or the rest of the motorist's driving record, can be a catalyst for insurance rate hike?

howsteepisit

While I can sure see the rational for this, I have always felt that since you do not have to be licensed to operate a bicycle, then any violations should not be counted against a drivers license. I think it should be a fineable offense only.

prathmann

Agreed. Insurance premiums should be based on how much of a risk you represent to the insurance company. If you ride your bike around all day in a way that gets you lots of tickets this doesn't indicate an increased risk to the insurance company at all since they wouldn't be liable for any damage you cause on your bike (your home owner's insurance company might well be liable, but that's another issue).

For an extreme case, consider someone who is a bike messenger professionally and only takes his car out for country outings with the family. It's not unlikely that in order to meet his schedules as a messenger he may run stop signs and lights and even go up some one-way streets the wrong way - and is therefore subject to being ticketed. But none of that has any impact on the financial risk to the auto insurance company and thus it shouldn't impact his premiums.

mconlonx

Politically, it works against any claims that cyclists should be treated as road users equal to any other vehicle on the road.

howsteepisit

In that case "Politically" bicycle riders should have to be licensed drivers, once they hit legal driving age. I suppose then we could use public canning as a penalty for the under age crowd.

mconlonx

In another thread, I advocated mandatory safety education with some proof of completion needed by cyclists using the roads, but stopped short of licensing and registration. Which would also help politically...

I-Like-To-Bike

Help who?

howsteepisit

And I think this is every bit a bad idea as having violations that occur during an unlicensed activity count against a drivers license.

DogBoy

Yes. Rates are based on cohorts of risk. Those people who have had 1 moving violation in the prior 3 years tend to have 15-20% more insurance losses in the next observed year. Insurance companies that observe these characteristics charge (apply an additional rate) to account for this expectation of higher losses.

dynodonn 

Hmmm.... if a 14 year old runs a stop sign and is cited, but they have no driver's license, no insurance.... does the parent's driving insurance rates go up?...I think not. I've yet to see a cyclist do anywhere the magnitude of personal injury or property damage that a motorist can do.

ricklp

In Ontario, all violations of the highway traffic act that appear on your record get classified by the insurance companies into levels of offences. Major, minor and Serious. They are assigned different insurance company values and can affect your rates. I have not heard any differentiation between automobiles and bikes. I decided to research this. I did not find much that unequivocally answered this. A call to an insurance company might work.

What prompted me to write though, is the idea that the bike courier breaking the law on his bike should not have his car rates go up because it is for work and he was in a hurry.

Insurance uses factors to paint a picture of a person so as to assess the risk of loss that person represents. Whether you disregard the rules in a car, or on a bike, does paint the picture that you are willing to break the rules.

That pizza delivery guy, taxi, ups driver, or any other time sensitive delivery person, who drives like a maniac for a living, and gets tickets to prove it presents the same risk as the bike courier.

That lead me to think, I wonder if there is a greater risk when one drives an essential service like fire truck, police, or ambulance, for a living and then drives as a civilian.

just some thoughts,

Rick

mr_bill

In Massachusetts the answer is a plain NO! Ya'll think maybe we think through this stuff? Read and learn.

-mr. bill

Coal Buster

You don't need a drivers license to receive a ticket while cycling but most people use DL's as ID's. If you used some other form of ID, the ticket could never be linked back to your auto driving record.

hurricane harry

I wondered about this myself, I usually carry my passport for this very reason.
In these times of IT it would also be very easy to link your name and state with a driver license however..

I-Like-To-Bike

Yes it would be easy; likely too if a LEO chose to actually write a ticket at least for an adult, since while a passport is validation of name and citizenship, it provides no information on residence or address to mail a summons. Doesn't mean the ticket will appear on a bicyclist's driving record.

mconlonx

Cyclists demanding to be treated the same as other road users.

I-Like-To-Bike

Any evidence that there is any constituency of cyclists advocating "mandatory safety education with some proof of completion needed by cyclists using the roads," other than perhaps a few cycling "educators" who hope to promote their own version of lawful competent cycling?

There may also be some haters of cyclists who would propose the same as you but would include licensing registration and any other unnecessary burden on cyclists for the purpose of eliminating cyclists from the road.

Without an identified group of voters who share your far out views on what constitutes cyclists being treated the same as other road users, how do you expect such a loopy bad proposal to politically help cyclists?

CB HI

With name and birthdate, a cop can have your drivers license and photo up on his car computer in 15 seconds.

Not to mention your vehicle, arrest and conviction records.

bmontgomery87

I haven't been ticketed yet, and I'm sure regulations vary by state, but if I'm pulled over for something I do on my bicycle I will NOT present my license to the officer, as I'm not obligated to. We aren't required to be licensed to ride so there is no connection between the two.

Coal Buster

How many forms of alternate ID contain your birthday?

Rollfast

If you have time left on a suspension or other infraction that affected your driving record and insurance when you stopped driving and returned your license then if you wish to resume driving those penalties could still be in effect and would run their remaining term following reinstatement. Wherther or not that means bicycle violations would be placed against that record might rely on if the violation is related to what you had on the driving record or just added to it.

I think the point of the question being asked by the OP had to do with whether bad cycling practices reflected on your reputation as a motor vehicle operator. Probably not but it's certainly there to be prejudicial.

Since this thread is fairly old I have no idea if the OP added their location after the jab or if perhaps it was missed by that commenter, however, I hope the respondant realized it wasn't a very good comment in tone and perhaps could have been asked outside the thread/in a better manner...as I said it's an old thread.

dougmc

The one that matters ... your head. He'll ask for your name and birthday, and then look up what you give him. If you lied, you're probably going to jail.

To show some sample law, here's the relevant law for Texas (other states have their own laws, but most are pretty similar to this) --

Sec. 38.02. FAILURE TO IDENTIFY. (a) A person commits an offense if he intentionally refuses to give his name, residence address, or date of birth to a peace officer who has lawfully arrested the person and requested the information.
(b) A person commits an offense if he intentionally gives a false or fictitious name, residence address, or date of birth to a peace officer who has:
(1) lawfully arrested the person;
(2) lawfully detained the person; or
(3) requested the information from a person that the peace officer has good cause to believe is a witness to a criminal offense.

And note that being given a ticket is an arrest for the purposes of this statute, and even if it wasn't ... in Texas at least, any citation will turn into a full fledged "let's go downtown" arrest if you can't/won't identify yourself to the officer's satisfaction. (You can do it verbally, but if you refuse or he thinks you're lying ... trip downtown.)

Texas doesn't require that you have ID on your person all the time ... but if the officer is trying to cite you for something, you're legally required to identify yourself, and that includes date of birth. And yes, he can look up your driver's license quite easily, if you have one. (If it's from Texas, anyways. Not sure about other states.)