Advocacy & Safety - Fight the Power (NYC and Everywhere)

A year ago, while working as an NYC messenger, I was issued six tickets (at once) by an irate cop. Everything from "Disobey Steady Red" to "Unsafe Lane Change" to "Nonreflective Clothing". You know, everything they can get you for. They do that. That time I pled Not Guilty and took it to court, hoping the cop wouldn't show. Well, he did, and the "fix-it" tickets (I was able to borrow a vest and bell for the day) were dropped, but the others held up and I had to pay $200 or something.
A few months ago, the more-or-less exact same thing happened, but this time I was moving out of town so I requested an "Affidavit in Lieu of Appearance". I filled out a sheet for each of the many tickets, complete with diagrams and a whole lot of "I therefore determined this to be a safe maneuver" stuff, and today I recieved a letter saying that ALL charges were dropped. Hell yeah!
This probably saved me a trip to court and about $300.
So... It's something to consider, if you've been a target of the NYPD's "ticket blitz", or if you're a messenger and that's ALWAYS an issue, OR if you're unfairly ticketed anyplace else!
Get creative. I'm sure an out-of-town buddy could forward your mail or something...

I was an airport shuttle driver in LA for five years and we had another tactic to fight the system. As commercial drivers we were always a priority target. Call in and ask for a delay of the hearing/trial. You could do that twice, good for a 3 to 5 month delay. Then a written request could get another delay. Only then show up, odds are better that the officer will not be there - case dismissed. Always got to court - Never just pay the fine even if they have you dead to rights. It keeps an officer hostile to bikes/shuttles off of the roads for a day :D

mmm bummer you cant do this for speeding tickets

mmm bummer you cant do this for speeding tickets

there is no reason you can't do this for speeding tickets. *always* contest a ticket, at the very least you should be able to get it reduced. In my personal experience i've had 2 tickets dropped due to cop no-show (one in NY one on PA) and two others reduced (both in NY). First, send in a return reciept request on the 'not guilty' plea and ask for a written affidavit from the cop. In NY they have 30 days from the time they recieve the paperwork to have it returned to you or you can try and get the whole thing dropped as taking too long (can't remember the exact bit, something about 'right to speedy trial'). Make sure everything in the cop's statement is 100%, if not you can use that in court to help you. Make sure after this that you show up for your court date. Either the cop or a local A.D.A. should be there to speak with before appearing before the judge or local magistrate. If neither one is there you should be good, since no one is there to contest your version of events. Assuming they are there it's much easier for them to work out a reduced agreement with you than actually appear before the judge. I once had two tickets for running a redlight and going the wrong way down a restricted one way street dropped to a single 'failure to obey', and a 95 in a 55 reduced to a 75 in a 55. Even if you come across a harda** cop that won't deal at least you've made him waste his time (or her, depending :)


*edit* of course, none of this may matter in Aussie land, sorry, didn't see where you were.

How about this? If you did something wrong, admit it and take your punishment like a grownup. if the cop was wrong, fight it as hard as you can.

Obeying the law, what a crazy concept.

How about this? If you did something wrong, admit it and take your punishment like a grownup. if the cop was wrong, fight it as hard as you can.

Or, you know, realize that you can make a bad situation at least a little bit better and do something about it. I'm not saying you shouldn't own up to doing something wrong, but failing to take advantage when you can is doing yourself a disservice.

Thank Critical Mass

Thank Critical Mass
No. CM did not cause the police behavior. The police are responsible fo their own behavior, just like the rest of us.

No. CM did not cause the police behavior. The police are responsible fo their own behavior, just like the rest of us.


:lol: :lol: :lol: : :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :lol: :lol: :lol:

You can always count on late, twahl, webist and a few others to dis critical mass, regardless of the situational context. OMG and WTF, this thread wasn't even about Critical Mass in the first place. :rolleyes:

You can always count on late, twahl, webist and a few others to dis critical mass, regardless of the situational context. OMG and WTF, this thread wasn't even about Critical Mass in the first place. :rolleyes:

Not sure why I was included here. I don't spend much time discussing CM since it isn't active locally. I suppose though that I would tend to look with disfavor on civil disobedience as an approach to engender people's regard for cyclists. I also think that I would do what I could to get out of or reduce the impact of a traffic citation issued to me. I'm not really sure though. I've never had one. :)

The context is that NY is cracking down on cyclists.
Not every piece in a ****storm comes from the same orifice.
But I've seen enough politics to know when I'm being shat on.

You can always count on late, twahl, webist and a few others to dis critical mass, regardless of the situational context. OMG and WTF, this thread wasn't even about Critical Mass in the first place. :rolleyes:

Once again you've proven you superior ability to miss the point. Why is the NYPD inclined to come down hard on cyclists? CM. In this specific instance, what exactly is the problem? A cyclist ignoring traffic law and being pissed off at being cited for it.

Have I ever fought a ticket? Yes, when I was not in the wrong. That was exactly once. The other times I quietly plead guilty and paid what the judge deemed appropriate.

Yeah, it has something to do with Critical Mass-- but not because the cops are protecting the world from unruly cyclists. I think it is semi-political. It was after the Republican National Convention Critical Mass that this has started. Maybe it is more the current city administration's attitude toward cyclists. Regardless, playing the blame game does little to solve the problem. I don't think people's attitude toward cyclists would change even if all Critical Masses were stopped all over the world. I'm not saying that it is cool when people who don't even ride their bikes except at Critical Mass go out of their way to block 3 lanes of traffic just for the hell of it. I'm just trying to point out that there is a bigger picture to look at.

It's true... The NYPD began cracking down hard on cyclists, individually and/or at CM, shortly before and long after the RNC. I heard of a few other reasons as well, but I don't want to be too reactionary. Point is, friends of mine were cited for such petty offences as riding outside of the (totally useless) bikelanes and pedal-pushing (standing right foot on left pedal, half-on-half-off bike, what do you call that?) for a few feet on an empty sidewalk. It's like the classic case of the kid in Harlem who was cited for "Improper Use of a Milkcrate" - completely out of control...
I too believe in riding safely and responsibly, but in a city with a few bigger fish to fry, it seems a little unjust for the cops to be ticketing alternative-transportation advocates (or messengers, or casual weekend riders, or whoever) so recklessly. Don't run anyone down for Pete's sake, but have fun and fight those f***in' tickets by any means necessary!

I predicted it some time ago. Not much of a prediction, more like
predicting the sun coming up in the morning.