Northeast - I got a ticket for running a stop sign...

Hello everybody, I'm a bicyclist from Brooklyn. What should I do? The ticket is $90. Should I pay it or should I go to court? FWIW the signs were obstucted by parked trucks on either side of the street, if that matters. Also the "stop" written on the ground before the intersection was pretty faded. I dont know if this matters to a judge.

If I contest and lose, how much extra will I have to pay?

If I do choose to contest, I will postpone once, I've heard that the officer is less likely to come to court if you postpone.

I'm unemployed and don't have money to pay this ticket!

If you got the time fight it. Take a picture of the intersection with the trucks obstructing the view so you can't see the stop sign. Pretty ridiculous they pulled you over on a bike - was this last Friday?

Fight it. You can probably get it thrown out or at least lessened. Follow Air's advice on taking a picture.

Did you get the ticket in Brooklyn? I can't imagine cops giving out tickets like that anywhere else? Was it a bike cop that gave it to you?

I'd say you have a good argument with the sign being blocked, but not with the road sign being faded, unless it was faded enough that you truly couldn't read it. But honestly, if this were a driver getting pulle dover for a stop sign, would we even be having this discussion?

Thanks for your replies. This happened in Brooklyn (Williamsburg) a couple weeks ago. It was a cop in one of those little motorized 3 wheel enclosed vehicles. I'm going to fight it. I'll let you know how it turns out.

True I wouldnt question the ticket if I were in a car. However, I've been biking in NYC for 20+ years, disobeyed pretty much every stop sign and run every red light in the city (in front of cops), this is the 1st ticket I've gotten.

Meanwhile a few days after I got the ticket my second bike got stolen from right in front of my building. Oh the irony...

"stop means stop" in a vb stance (at least appear to be stopping by slowing down and respecting cops on scooters!) here in snj there is little amount of bicyclists present, period. wrong way (contra-traffic flow) is common, appears that cops have better things to do...., no tickets are given that i see.
i vb, so no issue here either!
good luck with your case and try vb (vehicular bicycling) stance, see how it pays to have the law on your side.
t

good luck with your case and try vb (vehicular bicycling) stance, see how it pays to have the law on your side.
t
Hi I'm not sure I understand what you mean by try a vehicular bicyling stance? What is a vehicular bicycling stance?

So you approached an intersection on your bicycle and didn't stop because you didn't know you had to stop? Is that going to be your argument?

Oh please, give the guy a break. There are plenty of intersections in Brooklyn that you would walk through after a quick glance and not worry about 'jay walking.' Those tickets are really rare - I live near a major intersection where cops are positioned every day to make sure people don't block the intersection and see something illegal every light change that they don't do anything about.

If you really want to debate it have one of those great circular discussions in A&S.

If you really want to debate it have one of those great circular discussions in A&S.

Never really occurred to me there was anything to debate.

it seems we have a season for BS-tickets here in brooklyn. the new cops of the seasons are leaving the precincts for the first time writing tickets for the most redicolus things.

a visit at traffic court is a very new-yorky experience. chances are good your ticket will get thrown out. go for it.

a

Williamsburg? First they cut and take chained bikes. Now ticketing. What exactly is going on in Williamsburg?

Meanwhile a few days after I got the ticket my second bike got stolen from right in front of my building. Oh the irony...
Not to open up old wounds, but how did your bike get stolen? What kind of lock were you using? Thanks, and good luck fighting the ticket.

I'm hoping the cop wont show up. If he does, I'll go for the obstructed stop sign argument with photo evidence.

Not to open up old wounds, but how did your bike get stolen? What kind of lock were you using? Thanks, and good luck fighting the ticket.
Didn't lock the frame properly (meant to but my mistake) but did lock the front wheel, somehow the got the chain over the handlebars, probably removed them. Kryptonite ny chain remains. It was a really crappy bike so not a big loss but still a bummer. They'll probably get $10 if they try and sell it (missing 1 wheel). I'd like to ask them was it really worth it?

Didn't lock the frame properly (meant to but my mistake) but did lock the front wheel, somehow the got the chain over the handlebars, probably removed them. Kryptonite ny chain remains. It was a really crappy bike so not a big loss but still a bummer. They'll probably get $10 if they try and sell it (missing 1 wheel). I'd like to ask them was it really worth it?
That sucks. Thanks for the info.

it seems we have a season for BS-tickets here in brooklyn. the new cops of the seasons are leaving the precincts for the first time writing tickets for the most redicolus things.

a visit at traffic court is a very new-yorky experience. chances are good your ticket will get thrown out. go for it.

a
yeah I'm curious how this traffic court procedure works, for future reference as i'm sure i'll end up there again at some point. thats part of the reason i'm fighting it.

First of all I'd fight the ticket. Sounds like a traffic cop with nothing to do. Was it NYPD or a brownie traffic enforcement?

If he was in a 3 wheel Cushman type vehicle, how did they stop you let alone catch you? I don't believe those things have anything more than a red flashing light, they don't have a siren do they?

Thanks for your replies. This happened in Brooklyn (Williamsburg) a couple weeks ago. It was a cop in one of those little motorized 3 wheel enclosed vehicles. I'm going to fight it. I'll let you know how it turns out.

True I wouldnt question the ticket if I were in a car. However, I've been biking in NYC for 20+ years, disobeyed pretty much every stop sign and run every red light in the city (in front of cops), this is the 1st ticket I've gotten.

Meanwhile a few days after I got the ticket my second bike got stolen from right in front of my building. Oh the irony...

good luck with your fight. I am in a similar boat; got a sidewalk summons for rolling along one stretch in Queens where there are basically no pedestrians. The officer told me it was a "Zero Tolerance day". My irony was that once in Manhattan as usual, madness prevailed (from bikes, cars and peds). I guess it was a territory-specific zero tolerance day.....

Go to court and ask why the cop doesn't have naything better to do :)

NYPD. No sirens on his vehicle, he was honking at me from behind. I didn't even know it was a cop until I turned around. By then it was too late to jet.

Go to court and ask why the cop doesn't have naything better to do :)
Hopefully the cop will have something better to do on my court date and the case will be dismissed.

Good Luck. This sort of insanity is why I moved out. A doctor threw some of his junk mail in a garbage can and a week later recieved a summons for using a public receptacle for private trash. It's on the books but you have got to be kidding me!

Spitting, jaywalking, and all sorts of other behaviors will get you a ticket but who really enforces all these inane rules! There is no "quota" it is called productivity. Read that as money maker for the city which tries to make life difficult for cyclists at every turn! Just my .02 cents!

ah the inanity indeed......

Being a military policeman i would say fight it. If all the signs and street painting where either obstructed, missing, or faded you have the right to determine that the City was at fault for you by not properly marking the hazard.

Put a brake on that fixie!

I'd fight it, but
1) don't expect the cop not to show up. They get paid to do that.
2) have you ever found an intersection in New York that doesn't have at least a stop sign if not a light?

My advice: say you did stop. But you performed a track stand, which, to the untrained eye, is a magical maneuver that allows the cyclist to apparently halt motion — without ever placing a foot on the ground. It's easy to understand that those not familiar with this might have confused your transportational fermata with blowing off a stop sign.

Or move to Philadelphia.

Hopefully the cop will have something better to do on my court date and the case will be dismissed.

The chances of that are pretty slim. NYPD officers receive disciplinary action against them from within the department for failing to show up for traffic court. I'd go with the obstructed view of the sign if I were you.

Saw 2 different bikers getting tickets for running red lights last night. 'Tis the season to get written up. Keep an eye out.

I just blew through two blatant red lights, right in front of cops this week. I think my luck's about to run out.

Hello everybody, I'm a bicyclist from Brooklyn. What should I do? The ticket is $90. Should I pay it or should I go to court? FWIW the signs were obstucted by parked trucks on either side of the street, if that matters. Also the "stop" written on the ground before the intersection was pretty faded. I dont know if this matters to a judge.

Up until this point, I'm thinking he might have a valid case. Sure, it was written on the street and one of the first rules of cycling says you don't blindly enter a cross street (c.f., ``signs were obstucted [sic] by parked trucks]'').


If I contest and lose, how much extra will I have to pay?

You don't pay extra. You just pay the price on the ticket, or less if the judge sees fit to reduce the amount.


True I wouldnt question the ticket if I were in a car. However, I've been biking in NYC for 20+ years, disobeyed pretty much every stop sign and run every red light in the city (in front of cops), this is the 1st ticket I've gotten.

At this point, you pretty much lost me. You've been breaking the law for over twenty years and you just now got a ticket. Not only that, but you've been doing it knowingly, as you appear to have done this time, just that you were finally caught in the act.

I say go in and be honest. You did something wrong and (hopefully) now you know better. Also explain that you're out of money and just had a bike stolen. A lie in a court room is as easy to spot as a fart in an elevator.

Oh, and next time you come to a stop sign, follow the directions written on it.

Go to court and ask why the cop doesn't have naything better to do :)
It's not what you'd call an original legal defense!

Wow- $90 is a deal. Around here its a $333 fine

so i sent in the plea not guilty, then i changed my mind and went to the traffic violations bureau and paid it. #$%^ it its too little money to waste my time and effort. i dont know my schedule and i dont want to be forced to go to court when it's not convenient.

next time though we'll see...

Oh, and next time you come to a stop sign, follow the directions written on it.

not going to happen... unless there's a cop in view.

Wow- $90 is a deal. Around here its a $333 fine

thats insane

you do have to love a city though that cares less about underage drinking than it does about public urination. :)

kyle