Living Car Free - If I'm caught speeding...

I went car free in June and have absolutely loved every second of it since. Unfortunately, right before I joined the CF party I got a speeding ticket. So I'm going to traffic school just so the points don't get reported to the DMV. But my question is this: if I get caught for a moving violation on my bike like rolling through a stop sign, a rolling right turn on red (got a warning for this once), or speeding... would that bike ticket get reported to the DMV and add points to my license? Or is it just a fine?

It is the department of MOTOR VEHICLES after all.

anyone know the answer?

I got pulled over for speeding in Virginia but grovelled and didn't get a ticket. After the cop left I was immediately sorry for my politeness, a 35 mph ticket in a 25mph zone would've made a great bragging point to my speedster friends.

The easiest way to deal with this is to go to Mexico, and become a Mexican citizen. Then sneak back into the US.

Now you can't get a ticket for anything...

Az

I went car free in June and have absolutely loved every second of it since. Unfortunately, right before I joined the CF party I got a speeding ticket. So I'm going to traffic school just so the points don't get reported to the DMV. But my question is this: if I get caught for a moving violation on my bike like rolling through a stop sign, a rolling right turn on red (got a warning for this once), or speeding... would that bike ticket get reported to the DMV and add points to my license? Or is it just a fine?

It is the department of MOTOR VEHICLES after all.

anyone know the answer?
You still have to follow applicable motor vehicle laws, and speed limits is one of them.

http://www.rockhillbikes.com/arizona-woman-charged-with-going-68-in-a-45-zone-on-her-bike

If you don't have a license to revoke, I guess it'd just be a fine.
~

I got pulled over for speeding in Virginia but grovelled and didn't get a ticket. After the cop left I was immediately sorry for my politeness, a 35 mph ticket in a 25mph zone would've made a great bragging point to my speedster friends.

Damn, I'd have that ticket mounted and framed. :lol:

I went car free in June and have absolutely loved every second of it since. Unfortunately, right before I joined the CF party I got a speeding ticket. So I'm going to traffic school just so the points don't get reported to the DMV. But my question is this: if I get caught for a moving violation on my bike like rolling through a stop sign, a rolling right turn on red (got a warning for this once), or speeding... would that bike ticket get reported to the DMV and add points to my license? Or is it just a fine?

It is the department of MOTOR VEHICLES after all.

anyone know the answer?

Depends on your state. Here in WI, it doesn't seem to be a standard thing for a moving violation on a bike to go on your license. In other states, the rules are different. Your best bet is to check with local bike advocacy groups. They're often very helpful.

Just on general principles, I do stick to the law as much as possible. A driver may not care one way or the other if I roll a stop sign or do a right turn on red (a lot of them will be upset enough that I exist that no amount of legal will please them)... but a pedestrian sure as hell *will* care. And an awful lot of the most annoying laws are meant to protect pedestrians (which often means *me* as a car free person).

As far as speeding on a bike goes... I avoid it. A lot of drivers have an instinctive belief that bikes are slow, and that they must pass any bike they see. In a lot of situations where a bike can break the speed limit, these beliefs are very dangerous for the driver, the cyclist and anyone else with the misfortune to be in the area. (blind passes going downhill anyone?) And now that I'm in a state that believes that the laws of physics are optional, I have far too many stop signs and stop lights at the bottom of hills. Not a fun time on a bike.

I bend the speed limit on a hill that I descend in the morning-it is a 30mph that, if I press, I can do 38 on. Normally, I do 30-33, since the roll out at the bottom takes me almost to the next stop sign. Funnily enough, there was a speedtrap set up there on the way home. On the way up, my speed is more like 9-12mph, so no worries there!

I went car free in June and have absolutely loved every second of it since. Unfortunately, right before I joined the CF party I got a speeding ticket. So I'm going to traffic school just so the points don't get reported to the DMV. But my question is this: if I get caught for a moving violation on my bike like rolling through a stop sign, a rolling right turn on red (got a warning for this once), or speeding... would that bike ticket get reported to the DMV and add points to my license? Or is it just a fine?

It is the department of MOTOR VEHICLES after all.

anyone know the answer?
I think you should ask this in your regional forum, as it depends on the state.

I think you should ask this in your regional forum, as it depends on the state.

That's a good idea. Thanks.

In NC...yes if you get any type of moving violation ticket it will go on your DL if you have one...probably explains why there are so many mopeds around...:innocent:(no license required)

Aaron:)

Here in Utah the law says, you break the law on the road on a bicycle you just as well be driving a car, it's the same, difference is here, Points on the old drivers license can hurt employment status.
Our speed limits are too high here to break on a bike, all the cars are going 40 in school zones anyway.

I went car free in June and have absolutely loved every second of it since. Unfortunately, right before I joined the CF party I got a speeding ticket. So I'm going to traffic school just so the points don't get reported to the DMV. But my question is this: if I get caught for a moving violation on my bike like rolling through a stop sign, a rolling right turn on red (got a warning for this once), or speeding... would that bike ticket get reported to the DMV and add points to my license? Or is it just a fine?

It is the department of MOTOR VEHICLES after all.

anyone know the answer?

this might be a little late in the party, but you have an excellent resource right now to find out, your traffic school instructor. they're paid to know the traffic laws, so should know if you get points for speeding on a bike in your state. however, given most bikes comfort speed is ~20 mph and the limits are usually 35, speeding won't be much of an issue :lol: Also look at the laws, some states give bikes the beholden right to treat stoplights as signs and stop signs as yields (cf my own state, Idaho)