Fighting red light ticket in Austin

[MDfive21]

You're gonna get an attorney to fight a bike ticket? You think he will provide his services for free?? Seems like a "no-win" situation, esp since the OP admitted he ran the light! Looks like a couple hundred $$ down the drain to me..... You do the crime, you should pay the fine...that's what's wrong with our legal system, among other things. Fight a ticket because you can.....geez....

obviously you enjoy wasting money. sprecher charges $100 per violation.. saved me a ton of cash on some forgotten tickets a while back. we don't agree that the system is there to be played and beaten, and that's fine. maybe my checkered past has something to do with that

also, a moving violation is a moving violation whether you're in a bike or a car. there's no separate legal system for bikes. we're vehicles too (mostly).

An attorney can often get a traffic ticket simply dismissed on a procedural issue -- you'll never even go to court. It generally costs about as much as the traffic ticket itself, and success isn't guaranteed, but under certain circumstances it makes good sense to fight even minor traffic tickets like this (such as when it'll make your auto insurance go up, you have a commercial driver's license or you're in danger of losing your driver's license.)

exactly. even if it cost more to fight it i probably would just to keep things off my record.

[dougmc]

also, a moving violation is a moving violation whether you're in a bike or a car. there's no separate legal system for bikes. we're vehicles too (mostly).

True, but there's some question about whether bicycle violations should cause you to get points on your license.

For example, the City of Austin has waffled on this question. They used to assign points for bicycle violations, then they said they shouldn't, then they said they should again. But I've looked into it a bit, and if I recall correctly the laws regarding points specifically did say "motor vehicle" (or to be more precise, the law said that it was set by policy by DPS, and DPS's relevant policy specifically said "motor vehicle" ... I forget the specifics.) The question certainly is up for debate, and if the City of Austin did assign you points for a violation on a bicycle, you could investigate that and possibly sue to correct it. It would probably cost way more than it would be worth in most situations, but the option might be there.

[dstrong]

Where'd the OP go? Maybe he's in the slammer!

[c3hamby]

Well, I'll put up with a little hassle. He has no reason to search my stuff, so I'm not going to agree.

In general, speed limits don't apply in parking lots at all -- they're not roads, they're private property. Yes, 29 is too fast for a parking lot, but in general I don't think a cop could give you a ticket for it and expect it to stick.
(Of course, some laws do apply even to parking lots. DWI usually does, for example.)

This is rather full of hillarity. There is no speed limit in a parking lot? So I could go 100 mph in a parking lot, and no body could say nothing???

[dougmc]

This is rather full of hillarity. There is no speed limit in a parking lot? So I could go 100 mph in a parking lot, and no body could say nothing???

In general the police will not give you a ticket for speeding, as the speeding laws generally apply to roadways and not parking lots. (If the parking lot was owned by the government they might be able to find something to charge you with -- it would depend on the specific laws.)

Some laws apply to driving anywhere in public -- so DWI or reckless driving might be options. Again, it would depend on the specific laws.

The owner of the property could certainly order you off the property, and if you failed to leave, you'd be guilty of trespassing.

Of course, if you're going to decide that speed limits apply everywhere and not just on the roads (and the maximum speed limit in this country is around 85 mph) and you're in law enforcement -- then you should take your radar gun down to the local NASCAR track -- you'd make a fortune! (Assuming that the law agrees with you, of course.)