Eire Mick

I brought this up a while back.....and here's what happened. I live in Hollywood, had my court date today, had to pay $436 up front before I could even schedule a trial date. $436!!!!! WTF? They must really need the money. So much for my Felt frame for my new build.

Moral of the story, don't run red lights on a bike.

CliftonGK1

Huh? If you're contesting a ticket, why would you have to pay anything before the court date? (Isn't that like serving time before you're sentenced?)

Eire Mick

That's what I said when I was there. They just said I have to pay, then I can schedule the date. Pretty weak if you ask me. And, in LA, metro court is a nightmare. It's like the DMV. So many people, all so pissed. Tons of fun for a Thursday.

SSBully

And the most lazy, worthless, unemployable, mouth-breather ****bags on the planet working for them! And they wonder why the state is bankrupt! Every state run agency in CA is filled with people like that. It goes well beyond the word inefficient to describe the whole mess there. I now live in NJ, but spent 31 miserable years in the Valley. I feel your pain man!

hanjin

It's a bond, you'll get most of it back. It's just so you show up and don't waste the courts time.

evotion

You pay the ticket before you go to court. That's the law. If you win, you get it back. If not, you lose it. Easy.

Phrenetis

I've never gotten a ticket, so I may have misunderstood some things, but I thought the whole reason for going to court to contest it was so that you didn't have to pay the ticket at all? I never heard of paying it before you have to go...

synapsemusic

i'm sorry to hear this

unfortunately any ticket for ANYTHING ends up being an epic pain in the ass.

Meepers

yup, like Hanjin said, it is a bond to make sure you show up at court. Basically so they don't waist court fees. i've had to do it twice. once i got pulled over because a cop tagged the car in front of me, and thought it was me because my car is white and the car he tagged was white. that sucked, like $350 i was out for over a month because a cop can't tell the difference between a tiny Scion xA and a god dang Cavalier.

jet sanchEz

About a year ago I made the conscious decision to stop running red lights. I figured that, statistically speaking, if I continued to run reds like I was, I would eventually get caught. I ride all the time, every day. So, sometimes it sucks but yeah, I am way better off this way. Safer too.

JiveTurkey

This happens all the time if someone is denied, or can't make, bail. The fact that the court can keep a person held before trial, holding someone's money isn't that outrageous.

PluperfectArson

I am so afraid of being caught running a red. I ran every single one tonight because I was going somewhere and did not feel like stopping. I always scan the intersection to make sure I am not in imminent danger, though, and I ran the red immediately after they changed to red.

Someone I know was just pulled over for running a red light on his bike, but he was let off with a warning.

elTwitcho

I got caught running a red on my bike and the cop was nice enough not to give me a ticket (I didn't *run* the red, I came to a stop, checked if it was clear and then pedalled through, so that might have had something to do with it) and since then I make a conscious effort to check for cops behind me, THEN check for cars and if it's all clear roll through.

AngryScientist 

hold on here. isn't the premise of our justice system in this country "innocent until proven guilty"?

sound like in CA traffic court you are definitely guilty until proven innocent, which actually sounds like it could be unconstitutional...

skinnyland

red light tickets on a bike... hilarious.

rarebird

Op, it seems like from your post that u ran the red light, why are you then going to court? it would be short for the judgewouldnt it? like, they'd say, "did you run the red light" and you'd be like, "Yes yeour honor but.." BANG GAVEL game over?

iansmash

lol great thread.

Doohickie

The money paid is just a bond that's been posted. As was said earlier, if found not guilty, most or all of it comes back.

skinnyland

off-chance that the cop might not show and he gets let off?

still hilarious that there are places where you get tickets on your bike.

lattanzio

how did you run the light? just blew right through it? did you see the cop?

fuggers

This is quite an injustice, especially to the very poor. While I would definitely agree that if you can't afford the ticket don't run the light, this system is discriminatory.

"You don't have the money, oh, your voice can't be heard in court then. Say hello to a warrant."

iansmash

The lesson to be learned here is that maybe poor people should try extra hard not to do illegal things

pacificaslim

If you don't have the money, then you have to show up in court before the date required on the ticket and work it out. They aren't going to throw you in jail or let your kids go hungry!

skeletor3000

The eternal question: don't cops have anything better to do? I mean, assuming you weren't running it through a bunch of traffic and potentially causing an accident.

Every time I need the cops, they're useless. Yesterday a friend of mine got jumped (not very bad, mostly a sore face and a black eye) and then we saw the guys who did it at the park by his house an hour later. The police said they'd make it out "when they could." We waited at a distance while the d-bags played frisbee there for almost another hour and no cop ever showed up.

buck65

on a side note, this statement is so true.