Bikeforumuser0017

You could've said to the officer. "My legs are brakes." "Are you going to ticket every skateboarder without brakes?"

solipsist716

That's not how things work though. I could've put buttermilk and Cheerios in a frying pan, but the end product wouldn't be a *****in breakfast burrito.

stryper

If you go to court and can't get it expunged just for fixing it by adding a brake, make a little 20 second cell phone video of you skidding your rear wheel on dry level pavement using your legs. If you want to get extra points, show a cruiser stopping with a coaster brake, then show you doing it, from the same speed, in less distance. It is 100% viable evidence that shows your drivetrain itself is a brake which meets the law. Maybe you'll still have to pay because judges can be dicks, but it would only take 10 minutes and could save you $210

Jared.

I'm somewhat surprised that this isn't more of a thing, or that it hasn't been made widely known in the fixed gear community. Surely someone has successfully fought a ticket in this manner at some point.

TejanoTrackie 

Surely not.

Scrodzilla

People do it all the time. From everything I've read, it hasn't worked one single time.

europa

I confess that I'm having trouble understanding the problem. The law says 'thou shalt have brakes'. You chose not to and got caught. Fit the damned things then get it sorted out with the legal system. If you choose to take the brakes off again and get caught again, just do the same. The cost is irrelevant - you chose to break the law so you can pay the price. You don't have to be happy about it but please, live with your choices.

Scrodzilla

This.

Wendell F

I'm gonna get hammered then make a video of myself driving safely. That'll get rid of that DUI!

EnzoRWD

^ well said

SpeshulEd 

I lol'd.

rms13

Yes, but we are arrogant Americans over here. Kids grow up these days thinking there shouldn't be any consequences to their actions. (man I feel old now)

stryper

That's stupid and not the point. The law doesn't say you have to be able to drive safely while intoxicated, it says you can't drive while intoxicated. In this case the law says you need to be able to skid your rear wheel on dry level pavement. If you do that by squeezing your fingers against a lever cool, if OP wants to do it by tensing up his legs against the cranks, why not cool? This is what lawyers do every day, not sure why people are acting surprised or against the idea of a video IF a just adding a brake lever and calipers won't get the ticket written off. I'd spend 10 minutes to make a video that has the potential of saving me $210 or whatever it was.

And for the record, I have heard of the video working once before, which was why I suggested it.

JeremyLC

Well… to be pedantic

21201. (a) No person shall operate a bicycle on a roadway unless it is equipped with a brake which will enable the operator to make one braked wheel skid on dry, level, clean pavement.

Your legs on the cranks are not a brake. You may still be able to stop, but you are also riding without a brake. Like Europa said, you have to suck it up and either put a brake on, or pay the fine when you get caught.

(I don't care whether you have a brake or not, just don't run into me and you can do whatever you want)

Jared.

But...

brake
/brāk/
Noun

A device for slowing or stopping a moving vehicle, typically by applying pressure to the wheels.


Not all brakes apply pressure to the wheels. Large trucks (tractor trailers, dump trucks, etc) usually have an engine brake. The definition can be interpreted in a few ways. The law should simply be clarified stated a mechanical brake is needed. Just seems that the wording of the law posted is ambiguous and can potentially be argued.

We don't allow large trucks to simply use their engine brakes, and that is similar to riding a fixed gear, you are slowing the drive train which then slows the vehicle, so it just seems like the law needs to be adjusted.

Nagrom_

But...

de·vice
diˈvīs/
noun

• 1.
  a thing made or adapted for a particular purpose, esp. a piece of mechanical or electronic equipment.

Are you guys really ****ing arguing this? Get a brake, or pay the ticket. No one gives a **** how cool your sweet whip skids are.
Oh, and those large trucks, sure, they can slow by down shifting, but uh... don't they also have a set of ****ing brakes?


Ten years into the fixed gear craze and we're still arguing about brakes.

Scrodzilla

Oh, this.

Jared.

I'm not arguing about brakes. OP got the ticket he/she deserved. Wording of the particular law posted just seems ambiguous, or at the very least arguable.

KillerStephen

Slightly different, but I got a ticket for a cracked windshield here in Vegas. Long story short, I appeared for my date not knowing why I even had a date... Went to the window they asked if I got it fixed, I said yes, they said I have till the end of the day then to go to any officer show them the vehicle with the repair, and they sign the ticket, bring it back to the window and Im all set.

I couldve gotten it signed off and dismissed at any time before my scheduled court date by following those steps, I had no idea though.

This sounds the same to me. Just go to a police station with your bike or to any random officer. They should be able to sign off on it, then take the ticket to a clerk window and it should be dismissed right then.

Hope that helps at all.

Muffin Man

I think brakes look cool.