Originally Posted by
Digital_Cowboy
And how long before people call for pedestrians/joggers/roller bladers/skateboarders to have to register, as they also just dart out into traffic, run into each other and cause "accidents."
As for the fines, aren't they a little steep for the risk? I say increase the sidewalk riding fine to $50.00 for the first offense and increasing for each offense just like with cars. And increase the fine for headphones from $3.00 to $10.00 for the first offense again increasing for each subsequent offense. But jumping them up to $300.00 isn't going to serve anyone but the city coffers.
The last sentence in the quote says it all!
There are state laws that regulate bicycling. But if the city police cite someone under the state law the state gets most of the fine, not the city. But if they are cited under a city ordinance the city gets to keep all of the fine money. Then tack on the other fees they add to such citations and the city gets even more money.
Reading, PA just went under Pennsylvania's Act 47 where the state steps into a city going broke. The mayor of Philly spoke recently on how these cities are going broke because an increasing portion of the city's population is falling into poverty. So now they are looking at ways to make a lesser number of citizens cough up more money. Reading has been increasing the fines for violations of various city ordinances as a way of raising more monies.