Originally Posted by
bluefoxicy
This.
Cars can't legally run stop signs, and cars get ticketed for illegally running stop signs.
Don't tell me it doesn't matter that you're on a bike, and that the law that says you can't run a stop sign is stupid, and so you're going to do it anyway, and you shouldn't be ticketed for it. You are going to pay the fine. They can't take your license away for it, but you can go ahead and make the city rich if you like.
To apply the same penalty to cyclists and drivers is asinine. Driver runs a red, hits cyclist, cyclist dies. Cyclist runs a red, hits car, cyclist dies. Can you see a pattern there? ...to equate a cyclist running a red with a driver running a red is like equating someone assaulting you by tapping you with a feather with someone beating you almost to death with a baseball bat. Both an assault, yes, but deserving of the exact same penalty? No.