So, today I got the second red-light ticket of the year. I do a regular 20 mile commute through Atlanta, with a host of stop signs and traffic lights. Today, I approached a T intersection, where I'm at the top of the T going straight, in the bike lane, but with cars stacked up in the traffic lane. I always slow here, and if there's no traffic in the lane, I roll through. Turns out, one of Atlanta's finest was in the stack of cars so a block later he pulls me over and gives me the ticket.

For the record, I don't' 'blow through' intersections, I always yield to cars that get to 4 way stops before me (nodding to them to go), but I also try to stay out of tight traffic and sometimes going through a red keeps me out of the tightest traffic.

In GA, violations on a bike adhere to the same fine schedule as for cars. I ran a red light, so with surcharges and taxes, that's $250.

Yeah, I ran the red light. I get that, guilty. But $250? My first ticket was for stopping (putting foot down), and then proceeding through a red light that does not change for bikes.

So, $500 so far for the year, two violations. I think I need a more expensive bike because that's now matches how much i spent on the bike and it seems like I should ride a bike that costs more than the year's violations...