Originally Posted by bluegirl
i don't understand how the cops can rightfully arrest someone and seize his/her bike for a traffic violation.
Apparently they aren't arresting cyclists for traffic code violations. They are arresting cyclists for violation of the parade permit requirement.
This is what I think the police have backward. They should be ticketing all the cyclists who violate the traffic laws, not arresting those who happen to be bicycling in groups. The police think they are enforcing the parade permit requirement effectively, but they aren't, because it is impossible to determine reliably if an individual cyclist intended to be part of a parade or not - a bicycle alone does not demonstrate intent the way a white hood, strike sign, or flowered float does. And in my opinion, only the organizers of an unpermitted parade should be fined for failure to obtain a permit. The traffic law is what should be applied to the individual participants - and by traffic law I mean obedience of red lights and other rules of the road that cyclists can easily obey while riding in a group.
The only arrests I've heard of for traffic violations are where cyclists would not identify themselves or were otherwise uncooperative with the officer giving the citation, preventing the citation from being served.