Wrong angle:

[...] to prevent a 200lbs cyclist doing 13 mph on a 26 lbs bike from barreling into a 40lbs kid or baby stroller...

Haha, for a cynic you don't make a convincing case to plead guilty.

You are recommending that the OP, who has already admitted fault, avoid personal responsibility for his/her actions. The OP's premiums should go up, as the OP has been engaging in risky behavior. If the OP learns from this experience and corrects his/her bad traffic habits, his/her premiums will go back down over time in reflection of this. By sidestepping the personal feedback part of the system (paying the ticket, paying an elevated insurance rate for a small period of time), the OP is less likely learn to stop riding recklessly and/or antagonistically, and weakens the system as a whole. As we all (all motorists, anyway) pay into the same system, it is within all of our interests that the OP accept an increased rate until the OP can prove that s/he can negotiate traffic responsibly.

In my personal experience, an increase in insurance rates after a traffic violation is good thing for the driver. I used to be a terrible motorist, always speeding and driving aggressively. I was young and selfish, and didn't give much thought of my duty to other users of the public roadway, or of the consequences of my actions. In my first four years of driving, I got tickets from time to time, but didn't give it much thought until my last speeding ticket. Suddenly I was with 2 points of losing my driver's license, and my insurance rate went from $190/month up to $240/month. It was only the astronomical increase in my insurance rate after my last speeding ticket that finally got me to slow down and drive nicely for a while. Then, as I grew older, I began to view operating a vehicle in the light of public duty and personal responsibility. It's been 11 years since my last ticket, and I don't think that I would be the driver I am today if I had been able to weasel out my tickets.

Should I mention that I got the violation on a bike and not a car? I think the mentality while biking and driving are on two totally different ends of the spectrum. If I got this violation while in a car I would agree with everything you said.

You can always ask the officer which make of car you were driving if it wasn't noted you were on a bicycle.

sorry, you're not going to get much if any sympathy from this crowd.
where in Brooklyn was this? I was riding in Manhattan this past Saturday, you know 9/11 and yeah I was going through red lights with a cop car right next to me, sure I stopped, make sure the area was clear and rode through. it was pretty hectic downtown, the cops and the traffic cops just want to keep the people and the traffic moving.
and, I rode salmon, too. only once did a cop look and it was a plainclothes cop in a non marked car when I was about to ride off and he was coming through, he gave me a look.
so what, I'm going to jinx myself now, won't be the first, won't be the last. there's other things to worry about.
like watching out for opening car doors, you know the one that killed a young cyclist on Atlantic Ave.

Anyone who rides salmon has a death wish.

This was near downtown brooklyn on the dekalb bike lane.

Particularly if they ride against me, Corredor de la muerte:

Sounds like a pretty myopic law... :rolleyes:

Now raise your hand if you dart forward the instant the light turns green, without waiting for that car 1/4 of the way though the intersection to clear it first? Think your bus driver is raising her hand?

If a cop tried to give me a ticket while I was riding my kayak, I'd make him walk the plank.

And that is an excellent example of your problem. They are both vehicles and need to be operated as such. You broke the law, got caught, and will suffer the consequences...

Traffic is traffic. Learn to play nice or suffer the consequences.

And that's what makes you an idiot. If you expect to be able to use the same roads, you have to accept that the consequences of breaking the rules of said roads are the same regardless of how much horsepower your vehicle has.

Go to court and ask for some mercy. There's a good chance they will call the ticket a parking violation or something so that it doesn't affect your driver's permit and don't run red lights in the future. I've had more close calls as a pedestrian in the city with cyclists blowing through lights then I've had with cars.

Yeah, I know-- the tickets always come to me.... :/

I'll go against the flow here and say that bikes and cars are different. Bikes aren't allowed on the highways, bikes aren't allowed to ride in the center of the lane if there's space on the shoulder, and bicyclists don't need driver's licenses. Personally, I don't think it's fair that an infraction while cycling counts against one's driving record, but the law is what it is. I try to stay out of trouble in any case, but I don't agree that cycling and driving are equal.

Are we sure that an infraction while cycling counts against one's driving record? What if the cyclist doesn't drive? It would be hard to put points on the license of someone who didn't own one. So that would set up an inherently unfair bias in the law towards non-drivers. Doesn't the Constitution have something to say about laws applying equally to all?

Only by licensed operators who check the workings of the brake lights and turn signals before each ride, and maintain liability insurance? :rolleyes:

When did the OP say he expects to be able to ride his bicycle on I-95? :twitchy:

If you didn't see the cop, you weren't watching well enough to run the light safely.

i once got a speeding ticket for my boat trailer. handed the officer my trailer registration instead of the car's and he didn't notice.

Bike tickets go on the driving record in New York? That's crazy. Here in California they don't have anything to do with driving. (other than sometimes the fine amount is the same).

I didn't say that cars and bikes are the same, I said the consequences of breaking the rules are the same. Some rules are different for bikes, but not a lot, and there are good reasons why the same rules generally apply, and also (usually) good reasons for the few that are different. And, quite rightly, there are consequences to breaking the rules whether they are the generally applicable road rules, or those specific to bikes.

And many of your examples are jurisdiction specific. I can ride on the highway and in the center of the lane. Riding in the centre of the lane on the highway is, however, a bad idea. Happily, bikes are allowed to ride on the shoulder, which works very well for me.

He didn't. However, he clearly expects to be able to ride on a surface road with traffic lights, but doesn't feel the rules of that road - namely stopping at the traffic lights - apply to him.

Whether the OP or not, I'm sure there's some BF poster out there who has asserted a right to ride on the I-95. (And while I support following the rules as they currently exist, I would definitely support a movement to change such a bad rule like banning bikes from highways.)

+5 !!!

I did see the cop, but I've ran red lights with cops behind me before and nothing happened.