In before the move to advocacy and safety:

UC Berkeley freshman Devin Shoop got a $220 ticket in September. His crime: locking his bicycle to a railing instead of a bike rack.

He got another ticket two weeks later: $220 for rolling his bike through a stop sign instead of fully stopping. Now he has to go to traffic school to keep a moving violation off his driver's license.


Read more: https://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...#ixzz181Xz8JtN

https://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...BAV51GL1PU.DTL

For your consideration.

I don't know about the handrail, but the traffic school bit is not true... moving violations on your bike don't go on your record as points against your license. Now it could be that this particular judge is mistaken about the law.

I received a ticket for running a stop sign and the fine was $340 - it did not go on my license and the officer never even asked to see my license.

This article so far has drawn something like 350 comments on the web site, the vast majority being negative/hostile to bikes. I wouldn't take note of that in my redneck of the woods, but it seemed odd coming out of the Bay area. On a political web-site the motive for this was that CA is almost bankrupt and needs the money. I think they'd have to fine a whole lot of cyclists before it put a dent in their budget shortfall.

Don't know about the handrail, but stop means stop.

Ouch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I read the article and thought of the irony of law enforcement on students on bicycles at Berkeley ground zero of liberal thinking.

That'l learn ya.

Bikes are a problem on many campuses. So are students. <G>

"UC police said they were sympathetic to the situation and are looking into less costly ways of enforcing bike rules."
That would be reasonable.

He should have been able to get out of the parking violation if they cited him under CVC21113 as stated. That section specifically prohibits leaving vehicles or animals unattended on public property. But under California law a bicycle is specifically *not* a vehicle and therefore doesn't fall under the provisions of this section. Under the CVC, bicyclists do have the 'rights and responsibilities' of vehicle operators when operating on public highways, but that wouldn't make 21113 apply to a bicycle since it was not being operated on a public highway while locked to a handrail.

Wait. How can you be in before the move when you start the thread?

One thing I just loved about riding last June in LA (and something I also noticed in my old stompin' grounds in Berkeley/Oakland/SF) was that cars come to a complete stop at stop signs! They must actually enforce stop signs in CA. I really wish they'd do that here in British Columbia. Drivers in Vancouver - even bus drivers - roll thru stop signs. I've seen some cars just blow right thru them.

Most bike riders I see around Vancouver also ignore stop signs; I tried to get the advocacy groups interested in setting a better example, but they seem to be more interested in just getting more people out on bikes, even if they run stop signs. I am usually disappointed by these guys, most of whom are Critical M*******s...

L.

And nobody thinks the students need to obey the traffic laws on campus?

I think the fines are outrageous and punitive. The cops ought to be educating and waiving the 1st offense.

I did not read the comments to the article; previous experience prevailed (some chestnut about wrestling with a pig...).

Back when U.C. Davis (the old University Farm, 60 miles up the road from Berkeley) had more bikes coming to campus than could be accommodated near the classrooms, the campus cops would just impound the illegally parked bikes. The only "fine" for first time offenders was that they had to pay for a bike license (technically required to park a bike on campus). It was something like $15, which was a lot when quarterly fees were only $275 and most students worked part-time jobs to pay all their college expenses.