veganbikes

You do not need to carry identification in many places and you are not required to show it in many places. You should always check in your area and know your rights. https://www.nlg.org/know-your-rights/ and https://www.aclu.org/know-your-right...ped-by-police/

I recommend saying this phrase and pretty much only this phrase if you ever encounter police "Am I free to go" and if the answer is no then ask "Am I being detained" and if the answer is no then go back to the first question. If the answer is yes then remain silent but be clear about it "I am using my right to remain silent and I wish to speak to a lawyer of my choosing"

No need to say anything else or interact with them further. You are more than welcome to film them and encouraged to do so but it can be a good idea to make it clear if you are filming other people (not police). Filming police is not illegal and they will lie to you to get you to stop filming but it is best you don't and even better if you can upload the video directly to the "cloud" or some place they cannot get at it and delete easily (if you can) however they do generally need a warrant based on probable cause to search and delete stuff from your phone and you should never give them any passwords or ways into the phone or other device. Here is more info: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/0...-record-police

devianb

I try to abide by the traffic laws, but the few times I do disregard them there just happens to be a police officer in the vicinity. No action has ever been taken upon me.

canklecat

Yeah, twice.

Once in San Diego in the 1970s or '80s for rolling left through a red light before dawn with zero traffic around (other than the cop behind me), because that light never changed for bicycles. Just a warning. I changed my route to work because there was no way to get through that intersection on a bicycle.

And again about a year ago for a slow rolling right turn at a four-way stop sign intersection with the stop on an incline. I always slow, check around every direction, and roll right before I lose momentum on the hill.

Zero traffic, other than the cop behind me (who had been shadowing me for a mile, although I didn't realize it until I reviewed my video later). I rolled right at about 3-5 mph.

The cop did exactly the same thing to catch up and ticket me -- my rear facing video showed him accelerate and roll through the stop sign faster than I had.

My attorney was useless. Cost me about $350. Although I must say that's the only time I was disappointed by an attorney for a traffic allegation. But this attorney didn't even make an effort or review my video. They just immediately settled for a 90 day probation period without any additional violations, then expunged it from my record.

Now I full stop at every intersection on that route, even if it slows down traffic in every direction. PITA on that incline because if I bobble my track stand I have to unclip and hope I'm in my easiest gear so I can one-foot pedal while clipping in again.

And I see a lot more cars blowing through intersections and passing school buses illegally along that same route. But, hey, those cyclists are scofflaws.

And I run video every ride, especially since getting hit by a car a couple of years ago. Usually front and rear, sometimes just on my helmet. The weight isn't a big deal, but finding suitable mounts for every camera can be a hassle with some bike designs.

jsdavis

Kinda sorta... Suspect some busy body called the cops on us, group of about six. Three cops with emergency lights illuminated escorted us off the freeway. Two cop pulled up along side and one behind. One followed us for maybe 1/2 mile after we got off the freeway. I was the at the front because I was the only one that knew the route. It looked like the cop tried to say something to me with the window rolled down, but freeway was too noisy so I could not hear anything. Two cops on the side went straight as I took the exit as required. The one behind followed us for a bit.

jpescatore

There is absolutely no requirement to carry any identification on you in the US. Where I ride, MD, DC, VA and PA do not even have "stop and identify" laws, but even in states that do you can just state your name.

That said, in my saddle bag I do have an expired driver's license in case of an accident - but there really wasn't much in it for me to show it!

Troul 

I interpret different, but it only impacts me since I don't ask others for proof out in public. Life might just be .01% easier for me to carry the I.D. rather than argue or explain my whereabouts to someone publicly serving for our safety. More positive reasons for me to personally carry my ID than not to carry it, IE: Organ donor, resuscitation permissions, entering a place that may require legal age proof.

Notso_fastLane

Thanks, this got me to look up UT's code:
So I guess if I'm ever stopped and asked for identification, the first question I will ask is what crime I am suspected of committing. If they say 'none', I'm free to go.

Cops hate people that know the law better than them, but like they say, "ignorance is no excuse".

subgrade

Twice. The first time was a trap on a regional road where the police stopped every vehicle and did the quick breathalyzer test - I was no exception. No problems.
The second time wasn't technically a pull-over; a police van stopped beside me at a traffic light and gave me a warning for running the previous traffic light (right turn onto the sidewalk, to bypass a cobbled carrriageway; I didn't really enter the intersection, however I made my turn some 2 meters past the light).

bblair

I see police on bikes blow through stop signs and traffic lights all the time. Once it even pissed me off enough to write to them...fellow cyclist, set a good example..all that crap. Never even got an automated reply.

macd55

Blew through a stop sign right in front of a motorcycle cop. There were too many cars coming to the intersection at once and I should have slowed down a little bit more and put a foot down but didn't want to unclip. On top of that I was using headphones and I couldn't hear his horn to pull over. That was the last time I used headphones. He was real nice and told me to be more careful.

rsbob 

Washington state adopted a new law this month, modeled on one in Idaho, allowing cyclists to treat stop signs as a Yield. I don’t blow thru stops but slow almost to a stop, unless there are no cars around, just so I don’t piss off uninformed motorists who already hate cyclists.

locolobo13 

Got pulled over once for blowing thru a Stop sign.

Got a ticket without being pulled over for riding at night without lights.

calamarichris

Your wife is living my dream. I've exceeded the speed limit dozens, perhaps hundreds of times on my bicycle with the specific hope of getting a violation I could transfer immediately to the internet, T-****s, billboards, and my tombstone.


Best so far is blitzing red lights in the sleepy agri-suburban Dutch town of Brunssum, the Netherlands one morning. The roads were deserted, and I was trying to get to Schoenveld to ride with my mates. Ran through one red light and heard the blip of the siren. Ran the second second red light and heard the siren go full-on. Sprinted, ran the third red light, rode down a flight of stone stairs, through the winkelcentrum (old-school outdoor mall) and darted to the right down a narrow walkway... and heard yet another blip of the siren. Son of a ***** cop was on a BMW motorcycle, recklessly endangering lives by continuing the chase.

"Niet stoppen voor rood lichten." was my charge. Cost me 40 guilders (about 25 bucks).


I would pay one thousand times that penalty to be living happily in the Netherlands right now. Another time, I drove my fellow 19 year old Americans to a Dutch bar to get drunk; and when we were walking home,this idiot Bill (Carty) decides he's going to take the [stop] sign to hang on his barracks room wall. (We all had our own barracks rooms then, which was truly a luxury after that stinking $#it#0l3, Fort Hood, ) We three are trying to coax Bill (Carty) down from the pole, when 3 snickering koninglijk marchausee (queen's officers) stroll out from their headquarterrs (about 25 paces from where Bill's stop sign was, and ask us, "Do you think, we're blind?" Bill spent a night in the drunk tank, but because the rest of us were obviously trying to talk him back from the ledge, they let us go with a (snickering) warning.


Regrettably, I've been that drunk a few times since. Holland is a wonderful place to be drunk. Also one of the best places in the world to ride bicycles.

Arthur Peabody

In '97 an LAPD ticketed me in Venice, right next to its high school - I think the blue bandana on my head (to keep my ears warm) caught his attention. I ran a stop sign on an intersection that had no other vehicles and is highly visible. He was pointed the other way on a cross street so had to turn around to stop me. I was on my way from home in Santa Monica (a different city) to work in Marina del Rey (unincorporated Los Angeles county), only a short stretch in LA city.

He didn't show up at the trial so the case was dismissed. This is common, at least for minor offenses in LA. Governments have to pay cops wages to show up for trial; they'd rather have them eating doughnuts.

I had no ID of any kind, still got a ticket.

There's no law requiring ID. My Social Security card states that it isn't an ID (from the '50s). The notion of a national ID card has been a bugbear in the US forever. Making the SS card not one was necessary to its passage.

Tony Marley

Once in California, back in 1971. Turned left even though the turn signal was red since no traffic was coming, and started downhill. Officer asked for my driver's license, and I explained one was not needed on a bicycle. Ticketed for running the light and for going 35mph in a 25mph zone. For 20+ years that was the most expensive ticket I received.

jack pot 

i ride thru the semi deserted industrial zones ... i have been the target of pretextual stops .... you are required to produce ID or be prepared to wait while the cops check out your story if you don't have your ID ... cops in my area (texas) do not stop you for traffic violations unless it is a pretext to Q you

Troul 

Is or are there credible websites that have compiled just all of the US State's bicycle laws? Or at a minimum, a current comprehensive list/description of each major-common law that applies per state? Some State websites can be difficult to nav & when traveling while using a mobile device to sift for information, it can be very challenging.

Milton Keynes

I have no idea, but I've looked up my own state's statutes with regards to bicycles, and they're fairly easy to find, read, and understand.

Just a quick Google search came up with this site: https://bikeleague.org/StateBikeLaws

rydabent

If you do google it as I just did, you do NOT need a valid ID to ride a bike. The supporting statement says if you had to have an ID or a drivers license, no kid could ride a bike.

Troul 

The Idaho Stop law that is not being supported for some States... Is sad.

veganbikes

I don't ever feel safe with someone open carrying with pretty much full impunity if they use it. Generally those who feel the need to open carry are more likely to use it because they get scared or want to show off or something really stupid. At least with concealed carry there is a little difficulty in getting that.

Troul 

Using a RFID blocker helps make open carrying I.D. safer.

Ogsarg

As a kid I was sited for riding two-up down the middle of northwest highway in the suburbs of Chicago. I was 11 or 12 I think. Had to go to the police station on a Saturday and get lectured about bike safety for a few hours.

RGMN

Got to spend a night in jail after getting pulled over on my bike. Cop decided that is was suspicious that a minority kid would have a nice bike, even stranger that he would be carrying the sales receipt for it (I'd been stopped too many times for riding a "nice" bike), so it must be a stolen bike and fake sales documents. He arrested me for being in possession of stolen property and presenting fraudulent documents. Spent a night in juvenile, parents picked me up the next day. City attorney eventually threw out the charges, billed my parents for the night in juvenile, and took a couple of months to get the bike back to us.

At least I didn't have to explain to my parents why I lost my new Nike shoes.

And I did get stopped for doing 51 in a 45 mph zone on my bike. The sheriff's deputies just wanted to let me know how fast was going, they didn't plan on ticketing me. (It was during a charity ride on a long downhill.)

veganbikes

Meant firearms not ID. Though good tip for carrying ID