Did you use a driver's license as your identification? If so, it probably will affect your insurance.

Since a driver's license is not required to operate a bicycle, use something else (e.g. University ID, employer namebadge, etc.) when asked for identification.

Only 18 with limited funds... :|

I gave him my california ID... but i also have a drivers license.

:rolleyes::rolleyes::wtf::wtf::roflmao2: :rolleyes:Shocker!! :rolleyes:The audacity of you!! :cry:Shame on you! :D Are you implying that someone should actually accept responsibility for their action? :thumb:Well.........I don't think so, buddy. Not in this day and age

$200+ for a cycling ticket is absurd. Your advice might have merit if the ticket was more about safety than a money grab (and the fine in a proper range of $25-50).

Many stop signs are there because visibility low down and far back from inside a car is limited or completely zero. For a cyclist, that's often not the case, so a cyclist could easily find the situation such that the stop sign serves no purpose that a yield sign wouldn't accomplish equally well.

Good job on presenting your Cali ID instead of your DL.

In IL you are required to carry an ID while cycling. I have read where the ticket can go against your DL if it is used for an ID.

First hand experience?
I thought they didn't really care in Virginia. On non-busy roads, anyways.

No one is gonna go and arrest you. You are not that important. There is hundreds of people with 20+ unpaid traffic tickets. They know where they live, but they dont go and arrest them.

My teacher had over 100 tickets a few with moving violations (most from parking every day where he should not park, so he got one often). He went to court, and then left without seeing the judge. Then they put a warrant for him. Still they did not go to his house. He was stopped again and then they took him to jail for 4 hours. This time he went to court and saw the judge and had to do 50 hours of community service.

Ticket in Washington State
 

I got pulled over by 2 motorcycle cops when I went through a red light at the intersection at the bottom of a steep hill. It was raining and the pavement was pretty wet. Light turned red and I couldn't stop safely or I would have laid it down on the road. As soon as I went through the cops pulled me over. One asked me for my driver's license. I said why and he said I was operating a motor vehicle. During the ticket write up, a police cruiser entered the scene. So I had two motorcycle cops and a cruiser for my bike ticket. Can't remember how much the fine was.....this was back around 1986.

No luck claiming brake failure due to wet road eh?
I wonder if they'd have written the same ticket if it was a car skidding through.

*rolleyes* at the 'motor vehicle' claim
This is why you shouldn't carry a driver's license on you when you're just on the bike.
In the USA anyway, there is no law requiring you to carry an ID on you when you're out of a car.

This ticket was in California, yes? Then it will NOT affect your car insurance or go on your DMV record. If it does by mistake, you can have it removed. Showing them your driver license will not change this in any way since it's the law that bicycle violations are not the same as car violations.

Some resources for you:
http://www.sfbike.org/?bikelaw_ticket_faq
http://www.sfbike.org/?ticket

I was thinking the same thing...

So...do you have a picture of a "give way" sign? I know I've never seen one!

As a matter of fact...

http://www.dmv.de.gov/images/yield.jpg

All in the semantics I suppose. :thumb:

Over here it's a £30 fine for not stopping at a stop sign on a bicycle.

For motor vehicles it's £60 and 3 points.

First hand in that I had to go to court for my son's speeding ticket on his tri-bike, yes..

208$ for the no stop ticket.... is that a common price..?

A ticket results in a citation being issued by a court. Failing to appear to deal with the ticket is disobeying a court order. A court can, if it wants, issue a warrant for your arrest for failure to appear. (It happened to me once in San Diego for, of all things, failing to appear for a jaywalking citation I got when I jogged into an intersection just before the light turned green. When I finally did go to court to deal with the jaywalking citation, there was also a "failure to appear" citation on the record. The judge agreed to toss the jaywalking citation on the condition that I plead guilty to the failure to appear, which looks worse on your record than jaywalking.) I wasn't arrested for the failure to appear, although I could have been had I been stopped by a cop for something else, but failing to appear comes with its own fine, so it could cost you a lot of money, and you risk arrest if you get stopped for something else, if you ignore your ticket.

I agree that if your citation does show up in the computer (it will probably take at least a few days to show up) and you decide to go to court, be humble and contrite, and see if you can get the judge to order community service instead of a fine.

Another suggestion -- there's a lawyer on KGO radio (810 AM) weekdays from noon to one. He likes to answer questions like yours. Go to www.kgoradio.com for more information and for the phone number. He can advise you on California law.

I think i have decided to contest the violation through mail. On the ticket is says:

(Trial by written declaration (traffic infractions)) Send a certified or registered letter postmarked not later than five days prior to the appearance date or come to the court on or before the appearance date to request a trial by written declaration. Submit the bail amount. You will be given forms to allow you to write a statement and to submit other evidence without appearing in court.

I have a few questions about this.

1) With the same certified letter, do i send the money in with it?
a) A check?
2) Does anyone have an outline that is similar to ticketassassin's template?

I think "submit the bail amount" means you have to pay. I also think it's okay to pay by check.

"Trial by written declaration" means that you don't actually appear in court but you instead submit a written statement that the judge reads before deciding whether you're liable or not. It's something you do instead of appearing. Trial by written declaration works better if you want to try to prove that you didn't do what you're accused of doing. I believe you acknowledged that you didn't stop at a stop sign, so I'm not sure what you'd say in your written statement. Trial by written declaration doesn't work as well if you merely want to throw yourself at the mercy of the court; i.e., if you want to ask for an alternative punishment like community service instead of a fine. When you actually show up, the judge can determine things like your sincerity and humility. So you might consider just appearing on the appearance date instead of filing a written statement.