Got a ticket..
 

So, today, I blew a stop sign infront of an unmarked police car. He pulls me over and gives me and ticket for 22450(a) CVC. and under that it says stop sign with the "I" circled. I have no idea how much the fine is or whether or not this will go against my driving record. Will this also increase my insurance rate?

Last two questions: Maybe.
Not enough information. Where are you?
You have to go to court to find out fine?

I live in San Francisco

i have gotten maybe 4 tickets on my bike, and all were expunged from my record. my driving record is clean. i live in oregon.

Is there a way to drop everything?

For California, about $250.

http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=65923

Good chance the court and DMV will screw things up, such that it could affect you insurance. You will have to jump through some hoops to try and fix it.

You might get the fine reduced or cleared by taking traffic school. I think CA gives it online now.

About the only way to get it completely cleared with no impact to you is; go to court, hope the cop does not show up, and tell the judge that the state has not met their burden of proof.

Here are 2 great links for you:

http://www.sfbike.org/?bikelaw_ticket_faq

http://www.sfbike.org/?ticket

Thanks for the links.
I have also read about Ticketassassin and I was wondering if that is also a good route? http://www.ticketassassin.com/fight.html

Actually, it does sound like a good route to handle it, since you get two chances of the cop not responding.

But remember, in the sfbike links, the very first step is to check if the citation even gets entered into the computer.

PS: that is a good link you provided. Thanks

You usually have to pay first before they let you contest. My ticket was $380 for a red light.

get an extension to pay your ticket (in order to let time pass). I think its over a month.

Pay your ticket and request that they let you know wich available dates you can come in infront of a judge.

Pick The latest date you can(to let more time pass). A plus if its close to a holiday.

Large cities write so many tickets, after a few months, they might not have any records on your infraction anymore. No LEO shows up and you get your money back in the mail.

Do you have to carry ID over there when cycling ?

Im not sure about the ID thing.

I am still pretty confused on what i should do right now...

If you didn't show any ID, wait until you are officially informed about it, ie. an attempt is made to add it to your licence and then deny all knowledge.

Someone else must have used your name....

And next time, use someone else's name ;)

Yeah, and get a PITA cop that wants some sort of proof, and you can add giving a false statement to the original charge.

Why don't you go rob a convenince store, then pay the fine with that money. If you get caught, explain your situation, maybe they will let you off with a warning!:rolleyes:

I know you got a ticket for the stop sign violation, but I think the story would tell better if you said it was for speeding...

Hypothetically, if you didn't own a car or drive.
Could you just ignore it? I mean what are they going to do to you? revoke your nonexistant driver's license?

They will in VA. You can get a license suspended even if you don't have one. If you don't pay the fine in the allotted time though they just come arrest you.

-R

Same here and it can hurt your credit possibly too since they put it on your credit history if unpaid here for those red light camera things.

I don't begrudge you fighting the ticket, but please learn to stop at stop signs and red lights. I used to work in Cambridge, MA where I had to cross a busy intersection. Cyclists routinely ignored the red light when the walk signal was on, making a dangerous situation for both themselves and the pedestrians. At best, it's just downright rude.

Cambridge started stepping up enforcement against cyclists last fall. I believe the city when they say they're not trying to get money, they're trying to increase safety. If you want car drivers to obey laws against dooring, then cyclists need to obey stop signs and red lights.

I can't speak for SF courts, but the conventional wisdom in MA is to show up, be polite, contrite, and humble. The magistrates are often very forgiving if you show the right attitude. I haven't had to deal with any traffic tickets, but it worked for me for a parking ticket.

PLEASE don't start this fudging of what the OP said by talking about stoplights. He was clearly talking about a stop *sign*, not a stop*light*. I agree about stopping at any sort of busy intersection, but that's not what this thread is about. I can imagine a situation where the OP should have stopped even at a stop sign (several other cars stopped at the intersection) and ones where it would be fine to go through (unmarked cop car coming up behind him, *no* other cars at the intersection).

Doesn't there have to be a reason for the stop sign being there ?

Otherwise it would be a give way sign ?

I am not aware of any law that requires a US citizen to carry identification at all times. I would not think that such a thing would be required of a cyclist since no license is required for cycling.

I do not think that it is a good idea to ride without ID. I know a lady who had an accident and ended up in a coma in the hospital and no one knew who she was. I also know of a guy who had an accident and ended up in a coma and later died. Having ID makes it easier on your next of kin.

As for the police, if you are stopped, it is nice to have ID. You are not required to have any. But if you don't have any and refuse to identify yourself, you might just get hauled down to the local police station or jail. The police have ways of dealing with uncooperative people. Sure you can get off later. But do you really want to enjoy the hospitality of the county?

Should i just call the place and ask if my ticket was entered in the computer or something? Seems weird just asking to see if my ticket was entered or not. I'm still leaning towards the ticketassassin route.

I also searched this : http://www.sftc.org/browser_pages/Tr...ion_online.htm
I put in my citation number and it says it has not been entered yet. But It was only yesterday that the incident happened.

Man up and pay the damn thing!