gfrance

Before anybody puts on the smugness mask, I almost never ride the sidewalk; I know the rules, and agree with them. Nobody should ride on sidewalks.....blah, blah.

That said, I got busted this morning. Riding into work on Myrtle Ave coming from Queens to Brooklyn. One intersection near Broadway often gets really backed up and clogged so I usually ride the sidewalk for that block. There are little to no pedestrians ever around, and I take it real slow.

Patrol car pulls me over on the next block. I get a citation. Not really a ticket. I have a court date in September. Anybody have an idea what this is? Or what will be the likely outcome?

Hobartlemagne 

Bring them pictures of the area showing heavy traffic, light pedestrian presence, and maybe a map
showing your ride to work. Explain that out of self preservation you felt the sidewalk riding was
necessary and due to your commuting route, you had to go through that area.

Of course I have no idea how they run the show at a citation hearing, but this just my guess at a good plan.

henria86

that you can beat.. just say that u jumped on the side walk to get a cup of coffee at the corner store..

Bacciagalupe

AFAIK riding your bike on the sidewalk, unless you did it to avoid getting hit by a car, is in fact a violation. So I doubt you can beat it unless you lie to the judge. It sucks, but it is the law, and it does actually get enforced every once in awhile.

If that one block is too congested, I recommend you alter your route to avoid it.

jyossarian

They given out tickets there? The neighborhood must be getting better if cops are going there.

gfrance

Here's a picture near where it happened. I'm not offering a justification or excuse. Just presenting the facts.

otep12

Wow. I see delivery people ride on sidewalks and against the flow of traffic everyday. I wonder if they get citations also.

wheels53

They probably send more PD near that area.

Catnap 

nah, many of them are illegals, so the cops know they won't pay the tickets. i'd be more salty about the food delivery guys' terrible bike-riding skills, except that they have the highest fatality rate statistically, among bikers. so i guess it evens out.

Bklyn

This sounds like the kind of "common knowledge" that can never be verified and does more harm than good to perpetuate.
Believe me, I hate no one more than a delivery guy on a 90-pound MTB creaking along the wrong way in a bike lane. But I doubt I could discern his immigration status even as I shine my new Light & Motion Vega™ headlamp right at him. As for the fatality rate, the guy was still breathing when I rode away....


Oh, yeah. As to the OP, good luck, but isn't a citation simply what a bureaucrat calls a ticket? Keep us posted.

brooklyncyclist

It's possible that the cop just wants to bust your balls. I received a citation for a non-cycling incident a couple years ago. I took a day off from work (read: lost income) to show up in court on the appointed day; I was sent home before even seeing a judge because the cop had filled out the citation improperly and I left without paying a fine. At least it was a beautiful day, so I went for a ride.

Show up for your date, but be prepared to make your case with photos as previously suggested. Also, as previously suggested, consider changing your route if this congestion is common.

I believe the fine for sidewalk riding is $100 (first offense, with successive violations increasingly more expensive). Also remember that if a cop is in a ticketing mood he can write you up for no light and no bell.

Bacciagalupe

Considering that this citation shouldn't put any points on his driver's license, is it really worth taking a day off of work and potentially spending half the day at the courthouse to avoid paying the fine?

brooklyncyclist

It seems you're suggesting that I should have simply paid the fine and not wasted my time in court. This was not an option in my situation; the citation was written such that I had to show up to pay my fine--the amount of the fine wasn't even specified. Failure to do so would have invited a summons, a higher fine, points off my license, etc. I don't know what gfrance's piece of paper says so I can't answer regarding that particular situation.

gfrance

That's what it appears to me. It's a pink slip with no fine amount....just a court date and time. I did think "what would happen if I failed to show", but pretty quickly thought better of it. I'll show. If it's $100 so be it. Lesson learned.

Suzie Green

I don't know about NY, but in many states it is not required that you use your automotive drivers license as proof of identification. Doing so can often put points onto your insurance rating etc. If possible, use some other means of identification. In Massachusetts they are getting away from using your SSN as your drivers license number.

Bklyn

I guess I don't know what I'm talking about then. Is this a citation akin to, say, an open-container violation or jumping a turnstile or something? Seems kind of harsh to make you appear in court when a guy driving a car who runs a red light has the option of pleading guilty by mail.
Have you tried calling 311? I thought about doing it, but I don't have all the details and didn't want to get into some "a friend of mine, uh, he has this rash?" kind of situation.
Please keep us posted; I'm interested.
And good luck.

Bacciagalupe

I'm also confused. A typical citation should have an option to mail it in. Other people I know who've gotten tickets for cycling violations got that, the fine was listed right on the ticket.

I'd call 311 and see if they have any insight.

Catnap 

that sounds weird, when i got ticketed / cited it was the yellow one that you can pay by mail. i know it's after the fact and all, but whenever i get ticketed by a cop i always ask what's expected of me, etc. so I don't drop the ball later and end up with a warrant.

brooklyncyclist

I see it's time to refer everyone back to my first post and to clarify:

It was a late September Saturday afternoon, almost 5pm, and my wife and I were walking in Prospect Park. I absent-mindedly picked up some litter to toss in the garbage a few yards away--I like to see my park clean, y'know. I get a few paces when I saw the cop grinning at me like he just won the lottery and I realized the empty can I just picked up had the Budweiser logo on it. He asked me for ID--my driver's license was all I had on me--and called it in for possible outstanding warrants. When he started writing the ticket I was livid; I started arguing with him (probably dropped the f-bomb a couple times) to no avail. I mean, c'mon, Budweiser? I prefer my beer with some flavor...

Could I have refused to produce ID? I suppose. Would that be reason enough to haul my ass to the station until someone could vouch for my identity? Anybody know? It bears mentioning at this point that a lot of New Yorkers don't have drivers' licenses; many native NYers have no need to learn to drive what with the subways, buses, and taxis.

Anyway, after leaving the courthouse in Red Hook that November morning I was convinced that the citicket was the cop's way of having a bit of fun with me and was likely a chance to add one more ticket to his total at 5pm on the last day of September.

Lesson learned: leave the trash no matter how unsightly.

Go with your gut, gfrance.

Stacy

It's not required in New York, certainly not New York City, because so many of us don't have drivers licenses Still, we do have non-driver's ID (without SS#) and police can detain anyone who doesn't have government issued ID until they can confirm identity.

jyossarian

The cop saw you pick up trash and wrote you up for that? He deserves a facepunch for that.

brooklyncyclist

No, I don't think he saw me pick it up; I had been around a bend behind some trees when I picked it up.

Bklyn

Can we make a distinction here?
The police cannot detain anyone who doesn't produce a government-issued ID! The police -- at least those who were not part of the Stasi -- cannot simply go around asking for you papers! You have to produce ID if you are being questioned, but questioning you for your ID doesn't count.
I know it's confusing, and that's a shame.

Stacy

Back during the Giuliani administration they changed some of the police rules to allow for crackdowns and sweeps in certain areas. For example, Sixth Precinct police can detain anyone they suspect might be dealing drugs in Washington Square Park who fails to produce government issued ID, until they can confirm identity. They also have a number of surveillance cameras in the area which some people feel are also unconstitutional. Sorry I don't know the exact rule. Maybe it has to do with "probable cause."

geo8rge

I get a citation. Not really a ticket. - Dude its worse than a ticket.

Actually you might search the forums, I posted on my ticket/citation. The real problem is that when I got to court after waiting on line they claimed that the police did not file something or other and they gave me an embosed paper explaining it and told be to keep it forever just in case. WTF

FWIW, they are trying to 1)run warrents, and 2) need what they consider an excuse to stop and question people. In general I have seen most of this in minority neighborhoods.

The police cannot detain anyone who doesn't produce a government-issued ID! - I believe they can take you to the station and require you to identify yourself, this is a recent Bush Admin thing that will stick. Another related issue is if they need suspicion of a crime to request ID.

The cop saw you pick up trash and wrote you up for that? - Open bottle law, probably exists everywhere in the USA. The cop needed to meet a quota or needed to make sure that he harrassed all races, religions, sexual orientations equally.