bike_curious?

Man, talk about ruining my day. I was sitting at the red and there were no cars in sight. Like I have many times before, I took off through the light and about a mile down the road a cop pulls me over and writes me a ticket. Come to find out it's going to cost me the same as if I was in a car. I live in California where auto insurance is super expensive. Will this count on my record? Can I fight this ticket. Anyone out there get a ticket like this?

dcbikeguy

You're screwed.

hokiesean24

your lucky he didnt impound your wheels brotha!

aham23

you ran a red light?

you just admitted guilt on a public forum and you want to know how you can fight it?

you are screwed.

later.

Flak

Gah, stop ending every post you make with "later".

I always picture people sitting around talking about something, and whenever you say anything you immediately get up and leave.

I need coffee.

socalrider

You can contest the ticket and hope the cop does not show and it will automatically be thrown out.. Unfortunately if he shows up, you are screwed.. The ticket will not affect your driving record in California..

If the officer shows up plead your case to the judge that as a cyclist you were unable to trip the signal and sat at the light, looked both ways and only proceeded once it was safe to do so..

The judge may give you some leniency but most likely you will have to pay the ticket..

mashd rotations

is there a reason why you can't take responsibility for your illegal actions? if i were you, i would have been satisfied since the police officer didn't hockey check you

aham23

no.



later.

Red Rider

I heard something a few weeks ago to the effect that cyclists can go through a red light once they determine that it's safe to do so, since we can't trip the signals. You might have to do a little research and when you take that to court that will play in your favor. Cop needs to stay current on the laws.

Good luck.

kk4df

Only if you sat there for about a minute waiting for the light to change, and it didn't. I have some lights in town that will not change, no matter how long I'm there. Others change when I roll up to the light.

I have written to our local traffic department on a few lights around town. One reply told me they could not make all the sensors sensitive enough for bicycles. I replied to them that I would proceed through those lights carefully, after stopping and making certain traffic was clear before proceeding. I have saved a copy of this email correspondence, and keep a copy of it with me on my bike. But I do stop for all lights that work for me, and wait for the light to change. I know which ones on my daily route often fail to work.

Good luck.

Ed in GA

Im my state, Georgia, this is the law.

"Cyclists who violate traffic laws will be subject to the same penalties as drivers of motor vehicles, except that no penalty shall be assessed against a cyclists motor vehicle driver’s license."

simplyred

Sucks. Makes me think of this.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BQUnyVsg_Q

55/Rad

If it took a mile for a chasing cop in/on a motor vehicle to flag down a bicycle, chances are pretty good his distance from you at the time of the offense was quite great. Which means he couldn't possibly see that you looked both ways and proceeded with caution due to the inability to trip the light. It won't get you off but it might help reduce the fine.

Grasschopper

I don't know about CA but in PA you could contest this and win. In PA you can claim it as a malfunctioning light and you crossed safely. This is allowed here because bikes wont trip those in ground sensors or the reflective sensors they have more recently started using.

unbelievably

I think he's talkin' US dollars...

jccaclimber

This seems to be your only chance, and it's gonig to be better if you don't have a steel frame. My personal recommendation for running red lights when nobody is around is to briefly stop, and then swing right so that it could be a right, U-turn, right. That aside, while it's stupid, you broke a law and got caught.

Ed in GA

Since $360 would equate to about 243 Euros (sorry, I don't have the Euro symbol). Yep!

Coyote2

So, you want to run a red light and not deal with the easily-foreseen consequence? What are you, nine years old?

Biking_Lawyer

[QUOTE=bike_curious?;7321571]? Can I fight this ticket. QUOTE]

Sure, you can fight anyticket you want--doesn't mean you have a snowball's chance in hell in winning though

CardiacKid

I know you all are encouraging him to make up the story about malfunctioning light. I am not going to mention anything about turning a traffic ticket into a felony perjury charge and the ethics of lying.
What I want to mention is that the sensitivity of the switches is adjustable. Whenever I find a light that my bike won't trigger, i call or email the city traffic department. They fix it immediately. This is a safety issue that the city should take seriously. Of course I live in Austin, which has never been confused with a normal city. I always found it ironic that several of the people in the traffic department bicycle commute.

Duke of Kent

Guys:

Most states have a provision that if you're at an intersection and the light doesn't trip, you can go through it as long as you don't interfere with the right of way of crossing traffic.

MSchott

This is not the OP's situation. He ran the light because he didn't want to wait for its normal cycle. Not because the sensor didn't notice him and the light didn't turn green.

Thanks, Mike.

Dorsilfin

Claim the light was faulty, and that you waited for it but your bike would not trip the sensor.

bartonfink

Not to add to the moral confusion here, but before contriving some sort of story about the trip-sensitivity of the traffic light in question, the OP needs to be sure that the light actually has a sensor. Some lights in some areas - like the ones around here - are just timed, and have no sensing device at all.

Certainly the quickest route to a perjury beef would be to describe in great detail a long, lawful wait atop a sensor that doesn't exist.

Break the law, pay the ticket.

orcanova

Work it out with the prosecutor. If you can, reason with him/her that they don't have to prosecute. I was in traffic court yesterday and those with speeding tickets who showed up got some leniency with the judge, just for showing up. If they motioned to take a driver improvement course, the judge would dismiss the ticket upon receipt of the course completion certificate. You can take the course online. For others she knocked the fine down to a much smaller amount.

With that in mind, if you can convince the prosecutor that indeed you were stopped for some time, and waited for all traffic to be long gone, then proceeded carefully, he/she might agree that the fine and points are too severe. You want to impress them that you are a safe and courteous cyclist. Consider also that if when you proceeded from your stop, you jumped into the nearest crosswalk to cross through, you may not have been breaking any law. At minimum I bet the prosecutor could amend the charge to jaywalking or something, or you pay a much smaller fine with no points. This kind of stuff happens all the time.

The traffic court I was in had 300 items on the docket for that day. The judge wants to get through them all quickly. They know if you plead innocent you can tie up that courtroom for a half a day with a trial, especially if you get a traffic lawyer involved. They don't want to go that rout for something as frivolous as a bike going through a red light. They want to save the courts time for the serious stuff.

Also, if you can get a traffic lawyer to handle it for about $200.00 I bet you he gets the ticket to go away completely.