Alright, first of all this isn't strictly related to this exact section of the forum, but since I ride a fixed, thought I'd post here.

So I got a ticket for not stopping at a stop sign, but I didn't just blast past it willy nilly, I had a solid view going into the intersection (coming down Steiner, crossing Duboce, in San Francisco), and there was a pedestrian crossing in the same direction I was going. So I basically just crossed with the walker. Is there any chance at all of fighting this? Or am I just screwed, and should reside myself to forking a hundred bucks for the ticket?

Anyone here have any experience with this?

hate to tell you but, on a bike you're supposed to follow the "rules of the road," meaning, you're supposed to obey all traffic signs. The key is to not get caught...

yeah, I know I got caught... the only thing this whole thing is going to change is that the next time I do this I will just look behind me. The funniest part (if that's the right word), is that while he was giving me the ticket, a different cyclist ran the stop sign going in the opposite direction.

I always run that stop sign....

i have run stop signs in front of cops many a time...they are more nazi about it down town though.

My experience has been that they at least reduce the fine if you make an effort to justify yourself in writing, acknowledge your mistake and explain how you will conduct yourself in the future. I've received several silly bikey traffic violations and they've all been fully cleared or reduced with minimal effort. You still have to send a check. They deposit it and later refund all or part of it -- although sometimes that takes a while. Goooood luck. That'll teach you punk kids to run stop signs and endangering the lives of innocent pedestrians and motorists.

funny you should say...i got yelled at by an old man at a four way stop that i went through. He yelled "Punk" out his window, it was a classic moment, i felt like i was in some old movie.

I've never been called a punk on my bike, but people often tell me I look like punky brewster, due to tall stripey socks and pig tails. Does that count?

I got stopped by a cop for runnning a red light and he lectured me about how traumitizing it is for a driver to hit a cyclist. And how I should be more careful so as not to inflict this trauma upon some poor driver. I'm sure the guy who broke my leg and my little red torelli and then drove off is really traumitized.

If you had gotten a speeding ticket, we all might have applauded you..Running a stop sign. sorry. no comment.I know this is California.but that is still a California stop...

it was more in that old fashioned way, where you can picture the old man screaming at kids for misbehaving. "you punk kids" in a culturally dissassociated use of the word.

So do you stop at every stop sign? Even if you are positive that you are not endangering anyone or stopping the flow of traffic? Not a critisism, just a question. I know what the law says, but come on, if all I see is tumbleweeds in the distance or I'm crossing in the same direction at the same time as a pedestrian, I'm not stopping. No sir. Then again, I would never use the same logic if I were driving since I think the responsability towards others' safety is much greater, since you have more power to harm them.

Ah yes, and perhaps shaking his fist as well. . . I like it.

I got pulled over in the middle of the race this weekend by a state trooper. I passed him in the left in oncomming lanes while he in traffic at Peachtree and 10th. When he finally caught up to me it was just in time for him to see me blow another light at 17th st. He said that we all have to obey the traffic laws and that if for some reason he had opened his door when I passed him the first time, it wouldn't have been his fault if he had hit me. He let me go with just a verbal warning. The people counting points after the race said that I only get extra points if I get a ticket. Despite all this I still got 1st non-messenger and 1st fixie.

It was funny, I've blown several lights right in front of cops before and they haven't done anything. I've only heard of people getting pulled over for not having lights at night.

tim

heads-up the sf folks, the cops in the presidio are cracking down on cyclists running stop signs, and since it's federal property i think it's a bigger deal if you get popped.

The presidio's always been pretty lame about that sort of thing. Count yourself lucky the MPs aren't enforcing the rules these days.

Yeah, thankfully it's pretty easy to spot cops in the Presidio, being desolate and empty most of the time.

As much as I hate to be a party pooper, I'm almost glad that you got a ticket. The more cyclists are seen as equals with motorists, the more (eventually) we'll be respected on the road, i.e., actually prosecuting hit and run motorists, etc. You can't have it both ways, and I would be willing to obey most traffic rules if it meant getting a little more lane space.

i heard in pdx they recently made stop signs equivalent to yeild signs for cyclists..

I like to think that a bicycle is its safest when its moving. This gives me license to do all sorts of dangerous *ish.

how frustrating. although i do agree that "safer" riding and obeying road rules is beneficial for everyone, there are so many streets (here in SF) that don't run parallel and have red lights that serve no momentary purpose when the one or two cars have already crossed, or traffic is moving an entirely different direction. usually i end up crossing through a red light with peds that are crossing in the crosswalk themselves b/c there aren't any cars at all (think Sanchez and Market st., or all the streets between Divis - Masonic on Fell/Oak). oh well... i'll at least slow down and look both ways more often now...

Fish?

I am about to embark on a bar crawl bike tour with like 30 other people and I am sure that I will get a ticket at some point. I got stopped by a cop once during a century in PA for making a right at a stop sign without stopping, it was at the bottom of a big downhill and we all just blew through it.

Also I should add that the CHP rolling down city streets will pull **** at intersections to see if you break the law, like waiting an ungodly amount of time to see if you blow through and/or go out of turn.

(I saw this happen about 6 months ago, and the cyclist -- a woman on a cruiser -- got pulled over, 20th and Harrison. Another tried to do it to me last week, didn't go when his turn came and I was slowing; we just hung out, me trackstanding and him staring at me, for about 5 seconds--which is long, in real time--before he took off. 24th and Alabama.)

Yeah. Mostly.

I got a speeding ticket on my bike during a scavenger hunt. Granted there were bonus points for getting a ticket and I convinced a sheriff to write it for me, but...I still got one.