Yeah, this is unfortunate.

Anyone else think that road infrastructure is designed around cars and in need of some serious rethinking?

Think about it, stopping on a bike really is more of a pain then in your car. It is physically more demanding to start up again, and there are virtually no blind spots on your bike. In your car you just press and depress pedals.

I think rolling stops on bikes should be allowed, or perhaps a yield for bikes.

Until that happens, look for cops, otherwise, proceed at your own risk, because really it is your own risk. Bike vs car, car usually wins, so it's your hide.

lolz stop signs? que?

thats why i ride across intersections on crosswalks, at least where i live bikes in crosswalks get treated as pedestrians (right of way).

You got a gift. The set fine for failing to stop in Ontario is $110. https://www.toronto.ca/cycling/pdf/hta.pdf

In Ontario, it won't count against your licence unless the cop fails to write down that the vehicle type was a bicycle. No points are taken off for bicycle infractions. Riding in crosswalks is also a $110 fine. My favourite is "Careless driving" at $325

ooh that may affect your insurance

a couple tons of metal and plastic

Also: don't give them a drivers license to identify yourself. You should never be penalised on your driving license when on a vehicle that isn't covered by said license - that being said, it CAN happen if they don't note the vehicle type and have your license info.

Sucks, but $35 for a stop violation is a pretty good deal. If you must, take it to court, but I'd be totally OK with paying $35.

My buddy got ticketed running a red at Critical Mass last year, $180 insta-ticket. I went through by his side and never got a thing - just the way it goes sometimes.

can you get a ticket for riding on the sidewalk?
If you're a vehicle, how come CARS AREN'T ALLOWED TO DRIVE ON SIDEWALKS????

I took a close look at the ticket and one thing that worries me is that even though he assured me that my driver's license won't be affected, the field where it says" motorized vehicle involved", "YES" is checked, which is incorrect.

I was planning on paying it online, but it might be better to go in person and clarify this. I dunno

Flimflam: That's one thing that turns me off about critical masses.

It's pretty impossible to do, but sorry, but if you're stupid/unaware enough to run a stop in view of a cop, you're gonna get ticketed in Chicago, same if on a bike.
Cops in Chicago have better things to do, so it must've been PRETTY blatant.
Do the crime, pay the time. And cops always show up to court.

Somehow bikers think they are "above the law" I don't think so.

[QUOTE=areacode312;8679785] And cops always show up to court.

QUOTE]

No they don't.

Are you a cop ? ... I understand they get a little power trip-y beyond that... whats the penalty, like if you dont pay the fine .

Lord no. But they routinely haul in anybody that fails to provide ID, often when it's technically not within their power. Regardless, once you commit a traffic offense, they actually have a mandate to identify you. After that, it's a ticket, and failure to pay is going to up the penalties further as with any other ticket. Someone can correct me if they have different experience.

In many (most?) places you can indeed be ticketed for riding on the sidewalk. Of course bikes are vehicles. That's why they don't go on sidewalks. I agree running a stop sign on a bike isn't the same as doing so in a car, but really, I wouldn't appeal to sidewalks to back up this perspective.

[/COLOR][QUOTE=10 Wheels;8679808]Prove it or STFU. Better yet, pay this guys ticket if the cop shows, up. Got balls????

[quote=areacode312;8679947][/COLOR]Beat the last ticket, When the Officer failed to show.

I'm not sure how it works in Ottawa, but in Toronto, cops get paid when they show up in court. In the olden days they didn't use to and you'd be pretty much guaranteed a miss, particulalry if you booked night court.

kcirick, if they've checked motor vehicle, take it to a JP and see what you can get done. That could take points off if the ticket is filled out incorrectly.

..

Yeah that "cop's don't show up" thing doesn't happen so much anymore. I think 1 out of 10 people I know who have gone to court over a ticket has had it backfire. I don't like gambling, nor those odds.

I was involved in a nasty car crash (t-boned by a logging truck) in West Virginia. Long story short, they lied and said that I ran a stop sign. When my lawyer step-mom asked the judge over the phone what the fine was for said infraction and his reply was something like $40 her eyes got very big and she ended telling me to just take it. It would have been far more trouble to go back down to WV from MI to fight the whole thing, etc.

Essentially, take it. Let's all work to reform these silly one-size-fits-all traffic laws and make some sensible ones that make more sense for and reward users of non-motorized vehicles.

Then guarantee to pay this guys ticket when the cop shows up, put your money where your mouth is..

big red font makes me right!

This happend to my dad but for speeding. The cop asked him for his ID and my dad replied "I was not aware that there was a law in Washington requiring me to have a id on my person when riding my bike." The cop wrote him a ticket but didnt put a name on it because he wouldn't give it to him if i recall correctly.

i am more right.

I always rocket through stop signs in a nuts-on-stem fashion while yelling "This counts as a stop" at the top of my lungs.