Got ticketed running a stop sign
 

Has anyone run into this situation?

Did you just pay the ticket or did you get out of it somehow? What was your excuse?

take it to court? 75% of the time the cop doesn't show up and you get the ticket thrown out.

Good! Maybe you will stop next time. Seriously, it sucks getting a ticket, but any other vehicle running the stop sign would have gotten a ticket... what makes running it on a bike any different? FYI, you can get a ticket for speeding on a bike too, 25mph in a 15mph school zone, for example. Not likely, but perfectly possible, and it shouldn't come as a surprise.

you are screwed. lol sorry.

+1


Wow.
They dont even cars tickets for running stop signs here in Chicago.

I mostly agree with you. I should be stopping at the stop sign like the other vehicles. But when there is a stop sign every block, it gets tiring and I just get lazy and just go through it (I still look both ways and make sure that there is no cars coming).

I am planning on paying this ticket, but just wondering what other ppl do

I'd set a court date. You'll likely still have to pay a fine but the judge will probably reduce the amount. Just hope you don't get some stupid people up before you that piss him/her off.

If you can afford to go to court do it. They may charge you court fees...So be careful. It could affect your drivers licence and car insurance if you drive. If you don't have a car don't worry. Stop signs are not cheap tickets. Maybe you could do traffic school.

Just by curiosity how much is the fine?

I wanted to know what license plate did the cop use? or the ticket is tied to your ID?

I've had a couple friends ticketed for stop sign violations, and in every instance (3 times), the cop didn't even note that they were on a bike. They showed up in court and the judge thought they had been in a car and was prepared to throw the book at them. In one case, two folks were ticketed at the same time and they judge didn't believe that they were on bikes until they pointed out that (a) how could they both get tickets from the same cop at the same intersection at the same time if only one of them could have been driving the car? and (b) there was no license plate number noted for either of them. The fine was reduced from $175 to $50 + $20 in court fees, and no points on the license. So... it's worth going to court.

The fine isn't much. $35. I don't think going to the court is worth the effort.

The cop took down my driver's license number but said it won't affect my driver's license at all

I guess I'm going to have to be a better cyclist and (rolling) stop at each stop sign, such a pain :(

$35?! Pay it and use another $1 on a lottery ticket. In many places, the motor vehicle code applies, and they'd hit you with well over $100 and possibly points on your license.

Just be sure to either pay your fine or else take it to court. I didnt do it when I got mine and it resulted in me having to pay $125 (a lot more than the original fine) and suspension of my lisence, it was a major pain.

Location? What city did this happen in?

Whatever you do, don't ignore the ticket. It DOES affect your drivers license. I had a ticket, and forgot about it. Next thing I know, I've got a suspended drivers license.
Maybe this is location sensitive; this happened to me in Gainesville, FL.

Ottawa ON

As I mentioned before, I live in the area where there is abundance of stop signs (every block there is either a stop sign or a traffic light)

wow~ $35 is so cheap~ i got one 3 years ago for $120USD

You were wrong, so just pay the damn ticket, you'll loose money taking a day off to go to court, and you went thru a stop sign so you'll prob have to pay the ticket anyways!

I was thinking about this sort of situation over the weekend as I was running a light in front of a traffic cop (me and about 150 people and 3 other bikes at the same time). Doing this I wasn't really worried at the time but later in the day there was a cop sitting first at a light and I waited untill it was green before I went. I feel like depending on the situation you can get away with it. Now if you are blowing through redlights and stop signs in a busy intersection without slowing down at all and in front of a cop, there is probably a good chance they will give you a ticket.
Got any more info on how you got the ticket?

the bike cops here, ride on the sidewalk, run red lights and run stop signs. i have never seen any one get a ticket on a bike here. but then again, there is no bike culture here.

As much as its a pain if we want to be able to take lanes and have equal rights as other vehicles on the road we should abide by the rules as well.

Or take up that one law that might get pushed in Oregon

There isn't much to tell. I was riding down a quiet road, I approached a stop sign, maybe slowed down a little bit as I was approaching the intersection but presumably the cop didn't notice because I was still pedaling (for obvious reasons). I looked both ways and saw that there are no one coming (except from behind, where the cop was - I should've checked I guess) so I just went through and the cop stopped me.

It wasn't a busy intersection or anything, and there was no one around when I went through. Bad luck and bored cop = stupid ticket

Donno how this works ... did he ask for your drivers licence, registration & proof of insurance ?!?!?!?!

Did he say how many ponits it its ? You should have asked about his quota. Like how many hes gotta write in a month ... LOL.

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How this works is you're on a public road and most places require bikes to follow the same laws as the rest of traffic. You don't need any documentation to ride a bike, but if you prefer not to provide ID after an offense, you might be able to guess where you'll end up while they confirm your identity. You might also wish you hadn't inconvenienced them when all is said and done.