AngeloOldSpokes

well it happened to me!!!

DANG!!!

Riding on Larchmont Ave in LA last night; Cop pulls me over for not stopping at a STOP sign.

He was right, I was wrong. I hate to think what the fine will be.

I never run red lights and I always pause, if not full stop, at all Stop signs. This was a quiet street with absolutely no traffic........ GRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Be careful folks - it's possible LAPD may be ramping up their bike targets as a result of some of the bad press they've gotten lately.

blarnie

I stop for lights and signs, as well. And I usually make a snide remark at riders who ride through lights as I am stopped. Makes us look bad. And, it is dangerous.

Just last night I was giving a 20ft. string to a bloke on a P3 with a silver surfer aero helmet, when we were coming up on a red light. He proceeded to make a right turn then cut left across the left turn lane then right back onto the road we were already proceeding down. Making an already dangerous manuever into a really stupid one. As the light turned green, I just turned it up a bit and shut down his-aeroness and by the next light was unclipped, waiting my proper turn in traffic and taking a swig from my waterbottle. As he passed by, he said "damn lights" to me, as if I would sympathize with his next move, which was to use a driveway entrance to ride on the sidewalk, cross through the red light in the pedestrian crosswalk and continue on down the road.

Actions like these are why cyclists are becoming the targets of cops and their traffic citation pads.

Heckboy

It's a revenue thing. Cops don't care about bikes.

merckx_rider

ouch.... how did you miss the cop? was he hiding?

Cyclesafe

The good thing is that points will not be charged to your driver's license. To minimize your fine go to court, plead guilty, and act like you learned your lesson. Hang your head and squeeeze a real tear. You won't be given a chance to say anything. Just make sure that when the judge reads your charge that he says that you were on a bike when you ran the stop sign. If a mistake is made here, you'll have to come to court again to get the points removed.

socalrider

Be prepared,this ticket could be a big one.. State and Local Municipalities have been adding fees to tickets because of the fiscal crisis in California..

There is a baseline price of the ticket, this is the starting point. Once fees and assessments are added the total price could be double what you expect..

cjbruin

Probably not much of a consolation but I respect you for taking accountability for it.

AngeloOldSpokes

he must have been and the really crazy thing is, I saw him about 90 minutes earlier ticketing drivers. He seemed to have his own private little trap set up in the neighborhood.

AngeloOldSpokes

I've already begun practicing forced tears and I'm not above whining, begging, pleading and groveling!!!

pitchpole

The recent uptick in ticketing bicyclists is about revenue. I have seen cops in cars and on bikes blowing stops signs so they have no moral high ground to stand on. Police have been trying to shore up their shrinking budgets with tickets. The city council recently unanimously approved red light cameras for this area and they started putting them up the very next day. I don't think red light running is ever a good idea but clearly they negotiated the contracts before passing the legislation which is wrong in all kinds of ways. /rant off

merckx_rider

Find his hiding spot and sprinkle some tacks...

sd_mike

How is a STOP sign a trap? It is fairly straightforward. No ambiguity there. Be glad the cop stopped you. If you couldn't see him, doubtful you would have seen a car passing through either.

Extort

+8 (there is not an infinity icon available, and this is pretty close)

Ticketing is not about revenue... really! Ticketing is about teaching a lesson to people who flaunt the laws of civilized society. The money paid is the penance for being caught breaking the law. However, the fines are being used when budgets are considered because statistically the police are going to catch X number of people breaking the laws each month.

If you don't break the law, then you won't have to pay the fine... However, if you get nailed while on your bike, have the officer write 'bicycle' on the ticket somewhere so it will be understood by the courts...

bikeride

Your naivete is refreshing. Don't ever change.

Extort

Not naivete, simply economics.

It seems to me, people think the 'Man' is trying to stick it to them and I am saying 'you' are sticking it to yourself by acting in a manner not conforming with the law.

If everyone obeyed each and every law, then municipalities would not have a revenue stream from tickets and could therefore not include the 'potential' revenue in their budget forecasting. Those same municipalities would also have fewer expenses (police officers, vehicles, computer systems, courts, jails, etc.) and could develop municipal infrastructure within the available budget derived only from property, sales and income taxes and service fees.

However...
As X percent of people per month deviate from the law (and the population is growing...) and receive tickets for their illegal behavior the local governments can be assured of a steady source of revenue to apply within their planning sessions. Those areas need to cover the additional expenses associated with catching, ticketing, and prosecuting pinheads breaking the law and therefore the government makes the law breaking citizens 'pay' for those expenses through the medium of fines and higher taxes for everyone.

Wrapping us into another thread...

socalrider

I have many friends and family in law enforcement and while they say they do not have quotas. There is an item called productivity for street cops.. Productivity is basically a quota, but they will never say it is so.. Some cities are more strict about ticketing, these are usually the ones with lower crime issues to deal with..

grrlyrida

They were ticketing in Griffith Park on Wednesday. I saw her hiding at the GP HQ's and smiled at her as I unclipped. My sister works for the mayor and says it's about revenue. LA is 53 million in debt! Throw in an ineffectual mayor, ticket revenue is quick, simple without looking for new revenue streams.

Be careful in GP too.

chefxian

That sucks to hear about GP.

DScott

I've said this before: the cops I talk to get really, really tired of cleaning up the mess that cyclists make when they run into things. Once you break the law, you have no real standing with them if you are involved in an accident. I can't say that I blame them, really.

BoodBianchi

Sorry, I'm not stopping either if its OBVIOUSLY clear. Man up.

jamlo21

Be preapred for a big fine. I got a ticket running a red light in Irvine and my ticket is going to cost me around $450 (I forget what the actual number is). I plan to go to court to just ask for a reduction in the fine.

GP

Will getting a citation on a bike do anything negative to your driving record?

steve098

If i'm going to be stopping at lights i might as well be driving a car.

alicestrong

I've never gotten a bike ticket, but according to friends who have...it's not supposed to go on your driving record but you need to make sure it's noted on the citation that it's a bicycle ticket.

GP

Were your friends attorneys?