Bike Ticket - Fight or Pay?
The other week I got pulled over for running a red light on my bike. However, the cop accidentally (?) wrote down violation number 19176-B, which I believe is riding on a sidewalk. Riding on a sidewalk is a much lesser offense, fine wise, than running a light. Should I fight this, since he wrote…
The other week I got pulled over for running a red light on my bike. However, the cop accidentally (?) wrote down violation number 19176-B, which I believe is riding on a sidewalk.
Riding on a sidewalk is a much lesser offense, fine wise, than running a light.
Should I fight this, since he wrote down the wrong code? Should I consider it a gift? If I fight it, could the judge or cop adjust the ticket to the proper violation and then charge me for running a light?
I love the attitude of holier then thou on here. Really people? Do you have, own or ride bikes is my first question. Second why do you live in New York, which is supposed to be a diverse city with such a bad attitude ruining it for everyone.
That being said, I totally feel your pain. I just got a ticket on Thursday and I am pretty livid.
There is tons of info on the web and when you talk to cyclists about this blitz that apparently has possessed the powers that be to ticket cyclists whenever possible.
The increased (inexperienced) police presence that is ever growing here in Brooklyn does not seem to be helping matters. Bikers are easy targets for getting their quotas filled.
This is the second time I have been stopped by the police in a month and I don’t even ride that often. It has been raining all month, so kind of hard to ride.
The links given here are super informative. Like the police officer might be doubly wrong because a citation for riding on the sidewalk may or may not be an offense of the Environmental Bureau and not a matter of criminal court.
I say go ahead and fight it. Worst case you lose and lost a day in the process.
The more people who advocate against these discriminating practices might actually encourage the legislation to take action and see that this is a ridiculous waste of time.
Good luck!
Yeah, pretty sure I’m fighting it. Did I run a light? Yeah. Was I recklessly operating a bicycle? Absolutely not. I actually think cars would like it if I had a good head start on them off of a light so they wouldn’t have to go so slow when it went green. More importantly, I would feel a lot safer.
Laws aren’t going to change until there are enough complaints. Yes, there need to be laws against reckless operation of a bike, but they need to be different than reckless operation of cars.
i don’t have an opinion on whether you should fight or pay, but i can tell you about experience. my partner got a bike ticket for riding on a sidewalk along Flushing Ave. he was on the sidewalk b/c he was concerned by how fast and dangerous the cars were driving. He decided to go to court to contest the ticket on the account that the cops didn’t do anything about the dangerous driving but instead gave him a ticket for riding on the sidewalk. He appeared in court in downtown Manhattan and when they called him for the ticket, they dismissed it before he even got up to say anything. He heard when he was in court that they almost always dismiss bike tickets. This was last summer. don’t know if that will happen for you, but i thought i would share the story.
good luck whatever you decide!
Go pay the ticket. And the obey the traffic rules.
There are so many people against the bike lane because of bike riders like this.
What does this have to do with real estate? Get yourself a girl friend or go out more.
“But from technical point of view we compare parking v. moving violation.”
fair enough. i wasn’t really looking at it from that pt of view!!
Also, to be clear — I don’t have any *personal* issues with meter maids. What I mean by that is that I don’t have a problem with tickets for illegal things.
I’ve lived in NYC for over 4 years and I have gotten a total of 5 parking tickets. All technically “deserved” (though the one described above was ridiculous).
I actually have this funny compunction to actually try to operate my motor vehicle legally, safely and park according to the rules.
What I do have a problem with is inconsistent rule enforcement that is divorced from public safety. The city can earn just as much (OR MORE) revenue by writing citations that actually serve a purpose. Like writing the tickets to the double-parkers *as well as* the expired meters. Pulling over reckless, aggressive speeding driver *as well as* bicycles on the sidewalks.
There are plenty of studies by the DOT and community groups counting things like double-parking, sidewalk blocking, and other traffic violations. A meter maid should not be given kudos for a job well done if all she/he brings back to the station is meter and street cleaning violations when there are other KNOWN issues in a given area.
Dirty H – I do not have bias between double parked cars and red light running bikers. In ether case it could be safe or unsafe for people around and cops should be smart enough to decide whether the case affects public safety or not. But from technical point of view we compare parking v. moving violation.
What MM said…my thoughts exactly.