Ok, I am an idiot. I ran the red light, but it was at 8:45 on a Sunday morning and no one was on the road. Except for the cop who was behind me.
Yes I ran it. Yes I know it’s against the law. But $380? Does anyone have any advice or know if I can get the $ amount lowered? Is it a moving violation? What if I didnt have a drivers license? Or I was 14?
I am open to being punished, but not $380 and a point on my record. That is ridiculous.
Chris
What state? Some states allow cyclists to treat Stop Signs as Yields, but it is a state by state thing.
I’m not a cop but I fail to see how they can attach that to your DL given that you weren’t driving. I’m sure they can figure out some way to fine or penalize you, and yes, if you are on the road you are subject to the laws of the road - but I still don’t think it should count as a driving offense (with points, etc).
Maybe one of the cops can tell us what’s what?
Wow - that does seem a bit steep. I would think it would be a pretty easy thing to “fight” though in courst. Since most traffice court violations are with CARS/motor vehicles, I would think the judge would be very quick to throw it out. You could say that you slowed, no one around, yield (some states do have this law), then went.
If you just blew through it - well, you do deserve what you get (but I agree, $380 is bit much). Will probably serve as a deterrent though!
Just go to court and tell the judge or traffic commisioner you cant afford to pay the ticket. 9 times out of 10 they will lower the fine especially if it is your first ticket. I have seen people get their fines get cut in half.
The officer should have gave you a warning but seriously, we’ve got to start changing this culture of running red lights. I live on the way to a major cycling trail in No. Virginia. Everytime I’m heading out to the W&OD trail and stopped at a red light - some dude flys pass me with the “red lights don’t apply to me attitute”. This is mid day WITH cars around.
$380 sounds a bit much.
Dave in VA
Depends on the state but here in california running a red light is running a red light. Whether it be on a bike, go ped or a car. vehicle code just states a motor vehicle ( and your bike is considered one)
All are subject to rules of the road. But you are right that early on a sunday morning sounds like a weak ticket. My advice would be to ask for a lower fine, or hope the cop doesn’t show up. PM me if you have any questions.
What section did he write on the ticket?
I am a bit confused though. Here in california the cop doesn’t have anything to do with the fine, the courts do. We have no clue how much the motorist will be fined.
I agree completely, but good luck making that argument in court. You’d have better luck getting off on a small technicality than logic.
According to the traffic act, a bike is a vehicle to which all the rules apply. I only know because I got into an accident with a school bus.
My bike was listed as ‘gray’ on the police report instead of blue, which is the only reason it was thrown out.
Ok, I am an idiot.
You should have stopped there…
Its good to hear that Lazy Ben never runs red lights or stop signs.
Never red lights. And I may not actually fully stop at all stop signs but I do at least slow down and look behind me first…
Its good to hear that Lazy Ben never runs red lights or stop signs.
Uhh you do?
I’ll admit i speed but i do stop at red lights and stop signs. Minus that rare one where you are screwed and you figure out while trying to stop there is no way you are going to stop and run it. I hate when people blow through stop signs. You dont have anything that important to do. Really…
Lame to hear man but thats the rules of the road, like a few other people have said your only option is to take it to court and ask for a lesser fine
.
What state? Some states allow cyclists to treat Stop Signs as Yields, but it is a state by state thing.
x2
In Idaho, cyclists can legally treat stop signs as yield signs and red lights as stop signs (with some minor restrictions.)
Since many traffic violations are based upon judgment that the offender placed self/others in peril, you have a fair chance of getting out of the ticket.
If the location were the infraction occurred was:
1.) Sunny (not rainy/cloudy/not at night)
2.) Unobstructed view(s)
3.) No collateral/surrounding traffic/pedestrians
4.) No parked vehicles in the immediate area…
Then you might be able to find a cycling friendly lawyer who would take your case as a matter of principle/sake of argument.
What state are you in?
I’ve spent some time in traffic court defending myself on a couple tickets (driving not biking). Between my own cases and the 50+ I watched before I was called, I learned some things. Here are some tips:
You ran a red light. It is against the law, you got caught and the cop did not use his descretion to let you go. Accept that unless you have 5+ witnesses you can bring with you who will swear the light was green or your state law says its OK for bikes to blow off red lights. Traffic court judges HATE people who don’t accept responsibility. That is not to say however you can’t get a break but based on what I saw, your chances of getting a break from the judge if you bitch and moan are about zero.
Before the hearing, you may have a chance to talk to the cop. (Hopefully you did not spit on him or call him names when you got the ticket). You and he may be able to work out a plea. He won’t let you off but he might agree to some BS offense that is not $380.
If you can’t work something out with the cop, you’ll go in front of the judge. Be nice, admit you are an idiot, put on the puppy dog face and do a small amount of begging for mercy (too much will piss the judge off).
Most of the cases I saw ended up with a no point offence being plead to and a fine being paid. The problem you will have is that the city/judge are really after the money. They can quickly clear their docket by getting car drivers to plea to no point offenses since drivers are more concened about the pionts and increased insurance costs than the fine.
You defintely should talk to a lawyer to see if you are at risk for pionts. It would seem weird to get them for something you did on your bike but I know here in Michigan, you can get points for stuff you do on your boat or snowmobile (I learned that in traffic school after my last ticket . . . . ).
I did not hire a lawyer but all the folks I saw who did got deals so it might be worth your while.
Finally - if the cop doesn’t show up you walk. It happened once to me (and 25 other folks). There was a celebration in the court room that was loud enough that the judge threatened to jail all of us. You might get lucky.
Good luck!
Yea that is a steep ticket. Not saying your situation was the same since there were no cars around but Sunday I was riding in Philly at about 4pm. I was at I-76 and green street. Kind of a busy area. I was on the right side of the cars waiting for the light to turn green. This dude on a bike comes flying down the left side of the cars and blows through a red light where cars are coming off of I-76. Then he is still riding on the left side of cars and goes through the next light. It was probably one of the dumbest things I’ve ever seen.
I think red lights for cyclists should be more like yield signs especially when there’s no traffic. If you slowed down and then went I’d check out what the laws are. But yea, if you just kept going at 18mph or whatever then I’m not sure what defense you have…unless it is at a T intersection and no one could come from your right hand side.
I find it interesting that we all want cyclists to have the same rights on the road as drivers do yet we don’t want to have the same responsibilities. If you would get points on your record for blowing the stop sign in your car then you should get points for doing the same thing on your bike.
We can’t have it both ways where the rules of the road apply to cyclists only when it benefits us but then we want a different set of rules if they don’t benefit us.
It’s actually not the cop you will deal with, it’s the DA. And, unless you act like an ass, DAs are generally willing to negotiate on these matters. Remember that circumstances matter, and a DA will be more receptive to compromising on a violation on an empty road on a Sunday morning than on a busy intersection at rush hour. Alternately, wait to see if the cop shows up to testify to the ticket. No cop, no witness for the DA, no way for the DA to put the ticket into evidence.