YASECT: cop gives bicyclist $1500 in fines for running lights

[SandEagle]

http://gothamist.com/2012/10/08/1555_in_fines_from_biking_in_willia.php

finally they got it right. he gets three tickets for running red lights and one for wearing headphones. no one, especially bicyclists, is above the law. good job officer. you deserve an extra donut for it. :thumbsup:

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Unrelated rambling post about SUVs and being cut off by one last week and how the bicyclist should have merely been warned.</JulesMaximus>

 

[Geocentricity]

Justice served.

I road bike and follow all the rules of the road when doing so. It irks me the wrong way whenever bicyclists think they can do whatever they want and believe they're entitled to do whatever because biking is good for the environment or whatever BS they have to justify their idiotic actions.

 

[Farang]

Ridiculous. Yes, headphones should be fined. But many places are adopting laws allowing rolling stops for bicycles. At red lights a couple things make bikes different than cars: a) a bike isn't capable of injuring someone the way a car can, and b) you have a much better field of vision on a bicycle, whereby slowing down and looking both ways you can safely cross a red intersection.

That said, I follow all rules of the road on a bike. I just get a little peeved at stuff like this, I myself got a $150+ ticket for a rolling stop in a small town four-way.. it is just practical not to stop when you're clipped in and have momentum.

edit: kudos to the guy for living on $15k/year in NYC

 

[jlee]

Ridiculous. Yes, headphones should be fined. But many places are adopting laws allowing rolling stops for bicycles. At red lights a couple things make bikes different than cars: a) a bike isn't capable of injuring someone the way a car can, and b) you have a much better field of vision on a bicycle, whereby slowing down and looking both ways you can safely cross a red intersection.

That said, I follow all rules of the road on a bike. I just get a little peeved at stuff like this, I myself got a $150+ ticket for a rolling stop in a small town four-way.. it is just practical not to stop when you're clipped in and have momentum.

edit: kudos to the guy for living on $15k/year in NYC

There's a difference between that and the vast majority of bikes that just blow through wherever they damn well please.

 

[DCal430]

Ridiculous. Yes, headphones should be fined. But many places are adopting laws allowing rolling stops for bicycles. At red lights a couple things make bikes different than cars: a) a bike isn't capable of injuring someone the way a car can, and b) you have a much better field of vision on a bicycle, whereby slowing down and looking both ways you can safely cross a red intersection.

That said, I follow all rules of the road on a bike. I just get a little peeved at stuff like this, I myself got a $150+ ticket for a rolling stop in a small town four-way.. it is just practical not to stop when you're clipped in and have momentum.

edit: kudos to the guy for living on $15k/year in NYC

No place has adopted any such law, the only place that comes close is Idaho with stop signs. There is good reason for this too.

 

[Ns1]

Justice served.

I road bike and follow all the rules of the road when doing so. It irks me the wrong way whenever bicyclists think they can do whatever they want and believe they're entitled to do whatever because biking is good for the environment or whatever BS they have to justify their idiotic actions.

I usually follow road laws but I do blow through a few stop signs. I definitely follow more laws on my bike than I do in my car. Let's be real here - if everyone got a ticket everytime they rolled a stop or went a few MPH above the speed limit or engaged in some other illegal vehicular move, we'd all be broke.

 

[goog40]

Well-deserved fines. :thumbsup:

 

[Printer Bandit]

they should get rid of monetary fines for violating traffic laws.

instead, you should get points...and once you hit a limit...you lose your license for a specified period of time.

that way it hurts, no matter how rich or how poor you are.

 

[K1052]

Kind of harsh but still by the book. It is pretty unlikely that police would follow a motorist for the same amount of time. The judge should probably toss everything but the first red light and headphone tickets.

 

[Venix]

There's a difference between that and the vast majority of bikes that just blow through wherever they damn well please.

According to studies (1, 2), most cyclists obey red lights. Of course stop signs are a different story: nobody--cyclist or motorist (or even schoolbus)--obeys them.

It seems silly to rage about the idiots riding 20 pounds of aluminum, but not the ones piloting two ton urban assault vehicles. Bad cyclists are annoying, but bad drivers are deadly.

 

[Murloc]

they should get rid of monetary fines for violating traffic laws.

instead, you should get points...and once you hit a limit...you lose your license for a specified period of time.

that way it hurts, no matter how rich or how poor you are.

that's the italian system, they probably have that in other countries too.

In Switzerland you just lose your license for gradually more time depending in the gravity level of the infraction. Burning a red light is in the worst category. People usually don't do such bad things though, so it's almost impossible to get your license revoked even if you behave like an ass.
This cyclist would have lost his license for months though.

 

[God Mode]

Good. I'm assaulted by these hooligan bicycle riders all the time when they run reds and whiz by people trying to cross the street. In the last week alone I had these guys almost run me off the street 3 times. If I had a sore ankle or slower reaction it would've been splat city.

 

[Kreon]

Ridiculous. Yes, headphones should be fined. But many places are adopting laws allowing rolling stops for bicycles. At red lights a couple things make bikes different than cars: a) a bike isn't capable of injuring someone the way a car can, and b) you have a much better field of vision on a bicycle, whereby slowing down and looking both ways you can safely cross a red intersection.

That said, I follow all rules of the road on a bike. I just get a little peeved at stuff like this, I myself got a $150+ ticket for a rolling stop in a small town four-way.. it is just practical not to stop when you're clipped in and have momentum.

edit: kudos to the guy for living on $15k/year in NYC

Perhaps not like a car can, but having been hit (as a pedestrian) 3 times by bikes running red lights, it sure can hurt a lot. And the field of vision is crap too, when the cyclist is coming along a row of stopped vehicles at a red light, they can't see who might be walking across the street because the traffic is blocking their vision.

 

[SagaLore]

Wait, what just happened here... SE applauded a cop?

 

[JTsyo]

they should get rid of monetary fines for violating traffic laws.

instead, you should get points...and once you hit a limit...you lose your license for a specified period of time.

that way it hurts, no matter how rich or how poor you are.

haha and miss out on one of the mos steady income for the towns?

 

[sdifox]

Ridiculous. Yes, headphones should be fined. But many places are adopting laws allowing rolling stops for bicycles. At red lights a couple things make bikes different than cars: a) a bike isn't capable of injuring someone the way a car can, and b) you have a much better field of vision on a bicycle, whereby slowing down and looking both ways you can safely cross a red intersection.

That said, I follow all rules of the road on a bike. I just get a little peeved at stuff like this, I myself got a $150+ ticket for a rolling stop in a small town four-way.. it is just practical not to stop when you're clipped in and have momentum.

edit: kudos to the guy for living on $15k/year in NYC

Running a red light is a big no no. Don't want to obey traffic laws? Don't use the roads. And no, side walk is not for cyclists.

 

[sdifox]

they should get rid of monetary fines for violating traffic laws.

instead, you should get points...and once you hit a limit...you lose your license for a specified period of time.

that way it hurts, no matter how rich or how poor you are.

where the hell do you live that doesn't have a point system? Fines are on top of the points.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Dumbass should have appealed the fines and would have ended up with only paying $240.

 

[Ichinisan]

Related article:
http://laist.com/2012/10/12/clown_who_raped_12-year-old_girl_ge.php
"Clown Who Raped 12-Year-Old Girl Gets 10 Years in Prison"

WTF?!

 

[bruceb]

Serves him right. Bikes, be it pedal or gas powered, are subject to the same traffic laws as all vehicles. And most times, bikers, especially pedal powered, seem to ignore most traffic laws. Then they wonder why there are incidents with bikes and either vehicles or pedestrians.

 

[Ichinisan]

where the hell do you live that doesn't have a point system? Fines are on top of the points.

No point system where I live (Georgia, USA).

 

[sdifox]

No point system where I live (Georgia, USA).

wow. So how do drivers lose their license?

 

[brianmanahan]

wait, i posted a response in this thread last night... and now it is gone?

i think some foul play is going on here.

 

[KevinCU]

Where I'm from most of the people on bicycles think it's cool to immediately change from riding on the road to the sidewalk if a stop light/sign is in their way. They don't deserve any special treatment to help avoid traffic laws.