Offense: Obey Traffic Control Device (While on Bicycle)
At the intersection of Cicero and Elston I was stopped waiting for the light to change. I saw the light on Cicero turn yellow, cars were slowing down, so I clipped in and started rolling into the intersection. All cars were stopped and the light turned green (for me) when I was half-ish of the way through... I made it one block and a Chicago Police Officer pulled me over and handed me my awesome new prize.
I'm thinking of going to court on it (since it's lame and there's a principle to be fought for here) but I'm also thinking it'd cheaper to pay it and get my license back.
Anyone else have experience in these matters?
~Ryan
Views: 1275
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on
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The seat belt example is ludicrous; it's a apples/oranges comparison. However, the signal one is not. Then operating a vehicle on the road it is required that you signal turns and stops but the method of signal is not defined. It is perfectly legal to signal a turn with hand signals when driving, and if you do not have functional turn signals required by law. Because the rules of the road apply to a bicycle failure to signal your intentions while riding is breaking the law and you can be ticketed for it although I doubt it would ever happen.
If a car enters the intersection early with no cars or bicycles coming and no one honks should they receive a ticket? Unless you can honestly answer that question, 'No.' you have not a leg to stand on.
Mind you I am not saying I agree the officer should have ticketed you or that I agree with how the law is written; I am just pointing out that legally you are int he wrong and unless you want the police to ease enforcement on cars you have no right to ask for, or expect lax enforcement towards cyclists either.
Sharing the road is a double edged sword.
Ryan said:Agreed on the bike specific laws. My point is that what I was doing was not unsafe but had a been driving a car it likely would have been. I mean, under the premise that bikes must follow the same laws as cars he could have given me a ticket for not wearing a seatbelt or not using my turn signals or something else lame.
I'll probably pay the ticket but I don't agree with it.... He could have picked a time when I was actually doing something ticket-worthy... or if I had gotten honked at... really, just something more justifiable. I want my $75 worth, ya know?
notoriousDUG said:What principal are you going to defend?
It sucks and the cop was a prick because there was no need to write the ticket but he was in the right on this one. You entered the intersection on a red and that is illegal; if you saw a car do it would you want a cop to issue them a ticket?
This is a great example of why there needs to be bike specific laws.
It is also a great example of the fact that if you want to share the road and have laws enforced for cars you need to be prepared to have laws enforced for bicycles.
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That's never a good sign...
Len Krietz said:Amen, Notorious Doug.
I keep finding myself agreeing with more and more of your posts.
notoriousDUG said:What principal are you going to defend?
It sucks and the cop was a prick because there was no need to write the ticket but he was in the right on this one. You entered the intersection on a red and that is illegal; if you saw a car do it would you want a cop to issue them a ticket?
This is a great example of why there needs to be bike specific laws.
It is also a great example of the fact that if you want to share the road and have laws enforced for cars you need to be prepared to have laws enforced for bicycles.
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On one hand I agree with you on this but on the other hand I think that bike specific laws would help a lot in areas other then the rare occasion a cyclist is ticketed in a situation like this where the letter of the law says it's illegal but common sense says it's fine.
When ever I hear people complain about cyclists one common complaint I hear is about cyclists breaking the law when they treat stop signs like yields and stop lights like stop signs; I think most of it has to do with jealousy over bikes making up so much time by being able to do this. If it where legal it would remove the legitimate legal part of the complaint and make it purely a impatience issue.
T.C. O'Rourke said:Regarding bicycle specific laws: I'd rather spend my time lobbying for meaningful change, not legalizing my otherwise courteous and safe behavior which is already tolerated.
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Permalink Reply by roofis lee king on
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fight it man, dont let the man steal 75 dollars from you
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How is paying the fine for breaking the law letting 'the man' steal from you?
Wouldn't it be more like taking responsibility for your actions?
roofis lee king said:fight it man, dont let the man steal 75 dollars from you
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the reason i ride a bikew is because after like 6 75$ red light camera tickets for my car i said f that im not paying any more car tickets. f the man and his rules of the road. he only sorta blew the light. bot outright no stop blew it. i think a warnig ticket would have been more suitibale since the "rolling start isnt exactly blowing the light . take it to acourt and fight it. follow the law but know your rights
notoriousDUG said:How is paying the fine for breaking the law letting 'the man' steal from you?
Wouldn't it be more like taking responsibility for your actions?
roofis lee king said:fight it man, dont let the man steal 75 dollars from you
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Permalink Reply by r3tr0b0t on
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I see a bicyclist as half vehicle, half pedestrian, with advantages from both worlds. I've always maintained that one of those advantages is ignoring red lights when there is no traffic to yield to. I like to think that the people in cars, waiting at the light, get angry and jealous when they see how awesome and rebellious me and my bike are.
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Permalink Reply by wig [ isaac ] on
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was the COP in a SUV?
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Permalink Reply by Ryan on
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Yeah. Big white suburban thing. I see him at Lawrence and Elston all of the time pulling cars over. He sits in the bike lane so I notice it quite often as I veer around him. So I guess that's a "speed trap" or whatever... and I should just be on my best behavior there from now on.
And everyone has pretty much nailed down the issue - it's legality versus common sense practice. I'm pretty sure those battles don't get fought and won in traffic court, though.
wig [ isaac ] said:was the COP in a SUV?
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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on
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Dug's right.
notoriousDUG said:What principal are you going to defend?
It sucks and the cop was a prick because there was no need to write the ticket but he was in the right on this one. You entered the intersection on a red and that is illegal; if you saw a car do it would you want a cop to issue them a ticket?
This is a great example of why there needs to be bike specific laws.
It is also a great example of the fact that if you want to share the road and have laws enforced for cars you need to be prepared to have laws enforced for bicycles.
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I'd love to see a stop sign law that allows cyclists to treat stop signs as yields. Good example of a bike-specific law that would be worth fighting for.
I don't see that happening with red lights, though.
notoriousDUG said:On one hand I agree with you on this but on the other hand I think that bike specific laws would help a lot in areas other then the rare occasion a cyclist is ticketed in a situation like this where the letter of the law says it's illegal but common sense says it's fine.
When ever I hear people complain about cyclists one common complaint I hear is about cyclists breaking the law when they treat stop signs like yields and stop lights like stop signs; I think most of it has to do with jealousy over bikes making up so much time by being able to do this. If it where legal it would remove the legitimate legal part of the complaint and make it purely a impatience issue.
T.C. O'Rourke said:Regarding bicycle specific laws: I'd rather spend my time lobbying for meaningful change, not legalizing my otherwise courteous and safe behavior which is already tolerated.
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