Anyone Gotten a Red Light Ticket on a Bike? I did!

So I admit I was rushing to meet one of Chainlink's new interns.... and ran the light at Newport and Clark.  Flashing lights on, cop points to me to pull over and writes me a ticket.   He said they get calls every day for car accidents caused by bikes running red lights in front of cars. 

No idea how much its for, he just told me my court date is early October and if I have questions to call 311 and give them my violation is V11-B.8c.

Here is my proof, with a wonderful "It's ok" figurine that someone from The Coop Coworking Space gave me.

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Permalink Reply by David P. on August 17, 2013 at 9:22am

Adam,

There is no requirement in any US state that citizens (I don't know about non-citizens) carry ID on them in public.

Adam Herstein (5.5 mi) said:

I believe you're still supposed to have some form of ID on you.

Juan 2-8 mi. said:

What if I don't have a driver's license?

Permalink Reply by El Dorado on August 18, 2013 at 1:07am

That ticket looks like a administrative city ordinance one. The worst that could happen is that the fine can double. If you don't show up for the hearing nothing really happens. No drivers warrant or drivers license suspension like a normal car speeding ticket. The cop must of been having a slow day or something. I know I 

Permalink Reply by Will on August 20, 2013 at 9:52am

Hey Julie, looks like you got off easy, compared with this NYC cyclist...

http://gothamist.com/2013/08/20/cop_allegedly_knocks_woman_from_bic...

Permalink Reply by Joseph Beemster on August 23, 2013 at 8:10am

Last year two of our bike riders ran a stop sign in the Barrington Hills area. This is the village that requires all cyclists to ride single file. They were ticketed and fined $50 each. So we are to careful to slow down at stop signs and never run red lights unless they don't change per State Law.

Permalink Reply by Chitown_Mike on August 23, 2013 at 9:58am

@tom

They can, and should if breaking the rules of the road.  If we want equal say and equal usage of Illinois roads, we need to ride in an equal fashion.  

I have seen/known several motorists with insurance claims because of careless cyclists that blew stop signs or red lights, hit the car/got hit by it, and then because they didn't have insurance and were at fault just get up and leave.  Watched one lady have an emotional breakdown at my chiro because she thought she killed the guy.  She was left with about $2000 in body damage in lieu if the emotional shake up.

FWIW, I am not some angelic cyclist, but I do my best to play by the rules so I don't give the image of a careless road using scofflaw.  

Tom Dworzanski said:

What the heck?! Cyclists aren't supposed to get tickets!

@Eric, unfortunately the Idaho Stop isn't recognized in Illinois (which I am sure you knew), so that would be a baseless argument with a cop or judge, and they would probably stick you for more money if they are legally able to.  Best bet until IL cycling laws change is to treat stop signs like stop signs, and red lights like red lights.  

Now advocating for the Idaho Stop Law I am all for, just doing it because it is what suits my personal purposes deserves a ticket when caught, IMHO.


Eric Roach said:

Yeah yeah yeah, I could've stopped at the next stop sign but I am a proponent of the Idaho Stop. Speaking of that, when they ask for the name of your bike tell them it is called the Idaho Stop :) That is what I will do next time!

Permalink Reply by Crazy David 84 Furlongs on August 23, 2013 at 10:22am

Chitown_Mike said:

They can, and should if breaking the rules of the road.  If we want equal say and equal usage of Illinois roads, we need to ride in an equal fashion.  

My Comment: Yes. That's pretty much right. But remember the cars don't follow the law either. Bicycles certainly should not be held to a higher standard because the consequences of failing to follow the law are not as high for the non-violator.

Chitown_Mike said:

I have seen/known several motorists with insurance claims because of careless cyclists that blew stop signs or red lights, hit the car/got hit by it, and then because they didn't have insurance and were at fault just get up and leave.  Watched one lady have an emotional breakdown at my chiro because she thought she killed the guy.  She was left with about $2000 in body damage in lieu if the emotional shake up.

My comment:   That’s also why car drivers have uninsured motorist coverage.  It works as well for uninsured bicyclists.   A few years ago my car was hit by a drunk bicyclist and had $2000 in damage.  It only “cost” me $500 because that’s my deductible.  And I was clearly not at fault.  I was at home asleep in bed when it happened.  The car was parked on the street and he hit it.  The only reason we know for sure is that the drunken bicyclist had to go to the hospital.

Chitown Mike said

@Eric, unfortunately the Idaho Stop isn't recognized in Illinois (which I am sure you knew), so that would be a baseless argument with a cop or judge, and they would probably stick you for more money if they are legally able to.  Best bet until IL cycling laws change is to treat stop signs like stop signs, and red lights like red lights.  

My comment:   That’s a bit extreme with respect to stop signs.  Cars don’t treat stop signs as stop signs either.   They California Stop..   Don’t barrel through them at 20+ mph, but if you slow up and can stop if need be and don’t threaten any pedestrians or get involved with cross traffic, the CPD’s not going to write you up.  And I would certainly argue, if ticketed, that  had, for purpose of the law, stopped…

 

Permalink Reply by Ivo Iliev on August 23, 2013 at 11:01am

I agree - an impact from a bike crashing into a vehicle/ pedestrian/ another bike is not the same as the impact from a vehicle that weighs several tons... I will keep crossing red lights safely with clear conscience

Tom Dworzanski said:

Today I was extra careful at red lights. As much as I hate to say it, learning cyclists actually get tickets has an impact.

That being said, the law really needs to change to allow cyclists to treat reds as stop signs where the cross traffic doesn't stop. That way we can get to a safe spot sooner and motorists don't have to wait on us.
Permalink Reply by Eric R on September 12, 2013 at 2:42pm
@Chitown_Mike
I always overlook replies, my bad. Anyway. I'm fully aware it isn't recognized in IL but that won't stop me from believin' :) Also, I didn't argue my ticket. I paid it and got back on my bike, practicin' Idaho Stops and all. Next time I do plan to tell the Police my bike is a Idaho Stop make and model.

@Eric, unfortunately the Idaho Stop isn't recognized in Illinois (which I am sure you knew), so that would be a baseless argument with a cop or judge, and they would probably stick you for more money if they are legally able to.  Best bet until IL cycling laws change is to treat stop signs like stop signs, and red lights like red lights.  

Now advocating for the Idaho Stop Law I am all for, just doing it because it is what suits my personal purposes deserves a ticket when caught, IMHO.


Eric Roach said:

Yeah yeah yeah, I could've stopped at the next stop sign but I am a proponent of the Idaho Stop. Speaking of that, when they ask for the name of your bike tell them it is called the Idaho Stop :) That is what I will do next time!

Permalink Reply by T.K. 3.5 mi on February 13, 2014 at 11:37am

Julie, what happened in court last October? 

I joined the ticket club last night in Greektown:

One officer (there where two of them) said that he would not be showing up in court. Also, he made a similar statement to yours:

He said they get calls every day for car accidents caused by bikes running red lights in front of cars. 

His was something like, "with more bikes on the road we are having more accidents from cyclists running red lights. Specifically, cyclists running lights and hitting cop cars is a problem." I had to chuckle at the second sentence and tell him that I try to follow these incidents and have never heard of a cyclist running a red light and hitting a cop car. Anyone have any insight on that?

My favorite part of the encounter was the group of 2-3 bikers running an adjacent red light and hollering at us while I was being handed the ticket. :)

This will not change my Idaho-ish riding habits, and I said this directly to the officers.

  

Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on February 13, 2014 at 11:50am

I've been meaning to update you all on the outcome and the lessons learned from the ticket.

Long story short,  the cop I guess put the wrong violation number down so they threw it out.   Again, I will explain more later in detail.

Lesson learned: I haven't run a red since and will probably never run one again (or it will be an extremely extremely rare occurrence (like it's 2am, not one car is around and 20 degrees out).

Permalink Reply by Eric R on February 13, 2014 at 12:07pm

Not all stop lights are created equal. Milwaukee/ Grand/ Halsted, gonna stop and wait for the green. Noble and Augusta (riding on Augusta), gonna take a looky loo then ride through... unless an officer is chillin' there in the AM, cause I don't want to get another ticket. :)

An epidemic of cyclists causing accidents and escaping uninjured? B.S. Sounds like an attempt to place blame on an easy scapegoat and get your insurance company to pay for it. Act of god - meh. Imaginary cyclist - now we have a case!

Permalink Reply by Jaik S. on February 14, 2014 at 4:38am

Agreed. Now we need to put that on a shirt.

Maybe some silly logo that shows a drawing of an empty simple four way intersection then a does not equal sign(≠) and a full/complex intersection.


Eric R said:

Not all stop lights are created equal.

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