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Traffic ticket (bike)
Orogogus
San DiegoRegistered User regular
San DiegoRegistered User regular
A few weeks ago, a motorcycle cop gave me a ticket for not coming to a complete stop at a stop sign while on a bicycle. Pretty much true; it was a low traffic T intersection going with the flow of traffic on the intersection side, and I was in the habit of slowing down (or just not accelerating) enough to see that there were no cars coming or turning and then just going straight through. The citation describes my vehicle as a bicycle, but the courtesy notice I received today makes no mention of that, and the violation code (San Diego, 22450A) isn't bicycle specific, either. The bail is $239, and the traffic school option is $291. That sucks, but I'm also worried that they're going to put it on my driving record, which apparently in San Diego is up to the discretion of the officer or the court.
The options on the courtesy notice are pay ticket and accept a conviction, pay for and attend traffic school, or show up and plead not guilty. I hear this cop pulled over and cited one of my former coworkers and at least two other people that same day, so I assume there's little chance he'll forfeit his bounty by not showing up. Should I just take the traffic school option, plead not guilty and beg for leniency, or is there another option? Thanks for any advice.
The options on the courtesy notice are pay ticket and accept a conviction, pay for and attend traffic school, or show up and plead not guilty. I hear this cop pulled over and cited one of my former coworkers and at least two other people that same day, so I assume there's little chance he'll forfeit his bounty by not showing up. Should I just take the traffic school option, plead not guilty and beg for leniency, or is there another option? Thanks for any advice.
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As long as you've got the time, you should almost always contest in court.
That... Is a very specific web URL...
But mine was a stop sign!
But good to know. It hadn't really occurred to me that the judge and the cop might not be in cahoots. And it seems like there's no downside to showing up, other than having to take time off work. It seems like there's a good chance I might be able to just pay the lower bail amount and not have it go on my driving record, plus there's a bonus chance that the judge might be sympathetic.
Depending on your area biking on sidewalks may be totally legal and cause you to be treated as a pedestrian legally, so its worth looking into if you bike a lot.
Some of the sidewalks on the route were super wide, like 8 feet, and I'd usually ride on them to go against the flow of traffic. But most of the route was through a residential area where the sidewalk is narrow, crossed a bunch of driveways and went up and down, plus it was in plain old bad shape. In fact the city government was on a kick to get bicyclists in the road, repaving and painting the bike logo right in the middle of the lane to tell them that's where they should ride. I kind of never understood the bike-right-in-the-middle-of-the-lane theory, although I've seen people advocate it online. It seems absurdly militant in that I'd be holding up traffic for a 2 mile stretch right in the morning and evening commutes. I feel like someone would shoot me sooner or later.
-shouldn't be biking on the road at all
-should only be in specified bike lanes
-should remain on low population roads wherever possible
-bike on sidewalks as a pedestrial (while ceding the sidewalk to walkers wherever you encounter them).
Legally, it depends on your area but the center-of-lane is the legal suggestion in Florida whenever there isn't a bike lane. The reason is usually to encourage passing to only happen by full changing lanes as "partial" passing a bike with a car is dangerous to everyone involved and leads to most vehicular accidents against bikes.
My father in law commutes 45 minutes through dense urban traffic, and has some nasty injuries from doing it. He does it for exercise, but you really have to plan your route and be aware of context in your city and environment.
I can see the center-of-lane argument if there's a passing lane available, but it seems kind of non-ideal when there's only two lanes with a double yellow line in between. Cars would be stuck moseying at a sedate 15 mph or so.
If there was such good sighting, why didn't you see the police officer? Why couldn't that have been another vehicle that didn't see you either?
Guilty! $400 fine for wasting the court's time!
Ok, that's more than a question, it turned into a short soliloquy.
I am anxious about what happens if I show up and the judge is a jerk about it, but from asking around apparently throwing on additional fines for wasting the court's time isn't a thing that happens if you show up, speak politely and not be, like, stuffing food in your mouth while you're talking.
The cop might be stern, but it's not like they're going to have you tossed into debtor's prison for having the audacity to plead not guilty. Be polite, don't lie. Worst case scenario you pay your fine.
From friends I know that have gone to court for tickets something similar to what you did usually works.
Dress nice, be on time, be polite, tell the truth.
Do those and most of the time a judge will reduce your fine, and worst case is you have to pay the full amount. They aren't going to increase your ticket.
Limited time in the US and 5 tickets?!
Some counties also started passing local laws about what coming to a complete stop is for cyclists as well. Back home they were trying to define it as stopping the motion of the wheels and putting at least one foot on the ground.
If you slowed down and checked the intersection, say that as politely as you can. Lots of no/yes sir or ma'am. You're also concerned it could impact your drivers license, so it may be worthwhile to go for that reason alone.
Come on, 5 in 7 years is not so bad.
From 2000 to 2007, 2 for speeding, one for a rolling stop violation and 2 at once for expired inspection (by 2 days) and disturbing the public through excessive noise or something (listening to Alkaline Trio too loud). My memory is not that great but I think I only paid one of the speeding tickets. All the rest were dismissed in court. Maybe my use of "limited time" was not fitting.
Really, really bad. I've got 4 moving violations in...26 years? And it ain't for lack of trying.
Nevermind. I guess you are a better and more careful driver than I am. Good for you.
Refer to the judge as 'Your Honor'.
Steam Me
There are a whole bunch of factors other than the quality of driving that goes into getting tickets, and he did say that only three of them were actually moving violations.
Ya, my dumbest one ( least in court even judge just looked at what the charge was and looked at me and said " ok dismissed" ) was for "changing lanes too quickly after an intersection" when even the ticket itself mentions I was almost a kilometer from said intersection, and that I signalled/shoulder checked and everything. Was back in the quota era's.
edit: also it was 10 at night and the only 2 cars on the entire highway were me and the cop pulling me over.
My only actual got-pulled-over ticket was as a passenger. We go over a hill in my friend's shitty old white Civic and get pulled over. Cop walks up to my window and starts yelling at me. I look up at him in confusion and he goes, "Do you have any idea how fucking dangerous joyriding is?"
I am sitting there with lap full of unwrapped, half-eaten taco bell and just staring at him in disbelief. He still wrote me a ticket. I'm guessing he saw someone else do it, lost them over the hill, and was so wrapped up in his outrage that he had no way to back out when he realized how unlikely it was I did that.
I've also been pulled over for going 50 in a 30 zone. Made some sheepish comment about how I got distracted by my dance music and she told me to be careful, that she knew cops liked to camp that road, and let me go. So uh, it's good to be a white 20-something driving a family sedan.
Going 10 over the speed limit is still speeding and against the law.
Yes, everyone else was also breaking the law. They just didn't get caught.
Anyways, I think your best bet, as many others have said is to show up at court, dressed nice, be polite and humble. Most of the time you'll get out of it because of that or the cop didn't show.
I did. I should've fought it as I was a poor college student at the time, but I was also a dumb college student. So my hearing would've been set after I went back to Minnesota for school and instead of requesting an accelerated hearing I... didn't do that. Instead I just contested it with a written statement, which it turns out is not that effective.