Ticketing Cyclists for Speeding and Other infractions

[R3awak3n]

This thread will get locked soon but +1 on being nice and polite will NOT get you out of a ticket. I try it all the time and always get the ticket. I run all the counter measurements I can now a days. I am not a speed demon but I also despise speed traps.

As far as bike tickets, I got 1 in NYC in the 5 + years I lived there. Did not stop at a red light. As zzy said in nyc is a reactionary thing, someone gets run over by a car and next day there are cops are all the key zones ticketing for a week. Or end if the month, increases substantially. Of course I am always met with “only doing this for your safety”. I also once got stoped and after looking at my id the leo asked if I was a food delivery guy, not sure since my last name is foreign or my commute bike? He did let me go that day, maybe was looking for delivery dudes only ( a lot of delivery people are a bit crazy and usually a bit too much)

[charliedid]

Win some, lose some.

[Peter P.]

Originally Posted by glepore

Why do y'all feel privileged to ignore the law?
Particularly if these trail/roads include walkers.

But MY WORKOUT! MY STRAVA!

I'm a pathlete and I approve this message.

[AngryScientist]

Let this thread serve as a reminder that not everything you read on the internet is necessarily true.

[Mr. Pink]

Originally Posted by Mr B

NYPD are writing cyclists red light tickets in Central Park on a daily basis, right now. Saw the proof this past week.

Well, now that reasonable quantities of weed are legal, and they cant stop and frisk, let's go pick on the cyclists for our quotas.

[Mr. Pink]

Originally Posted by R3awak3n

This thread will get locked soon but +1 on being nice and polite will NOT get you out of a ticket. I try it all the time and always get the ticket. I run all the counter measurements I can now a days. I am not a speed demon but I also despise speed traps.

As far as bike tickets, I got 1 in NYC in the 5 + years I lived there. Did not stop at a red light. As zzy said in nyc is a reactionary thing, someone gets run over by a car and next day there are cops are all the key zones ticketing for a week. Or end if the month, increases substantially. Of course I am always met with “only doing this for your safety”. I also once got stoped and after looking at my id the leo asked if I was a food delivery guy, not sure since my last name is foreign or my commute bike? He did let me go that day, maybe was looking for delivery dudes only ( a lot of delivery people are a bit crazy and usually a bit too much)

I think that some delivery guys should be beaten with a stick on the spot for riding e bikes the wrong way on one way streets.

[thegunner]

Originally Posted by Mr. Pink

I think that some delivery guys should be beaten with a stick on the spot for riding e bikes the wrong way on one way streets.

or riding souped up e-bikes (cough, motorcycles) on the greenway.

[dsimon]

All these stories but Alas no one has posted their ticket..

[taz-t]

Originally Posted by ripvanrando

Your bigoted language clearly violated the user agreement and is clearly incorrect. Other aspects of your assumptions are wrong. Your foul language is wrong but who the heck am I to correct you for language that I have used on this forum, language that has deservedly earned me time outs.

I thought you would just it go if I said I was sorry. Since you called me disingenuous and did not let it, how about you go look up the word "incorrect" in the dictionary because it covers both aspects of what I said.

I do support the police and think the vast majority do a great and noble job and I also think like most professions, there are a few bad apples but to smear all of them like you did is wrong. Maybe your clients had records or were mouthing off or didn't have their hands on the wheel with the interior dome lights on for the police when they were pulled over. Showing a little respect towards police can go a long way.

Now you make it personal. So I'll address your points specifically, unlike you:

Bigoted language? - Unless implying that 50+ middle-class white males get treated differently by police, I've said nothing bigoted. Point to anyplace where I have. BTW, I *am* a 50+ middle class white male.

My language is 'incorrect' and I should look up 'incorrect' in the dictionary because (implied) I don't know the definition? - I'm pretty sure that 'incorrect' is defined as 'wrong', at least in common usage and I've yet to read anything from you that has the slightest factual response to demonstrate I'm wrong. If you mean 'inappropriate'? As in not sufficiently deferential to your opinions? Hmm, I suppose this could be true if I were concerned about your feelings - I'm not.

My profanity is wrong? Yes - I used it to emphasize my level of disagreement, but yes it's discourteous in an open forum.

"I thought you would just it go if I said I was sorry" - Apologies are expressions of contrition and remorse for harming another person. Saying 'I'm sorry' to express regret that you said something that caused an inconvenience to yourself is not an apology. Maybe *you* should take a look at a dictionary. Insulting the person you're making a so-called apology to (by calling them angry and triggered) is a good indication of your actual intention.

"Maybe your clients had records... blah, blah" - Nice straw man argument. I specifically said I'd witnessed police interactions that were identical to the one you described. And the police response was different, i.e. refuting your 'advice'. Now you want to change the circumstances and/or how one should behave in those circumstances (dome lights, hands on wheel, etc). I was wrong before - you're not disingenuous, you're intellectually dishonest. And yes that is a unflattering personal comment that's against forum rules - but accurate.

"Showing a little respect towards police can go a long way"... to getting convicted.

Obviously, there are good police officers and bad. How do you know which one blue lighted you and is walking up to your window? As I said previously and I stand by it, "Don't say anything" is the best way to protect yourself in either case.

I don't expect you to respond to my points so enjoy your day and continue offering advice on how to purchase a car. That can only harm someone's bank account, not get them arrested.

[benb]

Honestly if you're riding in a safety critical crowded area and it's egregious behavior and you insist on misbehaving I'd just deal with it. Some of these cities have had cyclists kill pedestrians so it's hard for me to say all cyclist behavior in city areas is harmless. Go fast if you want to but don't whine if you get caught, just pay the ticket and move on.

It's the same as complaining about getting caught in a motor vehicle doing 40 in a school zone or getting a ticket for passing a school bus over the double yellow while kids are entering/exiting the bus. It's just pretty anti-social behavior. It's way more obnoxious than doing 75 in a 65 on an uncrowded highway, or doing 100 in a 65 on a deserted highway.

Similar to sports cars & motorcycles, if you're going to go insist on going fast on the street do it in the safest place possible out on deserted country roads, don't do it in crowded areas where you can do the maximum damage if you screw up. And be a grown up and don't cry like a baby if you get a ticket. Back when I was into sport bikes the crew I hung out with was super harsh about riders being idiots and then complaining when they got caught. It worked and kept the group safe and funneled the younger guys onto the racetrack.

My last moving violation in a motor vehicle was spring 2001 FWIW and was a stop sign I ran which was just a legitimate mistake I fessed up to, I didn't see the sign. I'm a pretty courteous driver in a car or on a bike.

[Mr. Pink]

Originally Posted by taz-t

Now you make it personal. So I'll address your points specifically, unlike you:

Bigoted language? - Unless implying that 50+ middle-class white males get treated differently by police, I've said nothing bigoted. Point to anyplace where I have. BTW, I *am* a 50+ middle class white male.

My language is 'incorrect' and I should look up 'incorrect' in the dictionary because (implied) I don't know the definition? - I'm pretty sure that 'incorrect' is defined as 'wrong', at least in common usage and I've yet to read anything from you that has the slightest factual response to demonstrate I'm wrong. If you mean 'inappropriate'? As in not sufficiently deferential to your opinions? Hmm, I suppose this could be true if I were concerned about your feelings - I'm not.

My profanity is wrong? Yes - I used it to emphasize my level of disagreement, but yes it's discourteous in an open forum.

"I thought you would just it go if I said I was sorry" - Apologies are expressions of contrition and remorse for harming another person. Saying 'I'm sorry' to express regret that you said something that caused an inconvenience to yourself is not an apology. Maybe *you* should take a look at a dictionary. Insulting the person you're making a so-called apology to (by calling them angry and triggered) is a good indication of your actual intention.

"Maybe your clients had records... blah, blah" - Nice straw man argument. I specifically said I'd witnessed police interactions that were identical to the one you described. And the police response was different, i.e. refuting your 'advice'. Now you want to change the circumstances and/or how one should behave in those circumstances (dome lights, hands on wheel, etc). I was wrong before - you're not disingenuous, you're intellectually dishonest. And yes that is a unflattering personal comment that's against forum rules - but accurate.

"Showing a little respect towards police can go a long way"... to getting convicted.

Obviously, there are good police officers and bad. How do you know which one blue lighted you and is walking up to your window? As I said previously and I stand by it, "Don't say anything" is the best way to protect yourself in either case.

I don't expect you to respond to my points so enjoy your day and continue offering advice on how to purchase a car. That can only harm someone's bank account, not get them arrested.

I'm actually quite shocked that, after all this time, and all the incidents that have been documented, especially on personal video devices, including body cams, that somebody thinks that older, clean white males and persons of color are treated the same way by police. sheesh.

[C40_guy]

I got pulled over once, by an unmarked cop, downtown Bethesda, Maryland. I had signaled and moved from the right to the left lane, in preparation for making a left turn at an upcoming intersection.

Heard a siren behind me, didn't see the cop...kept going. Heard the siren again, saw the (hidden) flashing lights and pulled over.

Cop yelled at me, told me that I should not be on the road, that he could take my bike away.

I said "oh sorry" in the least disrespectful voice I could muster and the cop went on about his business.

I was 13 years old at the time. Already giving the finger to authority.

...even at that age I knew he was wrong!

[zap]

Originally Posted by C40_guy

I got pulled over once, by an unmarked cop, downtown Bethesda, Maryland.!

Too many MoCo police officers were not very knowledgeable and some drove recklessly. A call to the chief resulted in pretty quick apologies.

Cycling advocates in Montgomery County worked hard for years to effect change in the place department. We noticed improved behavior towards cyclists.

[C40_guy]

Originally Posted by zap

Too many MoCo police officers were not very knowledgeable and some drove recklessly. A call to the chief resulted in pretty quick apologies.

Cycling advocates in Montgomery County worked hard for years to effect change in the place department. We noticed improved behavior towards cyclists.

This *was* 1972 or thereabouts...I have vague recollections that I was on my Schwinn Stingray, which would make it no later than early '73...

[pdonk]

There was a critical mass protest ride tonight at high park. Would have gone, but it started at family dinner time and likely would have extended past putting kids to bed.