STOP sign ticket

[marshalolson]

As usual, maggots are quick to make excuses for increasing totalitarianism in America.

Who ever would have thought that people who enjoy gravity sports would be such chickenshits that they want the Po-Po to protect them from themselves?

Not me... at least, not until I read stuff responding to my post about being harassed by a Po-Po about 2 yrs ago.

Apparently a lot of y'all just like The Rules and think The Rules are there to Protect Everyone.

When they're not.

they are there to make a profit off of you.

that does not change the fact that you cannot bitch about getting a failure to stop citation when you didn't stop.

period.

do i think the cops should have something better to do than that? absolutley. do i think its trivial? for sure. would i ever complain on the internet about it? absolutely not.

[frorider]

i'm just chuckling at the notion of a LEO getting a to-go bag from dunkin donuts, nestling himself in the bushes after clearing away some trash and used condoms, and hanging out there all day busting bike riders.

a career dream come true!

[Zeppelinskier]

I got "pulled" over the other night for long boarding thru a red light and stop sign.
This has also happen on a bike but I never got a ticket, in my case it was late at night. Is that law a city to city thing or maybe how big of a cunt cop you run into..?

[BushwackerinPA]

As usual, maggots are quick to make excuses for increasing totalitarianism in America.

Who ever would have thought that people who enjoy gravity sports would be such chickenshits that they want the Po-Po to protect them from themselves?

Not me... at least, not until I read stuff responding to my post about being harassed by a Po-Po about 2 yrs ago.

Apparently a lot of y'all just like The Rules and think The Rules are there to Protect Everyone.

When they're not.

x2

if everyone just stopped paying traffic tickets for laws that have nothing to do with safety we would put a hurt on the budget. They could not arrest us all.....

again stop signs themselves ARE NOT needed.

There are entire countries that make due with almost no stop signs. Right now the status quo is such as it let the goverment tax US without OUR permission.

[Jer]

wow, that seems really fucking trivial for a cop to write that kind of a ticket. Lame.

x2

I've been pulled over for blowing stop signs and speeding on a bike. When the cop asked for my lisence I laughed at him and said "Seriously? I'm riding a bicycle". Every time they let me off with a warning. Toolbags.

[BS720]

How's your driving record? If you go to court with an immaculate record, you could pretty easily pull off that "my first time" thing. You could take traffic school, get a reduced fine, and skate on the points option

I have mixed feelings about this whole thing. I think that you should choose between auto or pedestrian law, and stick to it. I hate bikers that slalom onto the sidewalk and back on the street. That said, I don't understand why a biker needs to stop like a car does.

If it makes you feel better, I got a ticket last month in North Beach. I was ON FOOT, on Columbus. I walked up to the light, it was red. No cars were coming, so I started to walk. Two motorcycle cops swooped down off the hill and nabbed me. One point on my license, and a $187 ticket. Walking.

[karpiel]

Before getting rid of stop signs, we need to have a REAL driving test. How often do you see someone who actually knows how to use a yield sign, turn signals, merge points...

[radam]

^^
I think that's a fair point.
On more than one occasion in the past couple weeks I've had drivers stop where they don't have a stop sign to let me proceed (when I'm the one that does have a stop sign). Some of the drivers just sort of stare at me like I'm holding them up. It's tempting sometimes to see how long this can go on, but I usually have better things to do.
But yeah... I'd be fine with getting rid of stop signs provided the average driving IQ was a little bit higher.

[marshalolson]

you are only as strong as your weakest link.

[garuda]

in marginally related news, perhaps of some comic value to the OP, this morning as I was riding to work, I caught up to a group of three bike cops out for a morning "patrol." Of course, I start singing "Bad Boys" theme song, although probably not loud enough that they hear it. We are rolling down to a stop light that is red, but about to change. Two of the officers realize this, while the third, and one at the center/front of their formation must have been fixated on the red. So he comes to a complete stop. The other two anticipate the changing light and do not. Result = one cop rams the stopped cop, going over the bars into the street. It was quite enjoyable to watch this all go down from behind, especially since there was only going to be bruised egos, not any real injury. ........carry on.

[Beaver]

you are only as strong as your weakest link.

Oh god, the human race is doomed!!!

[marshalolson]

Oh god, the human race is doomed!!!

well, the united states anyways.

[enak5]

although i am a big fan of bikers needing to abide by traffic signs like cars do, 500 bucks is rediculous. a car has to come to a stop, hence your hard break, so i would suggest fighting it that way. when you r really trucking, its a pain to stop for red lights when they're no cars, stop signs when no one is in 2 miles, but we have to if we want the respect we deserve as bikers. good luck in fighting that, i believe youll have a strong case

[supermodel159]

How's your driving record? If you go to court with an immaculate record, you could pretty easily pull off that "my first time" thing. You could take traffic school, get a reduced fine, and skate on the points option

I have mixed feelings about this whole thing. I think that you should choose between auto or pedestrian law, and stick to it. I hate bikers that slalom onto the sidewalk and back on the street. That said, I don't understand why a biker needs to stop like a car does.

If it makes you feel better, I got a ticket last month in North Beach. I was ON FOOT, on Columbus. I walked up to the light, it was red. No cars were coming, so I started to walk. Two motorcycle cops swooped down off the hill and nabbed me. One point on my license, and a $187 ticket. Walking.

Damn dude...that IS bad. Traffic school?

[tom111869]

Pathetic what California cops are doing in an attempt to pump money into the state.

[BS720]

Damn dude...that IS bad. Traffic school?

Yeah, I can. It takes the point off. My insurance didn't go up for that single point, though, so I haven't been in a rush to get it done. I think it's best to save it for that one big speeding ticket(not gonna happen in my car, plus, I haven't driven in three months).

Pathetic what California cops are doing in an attempt to pump money into the state.

You have no fucking clue. I was walking on Leavenworth the other day, catching a train home. There's a guy on the corner selling tar, and two cops 10' away harassing one of those people selling CD's on a blanket for not having a license to sell on the street. 50' Back up the street, there's a guy passed out on the sidewalk with a syringe sticking out of his arm. I interact with cops on a daily basis, and I think there are many that are in it for the right reasons. I think there are some that are out to crack heads, and god save the queen if you run into one of them.

I heard last Winter of a cyclist in a small town on the Peninsula that is riding a bike, runs a light, and strikes an officer's car. Maybe a little more rational use of a $580 fine.

[stuckathuntermtn]

This is ridiculous. Granted it's a stop sign, but stopping and starting in a car doesn't ordinarily require you to get out and stand over it.

[InspectorGadget]

Police officer pulls over bicyclist, claims rider ignored a stop sign
Riders are required to obey traffic laws just like drivers are
by Jay Hamburger OF THE RECORD STAFF
Posted: 09/24/2010 04:12:08 PM MDT


A Park City police officer pulled over a bicyclist in Old Town in mid-September, stopping the man after watching him ride through a stop sign without first stopping, the Police Department said.

Rick Ryan, a police captain, said officers occasionally stop bicyclists seen breaking traffic laws. Ryan said the officer involved in the Sept. 15 case warned the bicyclist but did not write a ticket. A ticket could have been issued, the captain said.

According to Ryan, the man was riding a green mountain bike at the intersection of Marsac Avenue and Ontario Avenue at just before 8 p.m. when he rode through a stop sign. The officer treated the case like a traffic stop involving a driver, including turning on the flashing lights of the police vehicle, Ryan said.

Bicycle riders are required to obey traffic laws such as stopping at stop signs and at red lights. Ryan said bicyclists endanger themselves if they do not obey traffic laws. He said bicycle riders in Park City normally follow the laws.

"I think bicyclists in the city are pretty astute to traffic issues," Ryan said, indicating he has pulled over bicyclists in the past for not stopping at stop signs or creating a traffic hazard.

Park City has a die-hard bicycling community of mountain bikers and people who prefer road bikes. Bicycle riders, though are regularly seen riding through stop signs without stopping, like the one reported in Old Town, and violating other traffic laws like changing lanes in an unsafe manner.

Charlie Sturgis, the executive director of Mountain Trails Foundation, a not-for-profit group dedicated to expanding local trails, said in an interview he rarely hears of cases involving a police officer stopping a bicyclist. He said, though, he receives complaints from people claiming a bicyclist was not abiding by traffic laws.

"I think it's a fair call on part of the Police Department," Sturgis said, acknowledging that bicyclists must follow traffic laws and saying that bicyclists generally make an effort to abide by the laws.

Bicycling is popular throughout Park City, and riders are especially seen in Old Town in the summer and fall, many drawn to ride the trails that climb the mountains ringing the neighborhood.

http://www.parkrecord.com/park_city-news/ci_16165979

[stuckathuntermtn]

There are too many intersections without stop signs in Montana and no one, at least in Missoula, seems to understand how they work. It's also a bit unnerving and I don't drive a very big car or have side airbags.
As far as pollution and idling cars: Maybe if everyone didn't drive around at least 5mph below the speed limit, they'd make the lights.
If you get enough jaywalking tickets, do you have to drive everywhere?
I'm gonna go drive to Blue Mountain, as fast as I can, and go for a quick ride.

[pointedem]

. Saying that you are special because you are a cyclist and shouldn't have to follow the rules is a whiney bitch move.

.

100% agreed.

However... Given two cyclists on the road- they both blow the same stop sign and po writes them the same ticket. One cyclist has a drivers license, car insurance, ect. The other cyclist does not, he does not drive a car. The insured cyclist will end up paying more for the same ticket then the non-motorist cyclist (insurance rate increase, points on license, ect). Why should a non-motorist cyclist wind up with a lesser penalty when they were ticketed for an identical violation?


$580 for a fucking stop sign violation on a bicycle? I'm pretty sure you can be driving double the speed limit... in a school zone... and still not wind up with a $580 ticket. That is beyond ridiculous.

[Spats]

would you do a rolling stop in a car? why do it on a bike? people who commute on bike and don't fallow the traffic laws piss me the fuck off and give a bad image of the biking community as well.

No.

The same people that argue that bicycles should ALWAYS OBEY EVERY TRAFFIC LAW!!!111!!1! also scream at bicyclists for using their right to ride in the traffic lane and slowing them down for three seconds.

You can't have it both ways. Either bicycles are just like cars and get to use a lane just like you do, and you can simply wait for the next passing zone. Or, they are not just like cars and should have to move over for you...and they shouldn't have to stop at unoccupied intersections, either.

Note that in Idaho, bicyclists are legally allowed to treat "Stop" signs as if they were "Yield" signs. This has been true since 1982, and it has not increased accident rates.

So much for that argument!

[ShawnB]

^^^ Nope.

Bicycles are allowed on the roads, as traffic, and when there are subject to all the same laws as other traffic. PLUS they are, like farm vehicles, assumed to be generally slower than other traffic, and when that is the case, must therefore place themselves as far to the right as practicable, so as not to impede other reasonable and lawful use of the roadway.

Taking the lane is fine if you're moving as fast as other legal traffic. Taking the lane is not fine if you, your tractor, or your damaged vehicle are not able to move as fast as other traffic. This is not in question -- it's already on the books and has been since before anyone here was alive. The shit is already all worked out. Arguing it philisophically is, at this point, dumb.

The existing code makes a lot of sense and can work really well -- when both enforcers and citizens are aware of the established laws and their inherent compromises. I realize that's rare on both sides, but that doesn't mean you can just debate away the need to follow preexisting safety laws in the first place, because you're ignorant of them, or because it's slightly convenient for you to do so, and plus: you know better. That's so damn boring, and besides, I don't trust you to know better, in anything -- unless maybe I know you personally. BUT: that's no way to run a civilization, now is it?

[Spats]

^^^ Nope.

Bicycles are allowed on the roads, as traffic, and when there are subject to all the same laws as other traffic. PLUS they are, like farm vehicles, assumed to be generally slower than other traffic, and when that is the case, must therefore place themselves as far to the right as practicable, so as not to impede other reasonable and lawful use of the roadway.

^^^ No, you're still wrong.

"As practicable" often involves being in the lane -- due to nonexistent shoulders, staying far enough away from parked cars to not get doored, and/or a shoulder that is full of broken glass, wheel-catching sewer grates, and giant potholes that never get fixed because they're not in the roadway.

Yes, what looks to you like "a perfectly good shoulder" may not be ridable. Around here it's because the shoulder is full of little utility covers, each in its own several-inch-deep pit.

Then, there are the drivers who assume that bicycles can balance exactly on the white line when there are perhaps six inches of pavement beyond it. Would you drive with your right wheel on the white line? No? Then I can't ride my bicycle there either, tiger.

This is not in question -- it's already on the books and has been since before anyone here was alive.

Oh, really? Show me the vehicle code that says that bicycles must pull over to let cars by if there is no safe place to do so.

[BushwackerinPA]

who actually come to legal stop everytime biking?

I look(to make sure I dont get creamed) but its human powered starting and stopping isnt efficient at all.

[tromano]

who actually come to legal stop everytime biking?

I look(to make sure I dont get creamed) but its human powered starting and stopping isnt efficient at all.

Not very many.

Its even more inefficient to stop and restart a 3000lb vehicle. I wonder how much fuel is used at an average stop sign in a week.

But cyclists just notice it more than drivers do.