Originally Posted by
50PlusCycling
Running a red light on a bicycle in most places will get you the same ticket, same fine, same points on your drivers license, and same hike in your insurance as you would get if you were driving a car. Yet most cyclists seem to run stop signs without a second thought. That usually changes after they get a ticket.
Maybe true
some places, but absolutely
not most. Twenty states do not consider a bicycle to be a vehicle-- and beyond that, as a license is not required to operate one in
any state, there's no way to gets points on your
driver's license (or have your license affected in any way) from any infraction incurred while on a bicycle. Same for insurance. Your insurance cannot penalize you for a violation on a non-vehicle. What you get is a ticket-- which is generally accompanied by a fine. Similar to a ticket for a cracked windshield or a headlight out in a car. Bicycles are not cars, and the laws in place for cars do not generally take bicycles into account. So I reciprocate.
Jurisdictions would only target cyclists as a source of revenue. There is no applicable public safety issue-- maybe 1-2 people a year get killed by someone on a bicycle (fault notwithstanding) while cars hit over 130,000 pedestrians a year, and kill one every 88 minutes.