Skipjacks

In Maryland we have automated speed camera generating tickets, run by private companies

These machines are filled with every kind of flaw and accuracy problem you can imagine. Not to mention the gross amount of flagrant fraud the program is filled with since a private company is given a financial incentive to issue tickets.

Baltimore had to shut it's program down after it was found to be giving speeding tickets to parked cars and stuff like that. (Temporarily. Then the same system went back online a year later with no changes)

But the system is rigged

You can easily beat one of these tickets in court. That's not the hard part.

But you can't sue the system and escalate your case to a higher court to get the entire ticketing system thrown out. Many have tried. But as soon as someone files suit the state or city dismisses the original ticket, removing any standing you have from being able to sue the system. So your suit is thrown out due to lack of standing (You can't sue someone who isn't causing you damages. If there is no illegal ticket against you, there are no damages and you have no grounds to sue)

Traffic tickets are a corrupt revenue stream that do little to make roads safer for anyone.

You want slower roads? Put in speed bumps. They are foolproof and 100% effective. But they don't bring in money.

AngeloDolce

You need to have Deer Crossing signs put up to tell the deer where to cross - you might try writing to the town council or newspaper, or having local radio stations spread your message

https://www.nwitimes.com/news/opinio...56d754a9b.html

Slightly more seriously, these laws are usually passed to let responsible citizens know the city will keep jerks on bikes from ruining things for honest people. At one point the Boston City council was proposing licensing and insurance requirements for bicycle messengers that were higher than for taxis, because we all know that taxi drivers are more courteous and safer than bicycle messengers.

KraneXL

Sociology 101. Were you paying attention in class? In fact, all of the above have been proven. So not MY assumption at all.

I-Like-To-Bike

Sure your assumptions are "proven." You said so and that settles it, right?

KraneXL

^^

For some here its like...

TKJava

Is 16 mph too fast? Well that depends. The article said in the first or second paragraph "bicycle paths" then the remainder of the article talks about what I assume are multipurpose paths in parks etc. In my area there are several places to walk, jog and ride bicycles on a dedicated path without interacting with cars. One path in particular stretches from the suburbs to center city which is a really nice (albeit flat) ride and cyclists can get going quite fast (20+ even 30 +). For the most part this is pretty safe however sometimes the aggressive cyclist pays little concern to people walking dogs, pushing strollers with babies, jogging etc. etc. These pedestrian activities are acceptable on this path and encouraged for the general welfare of the population. Folks out walking don't necessarily react perfectly when they hear someone yell "ON YOUR LEFT" and they should not be held in contempt for it.

I don't think as the article implies this is a revenue generator. I mean seriously think about how many tickets you need to hand out in order to see a meaningful positive impact to some budget. The expense to the enforcement agency will overcome the revenue. So why is this probably being done? I would say it's a kind of thing that keeps something in the back of your mind when your out there trying to train for the un-achievable goal of the Tour De France. Maybe you take it easy and not risk crashing into mom with the stroller or getting close-lined by a dog leash stretched across the path between the dog and the owner. This may be a way for the municipality to get out in front of a potential problem as maybe population and ridership increases.

I-Like-To-Bike

It is highly doubtful that this ("$500 ‘Speeding Tickets’ for Riding BIKES Over 15 MPH") is being done at all - given that the OP's source appears to a scare mongering article from a highly biased "project" with an agenda of reporting click-baited dogmatic us vs. them rants (i.e. - the evil forces in control of the government in general, and police forces in specific.)

Note the lack of any reference to anyone actually receiving "$500 ‘Speeding Tickets’ for Riding BIKES Over 15 MPH."

Also note that some people probably do not not need any reference to credible evidence to be sure that their paranoia is justified.

Drew Eckhardt 

It's whiny walkers that want "their paths" and are "uncomfortable" sharing them with cyclists.

Fit pedal cyclists in urban areas can't average 12 MPH on the roads because of all the traffic lights and stop signs.

I counted 24 lights and 10 stop signs on my 13 mile one way commute.

Conversely, there are zero of either on multi-use paths and those are almost empty with just a few runners and cyclists during the morning rush.

Boulder and Golden have much better riding.

rydabent

It not about safety, with cities it is about the money!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

rydabent

That level of fine is criminal. That said I personally try to limit my speed on MUPS to 15 mph. Neither cyclist or walkers OWN exclusive rights to MUPS!

Kent T

Do that with some of these lowered floor handicap conversion vans, and it's harmful to their suspension. And renting a replacement is like $600 a day. How about also mandating law enforcement radar equipment to be within 1% of accurate, and mandate equipment must be held to that standard, calibrated by a laboratory traceable to the NIST semi annually, and all radar operators must pass an FCC General Radiotelegraph Operator license with a Radar Endorsement. And all law enforcement radar equipment must be FCC Type Certified. No 3 hour short course to run radar. Closer to airport radar operator standards and accuracy. Every AM and FM broadcast station must comply with strict rules on their operation, so should law enforcement radar equipment. An AM commercial broadcast transmitter must be within 1 hertz accurate even if it was built in the 1920's. FM equipment must meet as tight requirements on frequency accuracy.

mr_bill

Apparently I’m a criminal. I have, when conditions permit, gone *gasp* 25 mph on a MUP, one of the most crowded MUPs in our nation no less.

My only worries at such speeds are squirrels and bunnies....

-mr. bill

Skipjacks

The stationary automated speed cameras we have here and never calibrated. It's how they give tickets to parked cars. Even then the video is supposedly reviewed and signed off on by a human for each ticket and they STILL send tickets to parked cars.

That's the number one way to beat these tickets. Show up in court and demand the state produce the radar calibration records. Usually they can't, often because it was never completed. Yet still....the state refuses to abandon it's little cash cow that profit off people being too lazy to go to court to fight the bogus tickets.

UniChris

Unfortunately, you are making up your "facts". The actual requirement is +/- 20 Hz. And for a fixed installation it can be achieved with a GPS-disciplined oscillator. That could work for some portable installations, but not all. In actuality if designed right speed radar doesn't need anything more than an everyday crystal.

I-Like-To-Bike

A cyclist should worry about being issued a $500 ticket by one of those pesky bunnies or squirrels about as much as any sane or rational person would worry, fret or agonize about getting a $500 Ticket from an agent of the wicked "b-crats" for riding a bicycle over 15 MPH.

burnthesheep

Less whataboutisms and more adherence to the law/rules.

I can sympathize with a commuter if the speed limit is 10 and you got a ticket for 15. I cannot if the limit is 15 and you got a ticket for 20+.

Just like with car speeding, you can easily and mathematically show the time differential for common commuting and errand running times is minimal savings at best.

If your bike commute is 10mi each way and you avg 15mph, that's 40min. At 20mph that's 30min. 10min sounds like a lot, but often these times are normalized and swayed by stops at intersections and lights and such.

Often making the difference 5 minutes.

I think the common sense is in having the speeds match the intended path use. Commuters? 15mph. Enjoyment trail? 10mph.

You can't on one hand argue about cagers trying to kill you on the road and demand bike lanes, strict laws and enforcement, etc.......then turn around and do the same things the car are doing on an MUP.

Now, that said............$500 is ludicrous for road or bike path. I'd say for a bike path $100 would be plenty.

UniChris

Something I've come to realize is that people pretty much have the same attitudes no matter what they are engaged in doing.

livedarklions

If that is the"bikeway" I think you mean, I do the same thing. There's several miles where doing that is nuts, but there's also several where it's basically straight and almost empty.

linberl

I guess it depends on where you are. The main pathway across the East Bay (opposite S.F.) is the Ohlone Greenway. There are stops signs at nearly every intersection it passes (not that most cyclists actually stop; they do ticketing stings every once in a while, though) and signal lights as well. The Greenway parallels a main thoroughfare, providing car-free-ish routes for commuters and others, but it's a dense urban setting and stops and lights predominate. Skilled riders typically take to the street and ride with auto traffic, as they at least do not have to deal with the constant stop signs (or risk a ticket when violated). Speed can definitely get up to 20mph between lights if you have are young and fit.

Leebo

I belive mass law does require a bell? Or did at one point.

livedarklions

It doesn't now. Just an audible signal that isn't a whistle or siren. Announcing a pass is fine.

conspiratemus1

So there's your answer.

conspiratemus1

The same wicked b-crats who used tax money (very likely mostly not yours unless you live in an expensive house) to build the path in the first place.

rydabent

Yeah just like ALL of the wheel tax goes to build roads.

bakerjw

They've tried to get a wheel tax in our county a few times. It always goes down in flames. I have proposed a tax on car farmers. You know, the people who let abandoned cars rot in the field in the hopes that new car plants will grow.
Seriously though. Why not a $25.00 tax per visible abandoned car? It'd give people motivation to have it hauled off for recycling.

Anyway. Not to derail.
One of our local state parks, Rocky Fork State Park, has a 10mph speed limit on it's trails. The trails are actually rocky roads going through the hills. It is a long climb going up to a place called Hidden Lake. The descent, at 10 mph, is ridiculously slow. In a meeting that I had with the park ranger about looking for alternate bikepacking routes through park to get across the ridge to North Carolina, I asked about the speed limit. He said that they needed a speed limit and it was just an arbitrary number that they pulled out of a hat. He advised, use good judgement and slow down around hikers.Real cool guy.