indyfabz

Don't do the crime if you can't do the time.

sdmc530

Very correct!!

curbtender

I ride with a few retired cops. We discuss these issues quite often. Their attitude was pretty much the tree in the woods scenario. If they didn't see you do it, it's not a crime. My favorite was when one of them got pulled over at the veterans home in Yountville by a security guard. He ran a stop in the parking lot and the guy came unglued on him. I laughed, and told him I would be a witness at his hearing. He now regrets me being anywhere near that one.

Razorrock

Arkansas passed a new bike law last summer. Cyclist can treat a stop light like a stop sign and stop sign as a yield sign.

DrIsotope

Meanwhile, the biggest effort California is making is to allow cyclists to legally proceed straight from a dedicated right turn lane. Which is something I do every single day I'm on the road, because I'm in favor of not getting run over by a car.

Genuinely not surprised by the sheer volume of "letter of the law" folks in this thread. They're always worth a chuckle.

I-Like-To-Bike

The sanctimony of the would-be McGruffs also is good for a laff.

BlazingPedals

You can't expect to have it both ways. We want car drivers to follow the laws. But many cyclists want to make up their own rules as they go. The trouble is, drivers don't know and can't predict what made-up rules the cyclist might be following. If a car driver decides to make up their own rule at the same time a cyclist does the same, BAD things can happen.

burnthesheep

They don't, even cops roll red lights and stop signs. What's new about that?

Around here cops are 100% in tune to speeders and drunks. Almost zero focus on reds and the other petty stuff. The intersections with problems they plant a red light camera there. They do ticket, but it's gotta be pretty bad. They're also really tolerant of a clipped-in half mph roll for a turn. They're not THAT stupid here to know how a bike works, or a motorcycle. I bet they do "get it" more since motorcycles are really common here and they have the "red light cycle" law for stops.

DrIsotope

If you think that you are in some kind of symbiotic relationship with drivers, you're deluding yourself. People behind the wheel do not regard bicycles as anything more than an impediment, without regard to how the person operating the bicycle is behaving. I don't expect anything from drivers, because they will inevitably disappoint. I've been cut off-- badly-- by cars with bike racks on them, with bikes actually on the racks. The mindset of a cyclist and that of a driver are often diametrically opposed. I don't give a tinker's damn what anyone behind the wheel thinks of me, so long as they do not bring their vehicle into contact with mine. Traffic laws are in place because people can and will behave in such a way as to endanger the lives of others. No matter what level of scofflaw I achieve, I put no one other than myself at risk-- my mode of transportation is not a ton and a half of steel that operates on captive explosions . That's just the point-- cycling on an open road is a calculated risk, just as is jumping a light or rolling a stop sign.

A cop ticketing a cyclist for rolling a stop sign is absurd, because it implies that financial burden = individual safety; you get a ticket, you'll be "safer in the future." It's hogwash. People operate cars distracted, driving at whatever speeds they see fit, and are willing to endanger the lives of others in order to get home a little sooner. I ride a bike for purely selfish reasons-- I'm spending time alone, doing something that is beneficial to no one but myself. So when I ride, I follow my own set of rules, and the written rules be damned. Because those rules set forth by the city, state, county, or whomever are not interested with my safety as a cyclist, full stop. I am full in my faculties, and know how to behave in such a manner to maintain my safety. I don't need to come to a full and complete stop at every single intersection, because I can judge every single intersection as it should be treated, and proceed safely with anything from a complete stop to not even slowing down. Safety is not guaranteed by any posted sign or written law. It is maintained by calculating risks, and acting appropriately.

You're every bit as likely to get hit from behind while standing at a stop sign as you are to get right hooked, or pulled out in front of by a driver simply not paying attention. There are variables that can never be eliminated, so long as one chooses to ride on open roads. So I travel bearing my own safety in mind. I don't care what drivers think. Wanna honk at me because I didn't full-stop at that four way and you had to? Go right ahead, at least that means you saw me. Do you know how many times in 50,000 miles I've almost run into a car? None. Zero. It's never happened. Do you know how many times a car has pulled in front of me out of a parking lot, or squeezed me into a curb to make a right turn, or any number of "I swear I just didn't even see him" type of situations? How much time have you got? I never once relied on the law to protect me. I relied on me to protect me.

CoffeedrinkerNC

just another road user that thinks they are better than the law. Not following the rules makes you the same as the cage drivers you complain about,

Troul 

Driving a motorized vehicle that is operated by an individual & meets the requirements of necessitating a title & registration requires proper licensing/certification. That type of requirement is to also adhere to road laws established for the privilege of having the license/certification.
I bicycle does not meet the above requirements, & a bicycle is not based on privileges. In America, operating a bicycle is a freedom of choice & often for improving one's health.

FlMTNdude

Something I thought about as reading this. All of my emergency info is available off my locked home screen. I don’t have a drivers license with me if not commuting or going to the store. I just wonder how they would process that.

Miele Man

I treat dedicate right turn lanes as dedicated right turn lanes if I'm riding straight through. I signal and then merge left into the right-most straight through lane. that avoids the dreaded right-hook of a vehicle passing me and then turning in front of me in that dedicated right turn lane. Personally, I think riding straight through in a dedicated right turn lane is a dangerous thing to do.

I've nearly been hit a few times (as I proceeded straight in the right most through lane) by bicycles and vehicles that went straight through a dedicated right turn lane rather than turning as they should have done.

Cheers

DorkDisk

NY here, with some practical advice to the OP: try to avoid more tickets, as the price escalates. A friend got hit with two red light violations on his bicycle, one for 500 and the last for 1000. Apparently he already had one ticket prior.

rebel1916

If you commit an infraction and can't be identified you can be held until your identity is established.

rebel1916

This is not a thing.

rebel1916

Holy cow that was hilarious.

Notso_fastLane

Just another forum poster without a sense of perspective. Not allowing for common sense makes you the same as authoritarian bootlickers.

See how fun this can be!

Daniel4

There's someone here in BikeForums who had a thread about how to run red lights and stop signs properly. I guess that's why the OP got a ticket. It wasn't done properly.

I don't know how to run reds and stop signs properly so I don't do it.

Paul Barnard

You have never ridden in traffic if you don't understand how breaking the law can enhance cyclist safety. Get some experience then come back and have an informed discussion.

Paul Barnard

Every single time drive or ride I break the law. It's that way with every one I know, everyone I have observed and everyone I have has an honest discussion with. If I am ever fortunate enough to get a ticket riding my bicycle, I am going to frame it.

OBoile

Yes, everyone breaks the law.
But only some people seem to think it's unfair that they get a ticket for breaking the law when they get caught breaking the law.

CliffordK

I've been subjected to police harassment, police intimidation, and police flagrantly breaking the law.

And, a lot of these tickets are absolutely irrelevant. The OP stopped, then we assume proceeded when it was safe, perhaps even putting himself in a more visible location on the road. Did he enter a traffic lane before green?

So... no... I won't lie in court (unlike the criminal police officers), but will ask for my day in court.

CoffeedrinkerNC

I understand riding in traffic, I rode a bike back in the late 80's and early 90's. I've been riding motorcycles on the street from the late 80's. So, yes i understand.

indyfabz

And actually improve auto traffic flow. I think a lot of drivers don't understand that. Here is Philly, our many narrow streets and things like delivery trucks blocking lanes scream for the Idaho Stop law.