Ticket in NYC for Bike Rack blocking License Plate
04-10-18, 09:29 AM
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Ticket in NYC for Bike Rack blocking License Plate
Anyone try to fight a ticket in NYC for a bike rack that "blocked" the license plate?
I have a picture and you can clearly see all letters/numbers of the plate.
Thanks
I have a picture and you can clearly see all letters/numbers of the plate.
Thanks
04-10-18, 09:44 AM
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Ticket in NYC for Bike Rack blocking License Plate
Anyone try to fight a ticket in NYC for a bike rack that "blocked" the license plate?
I have a picture and you can clearly see all letters/numbers of the plate.
Thanks
I have a picture and you can clearly see all letters/numbers of the plate.
Thanks
04-10-18, 09:49 AM
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Go to court, show picture, case closed. I didn't even have to argue. I just showed a picture, printed on posterboard to lifesize at Walmart. "A polaroid would have worked, but that's some effort" -Judge.
At least that is what happened to me in Florida for "obscured license plate"
At least that is what happened to me in Florida for "obscured license plate"
04-10-18, 09:58 AM
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You need a license to ride a bicycle in NYC??? 
Is it time to move?
Is it time to move?
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The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. - Psalm 103:8
I am a cyclist. I am not the fastest or the fittest. But I will get to where I'm going with a smile on my face.
The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. - Psalm 103:8
I am a cyclist. I am not the fastest or the fittest. But I will get to where I'm going with a smile on my face.
04-10-18, 10:12 AM
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Good luck... NYC tickets are figured into the budget.
04-10-18, 10:17 AM
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The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. - Psalm 103:8
I am a cyclist. I am not the fastest or the fittest. But I will get to where I'm going with a smile on my face.
The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. - Psalm 103:8
I am a cyclist. I am not the fastest or the fittest. But I will get to where I'm going with a smile on my face.
04-10-18, 10:37 AM
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Good lord you have to fight it?
Around here something like that would be a 'fix it' ticket. Meaning it's a ticket IF you don't fix it within 30 days. If you do, you just go to any police station, show them you fixed it, and they delete the ticket from the system so it's never actually filed.
You get those for things like taillights being out, missing licence plate lights, obscured plates, illegal tint, etc
Around here something like that would be a 'fix it' ticket. Meaning it's a ticket IF you don't fix it within 30 days. If you do, you just go to any police station, show them you fixed it, and they delete the ticket from the system so it's never actually filed.
You get those for things like taillights being out, missing licence plate lights, obscured plates, illegal tint, etc
04-10-18, 10:46 AM
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You have a picture, but is the photo taken from the perspective of someone sitting in a car behind you or from whatever perspective the cop who wrote the ticket was looking at your car?
04-10-18, 12:13 PM
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Also keep in mind that NYC police use automated license plate readers (those white boxes on trunk lid) and if THOSE don't function, then LFE loses a "critical surveillance tool" that they've deployed. (skip the debate on *that*)
04-10-18, 04:07 PM
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I would also say to look up the law for NY and NYC. In Texas the law allows for license plates that are partially obscured by bike racks that are installed "in a customary or common manner." Quotes aren't exact to the law but the law would be defined in the same manner. Sometimes unscrupulous cops are hoping the ticketed party won't be familiar with the law and will just pay the fine without contesting it.
04-10-18, 04:13 PM
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I was warned once in Illinois but not ticketed.
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04-10-18, 04:51 PM
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Originally Posted by New York Vehicle & Traffic Law, Section 402
(b) Number plates shall be kept clean and in a condition so as to be easily readable... and the view of such number plates shall not be obstructed by any part of the vehicle or by anything carried thereon, except for a receiver-transmitter issued by a publicly owned tolling facility...
04-10-18, 04:55 PM
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Bikes are okay, I guess.
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Regarding the "fix it" deal, you can go to court and try your explanation but expect to pay court costs regardless. They're gonna get your money one way or the other.
04-10-18, 05:01 PM
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There's no such exception here.
New York Consolidated Laws, Vehicle and Traffic Law - VAT § 402 | FindLaw
New York Consolidated Laws, Vehicle and Traffic Law - VAT § 402 | FindLaw
04-10-18, 11:06 PM
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so glad I don't live in NYC. Or Russia, or China, or North Korea....
04-11-18, 02:25 AM
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I don't think disciplinary measures against impaired vehicle identification or traffic safety (racks and more so their cargo often also obscuring rear lights) call for a comparison to communist regimes. Driving isn't a basic right and every driver agrees upon honoring the traffic laws upon acquiring a drivers license and automatically renews the agreement whenever entering public roads. German (and western European police in general) are so thorough about things like these that hitch mounted bike racks aren't even sold without duplicate rear lights and usually also a duplicate plate mount because the cargo -will- obscure the plates or rear lights in 99.9% of cases. Normally this would be a thing of common sense, but apparently people lack common sense so much that it needs to be made a law.
04-11-18, 07:24 AM
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In Missouri pick up trucks over a certain size aren't even required to have rear license plates. Have to have one on the front, though.
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04-18-18, 10:32 AM
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It's generally not an issue unless the municipality is grasping for any revenue it can find.
04-18-18, 12:59 PM
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in my opinion a pretty classic misuse of police resource.
Can't the cop find something better to do, like issue a ticket for a tinted window?
Can't the cop find something better to do, like issue a ticket for a tinted window?
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Two wheels good. Four wheels bad.