Traffic Ticket

[Jason B]

@jabberwocky 32905 wrote:

Yeah, the expensive ticket sucks. But he’s unlikely to win trying to fight it, because what was done was actually against the law. .

I wouldn’t be too sure about that. I recently spent a day in traffic court for an expired license. I unfortunately was one of the last cases to be called, so I essentially sat through about 50 cases. I was blown away by how many cases were thrown out, or reduced for cases ranging from excessive speeding to blowing stop signs. Using the pedestrian cross with a bike is wrong but honest, semi-misunderstood mistake. I would roll the dice and try to get this excessive fine thrown out or at least reduced to a manageable amount. This all depends if traffic court is worth your time.

[dasgeh]

You may have grounds to challenge the amount of the fine. I believe in DC, fines for bikes are capped at $15 or $50 (I looked it up for a friend a while ago and just can’t remember, though in his case the cop had charged him the car fine, so the ticket was invalid). It’s worth looking around and seeing if the cop screwed that part up.

[jabberwocky]

@dasgeh 32919 wrote:

You may have grounds to challenge the amount of the fine. I believe in DC, fines for bikes are capped at $15 or $50 (I looked it up for a friend a while ago and just can’t remember, though in his case the cop had charged him the car fine, so the ticket was invalid). It’s worth looking around and seeing if the cop screwed that part up.

Crystal City is in VA though. I would be totally unsurprised if the VA fine was that high. Worth looking into, I suppose.

[mstone]

@jabberwocky 32915 wrote:

Just as a data point, I’ve seen Fairfax PD enforcing crosswalks along the W&OD several times around Reston over the years (by which I mean warning and ticketing cars that fail to yield to people crossing or blocking the crosswalk while stopped). So it does happen.

Yes, it’s not completely unheard of. It is kind of sad that it’s rare enough to be noteworthy.

[txgoonie]

I’m sure if I got that ticket I’d be equally fired up about it, unclejed, as you are clearly a cyclist in the know. That said, there seems to be rather widespread, uh, liberal interpretation of traffic laws in Crystal City by CaBi users. It’s probably attributable to ignorance more than anything else, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there has been some squawking in that community about the CaBi program. It’s understandable b/c Crystal City infrastructure royally sucks for bikes–between the one-way streets and inconsistent bike lanes, we’re somewhat set up for failure. However, I can say that I’m tired of playing chicken with CaBi riders who, for example, are salmoning down Crystal Dr. south of 23rd rather than going around the block and down Clark St. to get to the station at Crystal Dr. & Potomac Ave or points south. Again, could be ignorance b/c people just don’t know that that’s technically how they should go if they want to travel southbound. But it’s an unsafe situation for everybody and folks need to be edumacated that it’s super uncool to do that to fellow cyclists. Issuing tickets is not what I would advocate doing to address it, but frankly I don’t know what I would advocate to reach the CaBi audience.

If it’s worth it to you, I would contest the ticket. Like others, I’ve sat in traffic court and even if you totally did what you were ticketed for but weren’t a total pain to the officer, the gesture of showing up usually results in a reduction.

[mstone]

A ticket for going the wrong way down the road is something I could get behind as it puts a lot of other people in danger (serving cars, oncoming cyclist with nowhere to go, etc). The problem arises when someone decides to “do something” and “teach someone a lesson” by targeting something easy but benign rather than something actually dangerous (but which requires more effort).

[Tim Kelley]

So what’s the strategy to fix the problem?

[baiskeli]

Convince the judge that instead of being a vehicle pretending to be a pedestrian, he was a pedestrian pretending to be a vehicle, and should be charged with jaywalking for crossing outside the crosswalk, instead of running a red.

[mstone]

@Tim Kelley 32928 wrote:

So what’s the strategy to fix the problem?

Don’t just go along with pointless enforcement, push for enforcement against behaviors that cause death or injury to others.

[OneEighth]

There are two separate issues.
The issue of the OP’s ticket is his to sort out.
The question of how county resources are used and whether this sort of use indicates excess FTEs in a tight budget climate is an entirely different (and political) matter. If you are so inclined to change enforcement priorities, go after the funding for the activity you don’t like. ie, talk to the County Board. Perhaps with special emphasis on that board member who is focused on a certain upcoming Tuesday in November. And, don’t forget, Arlington has a Sheriff whose officers provide what is arguably a duplicative service when it comes to traffic enforcement.
And, know your edges.
This is general advice and does not necessarily reflect my views on enforcement or on the OP’s issue specifically. Just food for thought.

[Jason B]

@Tim Kelley 32928 wrote:

So what’s the strategy to fix the problem?

Personally, I can’t have it both ways. I can’t expect cars to treat me with respect as a car as I move into the lane, and at the same time cruise into the pedestrian wallk as a back alley to skip a red light. Gaining the respect of car drivers totally out ways the minute wait, so personally i’ll wake up earlier….but I still say, the fine is way too high, and i would try having it reduced.

[OneEighth]

One more thought (blame the snarky geese)—my suggested approach is applicable in other situations, say regarding how a federal agency such as NPS uses appropriated funds for enforcement efforts or for rumble strips and signs at road/trail crossings.
Don’t get me started on how FOIA can come into this.

[mstone]

@Jason B 32933 wrote:

Personally, I can’t have it both ways. I can’t expect cars to treat me with respect as a car as I move into the lane, and at the same time cruise into the pedestrian wallk as a back alley to skip a red light. Gaining the respect of car drivers totally out ways the minute wait, so personally i’ll wake up earlier….but I still say, the fine is way too high, and i would try having it reduced.

Personally, I have not witnessed much “respect” for anyone on our roads, so I’m not going to reduce my safety in hopes that someone will deign to give me some. Your reference to leaving early so you don’t have to save a minute trivializes the very real decisions we all need to make about our safety. It is a quite rational decision to decide that crossing an intersection during the red cycle is safer than getting mixed up in traffic when the light turns green, regardless of how much time it takes or saves.

Driving to work this morning I had multiple encounters with bad drivers, including a guy who passed me on a double yellow because I was driving too slowly (the speed limit) through a residential neighborhood that has a lot of ninja road joggers, another that honked because I wouldn’t move into a dangerous position to facilitate his illegal turn, and multiple people so engrossed in texting that they didn’t notice signal changes. Had I been on a bike this morning instead of a car, any of those incidents could have been much more dangerous–and no imagined halo of righteousness would have protected me. We don’t need to be treated the same as cars, because motorists treat each other like crap and we’re too vulnerable to play that game.

[vvill]

I find myself agreeing with those that say it’s a ridiculous enforcement and fine, considering what sort of behaviors (vehicle, bike, etc.) one witnesses on a daily basis in and around DC. The officer saying “it’s for your safety” (paraphrasing from original post) is particularly irksome. It’d be more palatable if the officer said “Gotcha! Easy money.” and rubbed their hands together.

At the same time, I do watch myself whenever I see any sort of police officer or vehicle. I don’t agree with all the laws but if there’s a possibility of enforcement I will be extra careful.

[washcycle]

1. Check the fine. As someone else noted, the fines for bike infractions are often less than for cars, and I would not be surprised if a police officer didn’t know that. In DC fines are lower, but I don’t know about DC.

2. In some place, but not here, cyclists are allowed to go when the ped light is green (the LPI or leading Pedestrian Interval). WABA actually suggested that such a provision be added to a DC law recently. It’s a reasonable policy, but probably won’t become law in Virginia any time soon.

[Author]

Posts