Bike Ticketing

I am guessing that the government has ways of collecting their money. On the other hand, with the millions of dollars of decades old parking tickets outstanding last year, they may not even care.

The fines are in a .pdf file at http://www.toronto.ca/cycling/pdf/hta.pdf

I wouldn't worry about whether you can evade to pay or not - it's not worth the effort since they'll eventually get you. Keep in mind that a fine paid immediately is cheaper than a fine paid later.

But the idea of (some) different rules for cyclists has merit. Permitting a Rolling Stop comes to mind....

A bigger issue at this time is to get vehicle drivers to respect cyclists and their rights. Once we got that cultural change achieved, it would be a good time to improve the laws.

They can and will destroy your credit rating. Push them enough and they could jail you.

Provincial Offences Act. 2002, c. 18, Sched. P,

Obtaining convicted person’s attendance

(6) A justice may issue a warrant requiring that a person who has defaulted be arrested and brought before a justice as soon as possible if other reasonable methods of collecting the fine have been tried and have failed, or would not appear to be likely to result in payment within a reasonable period of time. 1993, c. 31, s. 1 (26)..

I was given a $180 ticket on Saturday afternoon for going through a light just as it was changing from yellow to red.

Has anyone else received a fine of this size for this kind of offense?

It seems totally over the top to me.

Any suggestions on what I should do - guilty, guilty with explanation, request a trial?

Michael

A suggestion?: Set a good example and stop at yellow lights.

Step 1: Notify court that you intend on fighting it.
Step 2: Go to court to see if cop shows. Hope (s)he doesn't.
Step 3: Plead case saying you were distracted momentarily by ... insert here (a car, a hot girl, pedestrian jumping light, vagrant peeing on sign, etc). You realized light was changing but you were beyond the stopping point at that time (committed to passing through)
Step 4: Stop at all reds from this point forward for your own safety and that of others.

I have a friend who was ticketed on his bicycle for going through a stop sign without stopping. They asked for his drivers license and it was put on his driving record. Life is a lot simpler if you do your best to keep the rules and if you get a fine pay it and be done with it.

I would be a little careful about going through yellow lights on a bike anyway. If you have the time to stop you should for your own safety. It really cheeses off the car drivers to think you are running the lights on your bike. Any town I've ridden in where cyclists run the lights, we cyclists get treated like crap. Prime examples in my memory was Welland, ON. When I was a teen I think I was the only cyclist I saw stop for a red light there. Riding there was scarier than riding around Pearson International during rush hour. I also remember riding in Los Angeles, CA and Salt Lake City, UT. They were bad too and I noticed the cyclist there doing exactly the same thing. Cause and effect I doubt it. I just think cyclists and motorists were bit by the same stupid bug. Riding in TO is a piece of cake in comparison.

http://kincycling.blogspot.com

Get proper and competent advice. Cannot afford it, spend some time doing some research. A lot of the suggestions posted to your question are ill advised, some of it plain stupid.

Darren S, just in case you thought my advice was ill-advised, it was offered only in jest as obvious by some of my excuses. I agree as well that he does need some formal assistance. Obeying the laws would be a good start though going forward.

AaronM, you should spend the day in traffic court. You would be surprised as to what people will try because of what someone told them. It is some of the best comedy going.

There is certainly not enough info to know if the poster was actually breaking the law. If the story is as he states it, he probably was. Yet there would be several circumstances where he would not be. This is where he would need competent advice.

Oh I agree. OP, don't go into this blindly. Get advice. I've actually been to traffic court and yes, there are some comedic excuses. I've seen judges laugh, stop, and then scold defendants for wasting the court's time.

"A suggestion?: Set a good example and stop at yellow lights."

While I agree that following the same laws that drivers have to abide by builds respect on teh road sometimes you just can't stop...wet roads, cars, maybe you're just going too fast to safely stop.

There should be some discretion, however if it was clear that you could have stopped the ticket is warranted, if the cop was being an asshole then your fight is just.

Doesn't this lack of public knowledge speak volumes about the necessity for the police to shift some of their gears away from enforcement and many more towards education?

If people were following the letter, which often gets hazy a few months after your G2 Exit perhaps public service announcements, commercials, ads on the TTC (I recognize the irony) or 680 News etc., may be a good route to go.

The TPS could do some statistical surveying compiling a list of their most popular avoidable offenses and then begin looking towards ways of using the media to educate the public

Sure its not ironclad but it could help, and who knows save alot of time in overburdened courts, and maybe even a few lives.

Granted many people are stupid, ignorant, and make mistakes. But with a little faith there could be results.

Ticketing may not always be the best idea.

Think of it as a spanking you sure remember your painful bottom but thats it, sitting in the corner for an hour you at least spend some time thinking about why you're there staring at a blank apex.

I do not think the police have enough resources to be burdened with education. Education programs, especially through media, are very expensive.

The problem is not education anyways. It is political. Certain practices have been ignored in an effort to make things work. Delivery vehicles parked in the bike lane is a good example. They are overlooked because the police feel that it is a necessary evil and do not want to deal with the political pressure if they ticket them. Photo radar is another fine example. It was killed for political reasons only.

Then cyclists have to be the ones creating the political pressure to get the cycling agenda moved forward, including the issue of dealing with parking in bike lanes as well as better laws and appropriate space on the roads for cyclists.

Political pressure
is about showing up at Toronto Cycling Advisory Committee meetings
or Works & Infrastructure committee meetings at City Hall
and showing face.

Writing about it on some blog tucked away in a fold of the Internet coccoon
does nothing.

Education comes from the community, not the authorities.
Education is not expensive. It is the same as common sense.
Common sense gets forgotten because Toronto cyclists are generally stupid and careless.
You want education? Start teaching others thru exemplary behavior.
An intersection is a dangerous place. Approach it as if your life depended on stopping.
Treat your bicycle like a vehicle, ride with lights, stop for stop signs.
Others will see, imitate, and follow. That's education.