bike light ticket

"genohm" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I received an arrest warrant for VC 21201D and VC 40508A. I had been
riding on the sidewalk without a bike light and was given a warning and
told to get a light- the officer had me sign a slip and told me to wait
to receive something in the mail. I never received anything until 9
months later when I got this arrest warrant. It says my bail is 361
dollars.

I have a copy of the slip that I signed, I didn't have my driver's
license on me, so the information that was written down on the slip is
my name, my hair color and eye color (which is wrong), my birthdate and
my bike registration.
Does anyone know how I can fight this, and can I actually go to prison
for not following up on a bike light?

All the tickets I have seen or known about, usually have information on the
back about what you are supposed to do about it. Does your's have that info
on it?
Well, it is probably going to cost you something no matter what you do.
One way is to hire a lawyer to go do all the work for you, maybe a traffic
ticket lawyer would work OK. But it could be very expensive.
Another is to simply go on down to the courthouse, see the clerk, and find
out what it'll cost etc. Most cities have an evening night court session
too.
Usually you can get in to see the judge and then explain to him what
happened. The judges are pretty good and they aren't like what you saw in
the movies.
But the court system is run like a business, so at the least you'll probably
have to pay court costs, maybe administrative fees or some such thing.
Sometimes the judge will even dismiss it.

Quoted message said:

riding on the sidewalk without a bike light and was given a warning and

Quoted message said:

told to get a light- the officer had me sign a slip and told me to wait
to receive something in the mail. I never received anything until 9
months later when I got this arrest warrant. It says my bail is 361
dollars.

I have a copy of the slip that I signed, I didn't have my driver's
license on me, so the information that was written down on the slip is
my name, my hair color and eye color (which is wrong), my birthdate and
my bike registration.
Does anyone know how I can fight this, and can I actually go to prison
for not following up on a bike light?

All the tickets I have seen or known about, usually have information on the
back about what you are supposed to do about it. Does your's have that info
on it?

Where do you live?
B

(remove clothes to reply)

B said:

Where do you live?
B

(remove clothes to reply)

Ok, I am following the rules. My clothes are off. I never knew you
could get a ticket while riding a bicycle. I hope you live in some
obscure place I have never heard of before. Otherwise I am in deep
[censored].
Maggie

On 1 Feb 2005 05:15:35 -0800, "Maggie" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Ok, I am following the rules. My clothes are off. I never knew you
could get a ticket while riding a bicycle. I hope you live in some
obscure place I have never heard of before. Otherwise I am in deep
[censored].
Maggie

Yes, Maggie, you can receive a citation for violations of the vehicle
code while riding a bicycle. Most common around here is for running
stop lights/signs, and there are intersections where enforcement of
that law is common (i.e., they sit and watch for offenders at times).
Light citations seem to be rare around here, probably should be more
common from what I see on the roads.

It sounds as if the OP got a citation, for some reason there was no
followup, and that a bench warrant has been issued for failure to
appear. Without knowing what was on the original citation (was there
an appearance date, instructions to follow up, etc.) it is hard to
comment further. In at least one regard the OP was lucky: since he
had no ID on him the officer could have taken him into custody until
ID was produced.

I think the take home lessons are:

You can be cited on a bike.
You should follow up on all citations.

- rick

Maggie said:

B said:

Where do you live?
B

(remove clothes to reply)

Ok, I am following the rules. My clothes are off. I never knew you
could get a ticket while riding a bicycle. I hope you live in some
obscure place I have never heard of before. Otherwise I am in deep
[censored].

Riding at night without a light?

Are you more than one child riding a bike that isn't built for two?

Is your child riding without a helmet and getting injured in the process?

Do you ride your chrome BMX bike wi' d' homies and hang out selling sacks and
crack?

Do you go blasting through stop signs at 25mph?

Then you aren't in such deep [censored]. Those are the things that usually get
cyclists ticketed.

Legislatures write laws about cycling, same as anything else. It wouldn't hurt
to make a call or do some googling to find out what they are in your state.

Now about the clothes thing - you've been getting pretty darn frisky since you
started working out....

Ron

genohm said:

I received an arrest warrant for VC 21201D and VC 40508A. I had been
riding on the sidewalk without a bike light and was given a warning and
told to get a light- the officer had me sign a slip and told me to wait
to receive something in the mail. I never received anything until 9
months later when I got this arrest warrant. It says my bail is 361
dollars.

I have a copy of the slip that I signed, I didn't have my driver's
license on me, so the information that was written down on the slip is
my name, my hair color and eye color (which is wrong), my birthdate and
my bike registration.
Does anyone know how I can fight this, and can I actually go to prison
for not following up on a bike light?

You have a few good possibilities here. The cop did not get your SS#,
required in the States, nor did he get your drivers license number, so
he has no way to prove that it was you instead of someone impersonating
you. Those two things alone should get you out. You probably want to get
a lawyer and make noise about suing the court for this warrant that
showed up in your mail with no previous warning and be prepared to pay a
bit, but in this case I would rather pay a lawyer rather than an
incompetent court system. If you had no ID for the police officer to
make a positive ID, then he was negligent in his duty by not taking you
down to prove your ID or to get fingerprinted or something. You should
be able to get out of this one, but not entirely free.
Good Luck, I've been there,
Bill Baka

On 1 Feb 2005 02:14:35 -0800, "genohm" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

I received an arrest warrant for VC 21201D and VC 40508A. I had been
riding on the sidewalk without a bike light and was given a warning and
told to get a light- the officer had me sign a slip and told me to wait
to receive something in the mail. I never received anything until 9
months later when I got this arrest warrant. It says my bail is 361
dollars.

I have a copy of the slip that I signed, I didn't have my driver's
license on me, so the information that was written down on the slip is
my name, my hair color and eye color (which is wrong), my birthdate and
my bike registration.
Does anyone know how I can fight this, and can I actually go to prison
for not following up on a bike light?

Hi, I would call the city attorney's office and talk to them about
what you can do to get the arrest warrant removed. It is an arrest
warrant, if you show up in person, they may arrest you. Usually, these
kinds of warrants aren't actively pursued. Another words, they won't
assign anyone to track you down and arrest you. But, if stopped for
some other reason, then you will be detained.
More info, on the what is written on the slip given to you, would
help.

Life is Good!
Jeff

B said:

Quoted message said:

riding on the sidewalk without a bike light and was given a warning and

Quoted message said:

told to get a light- the officer had me sign a slip and told me to wait
to receive something in the mail. I never received anything until 9
months later when I got this arrest warrant. It says my bail is 361
dollars.

[...]

Quoted message said:

Where do you live?
B

Probably California. VC 21201(d) is riding a bicycle at night without
a light, while VC 40508(a) is failure to appear in court.

Dennis Ferguson

RonSonic said:

On 1 Feb 2005 05:15:35 -0800, "Maggie" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

B said:

Where do you live?
B

(remove clothes to reply)

Ok, I am following the rules. My clothes are off. I never knew you
could get a ticket while riding a bicycle. I hope you live in some
obscure place I have never heard of before. Otherwise I am in deep
[censored].

Riding at night without a light?

Are you more than one child riding a bike that isn't built for two?

Is your child riding without a helmet and getting injured in the

process?

Quoted message said:

Do you ride your chrome BMX bike wi' d' homies and hang out selling

sacks and

Quoted message said:

crack?

Do you go blasting through stop signs at 25mph?

Then you aren't in such deep [censored]. Those are the things that usually

get

Quoted message said:

cyclists ticketed.

Legislatures write laws about cycling, same as anything else. It

wouldn't hurt

Quoted message said:

to make a call or do some googling to find out what they are in your

state.

Quoted message said:

Now about the clothes thing - you've been getting pretty darn frisky

since you

Quoted message said:

started working out....

Ron

Well, I am impressed with my progress and I have so little time left to
be frisky. Let me enjoy it. ;-)
Maggie

"b_baka" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

genohm said:

I received an arrest warrant for VC 21201D and VC 40508A. I had been
riding on the sidewalk without a bike light and was given a warning and
told to get a light- the officer had me sign a slip and told me to wait
to receive something in the mail. I never received anything until 9
months later when I got this arrest warrant. It says my bail is 361
dollars.

I have a copy of the slip that I signed, I didn't have my driver's
license on me, so the information that was written down on the slip is
my name, my hair color and eye color (which is wrong), my birthdate and
my bike registration.
Does anyone know how I can fight this, and can I actually go to prison
for not following up on a bike light?

You have a few good possibilities here. The cop did not get your SS#,
required in the States, nor did he get your drivers license number, so
he has no way to prove that it was you instead of someone impersonating
you. Those two things alone should get you out. You probably want to get
a lawyer and make noise about suing the court for this warrant that
showed up in your mail with no previous warning and be prepared to pay a
bit, but in this case I would rather pay a lawyer rather than an
incompetent court system. If you had no ID for the police officer to
make a positive ID, then he was negligent in his duty by not taking you
down to prove your ID or to get fingerprinted or something. You should
be able to get out of this one, but not entirely free.
Good Luck, I've been there,
Bill Baka

What clueless [censored], Bill. Police do not "get your SS#", and it's not
"required in the States".

And they do not have to get your driver's license number to issue a
citation.

The OP got a citation for doing something stupid (and probably for failing
the "attitude test"😉. He then was too dumb to read the back of the ticket,
explaining how to take care of it, and blew it off. Now, there's a bench
warrant, so the dumbass has to pay up, or go before the judge and beg for
mercy on the grounds of diminished mental capacity (which, in his case,
might be his most viable strategy).

GG

b_baka said:

You have a few good possibilities here. The cop did not get your SS#,

Quoted message said:

required in the States, nor did he get your drivers license number,

so

Quoted message said:

he has no way to prove that it was you instead of someone

impersonating

Quoted message said:

you. Those two things alone should get you out. You probably want to

get

Quoted message said:

a lawyer and make noise about suing the court for this warrant that
showed up in your mail with no previous warning and be prepared to

pay a

Quoted message said:

bit, but in this case I would rather pay a lawyer rather than an
incompetent court system. If you had no ID for the police officer to
make a positive ID, then he was negligent in his duty by not taking

you

Quoted message said:

down to prove your ID or to get fingerprinted or something. You

should

Quoted message said:

be able to get out of this one, but not entirely free.
Good Luck, I've been there,
Bill Baka

Bill-
You really should cease posing as an authority on matters when you
obviously haven't a clue about them.
First, that part of the US Code that authorizes the very existence of
Social Security numbers specifically states that States may *not*
require anyone to provide their Social Security numbers for reasons
unrelated to Social Security (taxes, etc).
Second, unless the State uses one's SS# as a DL# in whole or in part
(they can do that so long as they don't *require* a DL applicant to
provide that # and they have a system to create DL numbers without it)
ASFAIK *no* State's uniform citation and complaint forms even have a
space to write it in and I've probably seen citation forms from over
half the States.
Third, an offender can be detained at the scene of a *non-jailable
offense* for identification purposes but this idea you seem to have
that the officer should have dragged the *non-criminal* offender into
the station for fingerprinting is both contrary to constitutional law
and, to be charitable, really dumb.
Fourth and finally, you advise the OP to "make noise about suing the
court for this warrant that showed up in your mail with no previous
warning". IF he could find a lawyer dumb enough to be willing to try to
file such a suit I'd only hope that the lawyer was working for free.
Even at that, he'd be overcharging because: 1) while you can sue a
State, a Municipality, and even a judge you can *not* "sue a court" and
2) as any lawyer will tell you the most dangerous phrase in any court
is, "Judge, you can't do that." which would be precisely what such a
proposed suit would necessarily allege.

To the OP- go to the issuing court and appear before the judge. Take
all your paperwork (and cash to pay any fines and costs) with you. If
you are unhappy about the amounts of those fines and costs, ask for a
court date and proceed from there. It's really pretty simple even
though it may appear to be complicated. Oh, and quit riding illegally.
:-)

Regards,
Bob Hunt

genohm said:

I received an arrest warrant for VC 21201D and VC 40508A. I had been
riding on the sidewalk without a bike light and was given a warning and
told to get a light- the officer had me sign a slip and told me to wait
to receive something in the mail. I never received anything until 9
months later when I got this arrest warrant. It says my bail is 361
dollars.

I have a copy of the slip that I signed, I didn't have my driver's
license on me, so the information that was written down on the slip is
my name, my hair color and eye color (which is wrong), my birthdate and
my bike registration.
Does anyone know how I can fight this, and can I actually go to prison
for not following up on a bike light?

(I deleted rec.nascar from the group for this followup - I just don't
see the point)
Genohm - be careful of the clueless [censored] advice you get on this. In
general though, judges don't like it when you ignore citations. A call
to the courthouse telling them you want to make good but not get
arrested would probably get you a satisfactory result - but just in
case, don't go on Friday afternoon or you might be in jail all weekend.

I think your best defense is that you were riding on the sidewalk -
which may be against city ordinances, but out of the jurisdiction of the
Vehicle Code. The problem now though is not the traffic violation, but
the failure to appear. I suggest being polite, contrite and apologetic.

Quoting from Ca Vehicle Code (pay special attention to the first line):
21201(d) Every bicycle operated upon *any highway* during darkness
shall be equipped (1) with a lamp emitting a white light which, while
the bicycle is in motion, illuminates the highway in front of the
bicyclist and is visible from a distance of 300 feet in front and
from the sides of the bicycle; <snipped a bunch of stuff about reflectors>

--
My bike blog:
http://diabloscott.blogspot.com/

"genohm" wrote: (clip) I never received anything until 9 months later when I
got this arrest warrant. It says my bail is 361 dollars. (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
My experience was in California, which probably is characteristic of most
states. I got a ticket while driving my, and signed the ticket. My
understanding was that I would get a follow-up bail notice, which never
came. Some months later I got a notice that I was in violation for failure
to post bail or appear, just as you did. In checking the fine print, I
learned that it was my responsibility to take care of the matter, even if
they forgot to send me the follow-up. I ended up paying--what else could I
do?

The bail is usually equal to the fine, which means that forfeiting bail is
the same as paying the fine, which is almost always what happens. As
someone else has pointed out, since you were riding on the sidewalk, the
vehicle code may not apply, and you might be able to beat the ticket by just
appearing. Some judges are annoyed at officers who don't properly apply the
law. The other possibility is that the officer, nine months later, may not
be available to appear. If he fails to show up, I believe you will win.
For $361 it's sure worth a couple of hours of effort.

Tue, 01 Feb 2005 09:27:32 -0600,
<[email hidden]>, Jeff Starr
<[email hidden]> wrote, in part:

Quoted message said:

It is an arrest
warrant, if you show up in person, they may arrest you. Usually, these
kinds of warrants aren't actively pursued. Another words, they won't
assign anyone to track you down and arrest you. But, if stopped for
some other reason, then you will be detained.

I heard of someone being pulled off an airplane and spending the
long-weekend in jail for unpaid parking tickets.
--
zk

So why was this crossposted to rec.autos.sport.nascar??

Quoted message said:

I received an arrest warrant for VC 21201D and VC 40508A.
I had been riding on the sidewalk without a bike light and
was given a warning and told to get a light- the officer
had me sign a slip and told me to wait to receive something
in the mail. I never received anything until 9 months later
when I got this arrest warrant. It says my bail is 361
dollars.

Something very similar happened to me after I was ticketed for a
burned-out taillight in Southern California, and on Friday after
receiving the warrant I went back to find out what to do. I was arrested
in the courthouse, and spent the weekend with some very interesting
characters locked up in Los Angeles County Jail. My advice therefore is
not to do what I did, but rather call them on the telephone to ask what
you need to do.

--
"Bicycling is a healthy and manly pursuit with much
to recommend it, and, unlike other foolish crazes,
it has not died out." -- The Daily Telegraph (1877)

On 1 Feb 2005 02:14:35 -0800, "genohm" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

I received an arrest warrant for VC 21201D and VC 40508A. I had been
riding on the sidewalk without a bike light and was given a warning and
told to get a light- the officer had me sign a slip and told me to wait
to receive something in the mail. I never received anything until 9
months later when I got this arrest warrant. It says my bail is 361
dollars.

I have a copy of the slip that I signed, I didn't have my driver's
license on me, so the information that was written down on the slip is
my name, my hair color and eye color (which is wrong), my birthdate and
my bike registration.
Does anyone know how I can fight this, and can I actually go to prison
for not following up on a bike light?

and this has to do with nascar how?

Dennis Ferguson said:

B said:

Quoted message said:

riding on the sidewalk without a bike light and was given a warning and

>told to get a light- the officer had me sign a slip and told me to wait
>to receive something in the mail. I never received anything until 9
>months later when I got this arrest warrant. It says my bail is 361
>dollars.

[...]

Quoted message said:

Where do you live?
B

Probably California. VC 21201(d) is riding a bicycle at night without
a light, while VC 40508(a) is failure to appear in court.

Dennis Ferguson

Yeah, and failure to appear in court can get you 30 days in jail, or 90
if the judge is in a really bad mood. 9 months is an awful long time to
wait for them to mail out a warrant so somebody at the courthouse must
have messed up, hopefully bad enough for the ticket to be beaten.
Bill Baka

in article [email hidden], Leo
Lichtman at [email hidden] wrote on 2/1/05 11:42 AM:

Quoted message said:

"genohm" wrote: (clip) I never received anything until 9 months later when I
got this arrest warrant. It says my bail is 361 dollars. (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
My experience was in California, which probably is characteristic of most
states. I got a ticket while driving my, and signed the ticket. My
understanding was that I would get a follow-up bail notice, which never
came. Some months later I got a notice that I was in violation for failure
to post bail or appear, just as you did. In checking the fine print, I
learned that it was my responsibility to take care of the matter, even if
they forgot to send me the follow-up. I ended up paying--what else could I
do?

The bail is usually equal to the fine, which means that forfeiting bail is
the same as paying the fine, which is almost always what happens. As
someone else has pointed out, since you were riding on the sidewalk, the
vehicle code may not apply, and you might be able to beat the ticket by just
appearing. Some judges are annoyed at officers who don't properly apply the
law. The other possibility is that the officer, nine months later, may not
be available to appear. If he fails to show up, I believe you will win.
For $361 it's sure worth a couple of hours of effort.

These are both California infractions. 40508a is the failure to
appear, and the reason why they can threaten you with arrest. Back
in my younger days I racked up a couple of these. The solution is
to just go down to the court and request a court date. At the
hearing (which is an arraignment) simply be very nice and cordial
to the judge, always refer to him or her as "Your Honor", only talk
when he or she asks you a question, and explain what happened *when
asked*. Nothing will [censored] a judge faster than just blabbing in
court. If you are nice about it, and have some proof that the bike
light thing has been fixed, then the judge will probably dismiss the
failure-to-appear and the bike light both. Being nice in a room
full of jerks goes a long way.

Now, if you miss the court date, then the dung hits the fan. They
will issue a bench warrant, which is *much* worse here. This means
they will actually keep an eye out for you, and if caught they will
take you downtown and hold you for a few days. GO TO THAT HEARING
EVEN IF YOU ARE SICK!.

Zoot Katz said:

Tue, 01 Feb 2005 09:27:32 -0600,
<[email hidden]>, Jeff Starr
<[email hidden]> wrote, in part:

Quoted message said:

It is an arrest
warrant, if you show up in person, they may arrest you. Usually, these
kinds of warrants aren't actively pursued. Another words, they won't
assign anyone to track you down and arrest you. But, if stopped for
some other reason, then you will be detained.

I heard of someone being pulled off an airplane and spending the
long-weekend in jail for unpaid parking tickets.

That's why you heard of it, because it was extraordinary.

Ron