"Swearing at the cops and trying to evade arrest probably didn't help though"
http://road.cc/content/news/16542-cyclist-fined-£700-after-jumping-red-light
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Cycling News
"Cyclist fined £700 after jumping red light"
(9 posts)-
Posted 14 years ago #
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Serves him right! Now if they could just take on catching a few drivers catching jumping red lights.
Posted 14 years ago # -
Seem's a bit excessive.You'd get less for speeding or jumping a red in your car (I know you'd get points on your license but you can get points on your license for bad cycling too you know)sounds like they wanted to make an example of him.
Posted 14 years ago # -
Well, I suspect that a motorist trying to evade arrest or fleeing police would get a pretty hefty fine or worse.
And it was not just RLJ, but also cycling w/out lights and on the pavement. Sounds like a right menace to me.
Posted 14 years ago # -
You're right!! string him up!! ;-)
Posted 14 years ago # -
Sorry to contradict you recombodna, but the points on a driving licence for cycling offences is an urban myth that refuses to die.
From L&B Police: http://www.citycycling.co.uk/issue9/issue9page21.html
There are various other bits of research I've done into this, but basically all comes to the same conclusion, you cannot get points on a driving licence for doing something wrong on a bike.
And the headline on that article is as misleading as a Daily Wail effort. He also was riding without lights at night, rode on the pavement, and failed to stop for the police when requested to do so. Okay, so £700 is probably still OTT, but he wasn't fined that amount simply for running a red.
Posted 14 years ago # -
p.s. should have read SRD's comment in full!
Posted 14 years ago # -
I stand corrected. I should have known there would be a city cycling article on this subject :-) I was told this by the policeman who stopped me on salamander st one night for cycling without lights ( I didn't need them I was on the pavement) I'd consumed a bottle of red wine and about 6 cans of strongbow and it must've shown because he breathalized me( I also tried to out run his volvo).......I passed the breathalizer!!! I don't know who was more surprised me or him...so he tested me again on another machine he had and I passed again. Before sending me on my merry way he gave me a stearn lecture on the dangers of riding a bike under the influence and said if I'd failed the test I could have points added to my license.
Disclaimer:- I'd like to add that this was a LONG time ago and I now realise that it's WRONG to cycle up the pavement at night pissed with no lights. I was Punk as F*** then though!! ;-) ;-)
Posted 14 years ago # -
I don't understand how he could have shot a red light if he was on the pavement. Both are illegal but mutually exclusive, since the law on red lights states that only if you cross the white line do you commit an offence. Confusing!
It is a bit funny that the going rate for killing a cyclist is 3-6 points plus a modest fine, if you're even prosecuted at all, but for jumping a light (albeit with some aggravating factors) a much bigger fine is given. I guess this reflects the balance that society has between out-groups and in-groups when it comes to lawbreaking?
On the other hand, seen against £2500 for claiming a life, £700 for shooting a light on the pavement without lights while escaping the police sounds about right. Just as £60 for driving through a light compares OK with £350 for taking a life.
So perhaps the only problem is that the scales of motorised vs non-motorised crime are wholly unaligned?
Posted 14 years ago #
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