Warning you could be fined $110!
When this issue was raised in our Council meeting on May 5, 2008, the mayor asked: if this is true (obviously questioning the veracity of the report), then I’d like to know about it. Well, I’d like to know more about it also.
I have asked our City Staff to answer this question and I will follow up as I get answers.
Here is my email to Council and City Staff:
As I said in our Council meeting, whatever the City’s position is with respect to ticketing, it should be a policy that is clearly communicated to our citizens.
Whatever the real intent of what would seem to be a very different position on when and why to ticket, this communicates to the citizenry, that the City is trying to fleece the citizens of every penny possible. It diminishes respect for our police who work hard to protect us.
I would like to know how our policy changed and who discussed this change.
Also, will we now be ticketing pedestrians who cross against a red light or avoid crosswalks and jaywalk? Again, I am not indicating a particular position what should be ticketed, but I am very concerned about what creates the appearance of tricking our citizens, so we can take their money.
- Ron Suarez
To the Mayor and City Council Members:
I first heard from a student/lifeguard at the Y that she was ticketed by two
patrolmen on bicycles recently for having run a red light while bicycling,
even though she stopped and made sure that there was no oncoming traffic in
sight. The ticket was for $110. A few days ago, at the corner of First
and West Liberty, my husband and I saw the two bicycle policemen stop and
ticket a cyclist who obviously was traveling home from work. He did not
appear to have interfered with traffic, either, and he seemed flabbergasted
at receiving the ticket.It would seem that the majority of bicycle riders in the City of Ann Arbor
do not realize that they can be ticketed and made to pay this high fine for
riding a bicycle through a red light. Perhaps the problem is that bicycles
can at times ride on the sidewalk in Ann Arbor; in fact, some of the
bicycles routes are designated to be ON the sidewalk. Furthermore,
pedestrians are not ticketed for jaywalking through a red light, so there is
a mixed message here, it would seem. Sometimes cyclists are treated like
motor vehicles having to obey traffic rules on the road and at other times
just like pedestrians, in that they can be on the sidewalk. To be fair, it
appears that either a change in the ordinance should be effected or, if it
continues to be vigorously enforced, extensive education that it exists and
goes along with a fine of $110, would be in order.Supposedly, Ann Arbor is one of the top three best bicycling cities of its
size in the United States. Let’s keep it that way.Thanks very much for your attention to this matter.
Anna Ercoli Schnitzer
Ann Arbor
8 users commented in " DON’T BICYCLE THROUGH RED LIGHTS! "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackDo you know how much a jaywalking ticket costs in Ann Arbor? I like your reasoning. The criterion should be closer to jaywalking than the rules for a car. Another note is that bikes sometimes will not trigger the signal at intersections that are controlled by the loops in the pavement. In some cities, a pause and proceed when safe rule applies to bikes and motorcycles.
As regards concerns about ticketing jay walkers: I believe that Ann Arbor has no law against jay walking.
This was a recommendation from the Bicycle Coordinating Committee before it was disbanded a few years ago. Of course, at the same time, we recommended that the police ticket motorists for passing cyclists too closely, that the police conduct crosswalk sting operations to ticket motorists for failure to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks, and that the police ticket motorists for stopping in crosswalks at traffic signs and signals. As well, the police need to recognize that only a few triggered signals in town are designed to detect bicyclists. Bicyclists should definitely stop and wait at *timed* signals and at triggered signals when there is also a motorist there to trigger the signal. However, bicyclists are supposed to treat triggered signals that don’t detect them as defective and as stop signs.
We bicyclists should expect to follow the same rules as everyone else and be ticketed when we don’t, but we should also expect the police to deal with the rampant unsafe passing of bicyclists that happens in Ann Arbor. Until they do, they’re really just enforcing SE Michigan anti-bicycle bigotry.
I agree that this policy direction needs to be clearly communicated to cyclists in the city. There is widespread ignorance of traffic law amongst cyclists. Articles in the News, bloggers, bike shops and information packets for incoming freshmen could help. Cycling advocates in town are fully behind increased ticketing for cyclists that ignore the law. The fact is that if your are riding a bike in the road you are the operator of a vehicle with the same rights and responsibilities as an automobile driver. That includes stopping at red lights and waiting for the green. Period. Full stop. If you don’t like it change the law. Traffic safety depends on predictable behavior. I should also say, that riding through red lights is dangerous and creates an image of irresponsibility that promotes disrespect for all cyclists by motorists. We need to work to build respect on all fronts. Right now it’s a war zone out there.
Phillip Farber
I thought jaywalking was our municipal sport. It’s certainly a tradition.
Ha, if this law is true I want to see a “high speed” bicycle chase where a cop on a mountain bike is trying to catch a good cyclist on a road bike.
[...] A Warning From Ron Suarez Published May 9, 2008 annarbor , bicycling Ron reminds us cyclists that we need to be cautious about riding through red lights: Also, will we now be ticketing pedestrians who cross against a red light or avoid crosswalks and jaywalk? Again, I am not indicating a particular position what should be ticketed, but I am very concerned about what creates the appearance of tricking our citizens, so we can take their money. [...]
Mr. Suarez,
As a law abiding bicyclist, I am offended by cyclists who blow through intersections. Mr. Suarez, you were invited to attend the Same Road - Same Rules Forum on May 7. If you had attended you would have gotten the strong impression, as I did, that responsible bicyclists in the city are united in support of issuing citations to cyclists who break the law. I applaud the efforts of our AAPD patrolment, and hope more tickets are issued until more cyclists learn to obey traffic laws.
As other respondents have noted, if a stop light does not detect the cyclist, then the cyclist may proceed through the intersection when safe. But the cyclist needs to know for sure the signal isn’t detecting them. Southbound State at Packard does not detect a bicycle in the left turn lane (an arrow). I always come to a complete stop when I come to this intersection and verify that I’m not detected. Regardless of traffic. I’ll proceed without the green arrow after the traffic controls go through a complete cycle. Why so fastidious? To demonstrate to motorists that I take safety seriously and abide by the law.
If cyclists behave responsibly, verify that the signal is defective, procede with caution and get ticketed … they simply need to contest the citation. The signal is defective - the city needs to fix it! But from what I routinely see in the city, that probably isn’t the case. Thank you, AAPD, for enforcing the laws! Responsible, safe bicyclists support the patrolmen’s efforts 100%.
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