#19 Ticket
For the March CM ride I was wearing #19 T-Shirt of the set of 49 shirts given out at the start of the ride. After the police intervention at Park Ave South and 18th St, I was riding solo uptown. Ran into a group of less than 12 cyclists at Park Ave south of 40th St, who were shadowed by about 6 scooter cops. I rode with this group as it turned east on 40th St, to 3rd Ave. We stopped for the red light at 3rd, waiting on the left side of this single lane street, to make a left turn. Note, a very large Hampton Jitney bus was parked on the right side of 40th partly filling the roadway lane on the right - there was insufficient room for a bike and motror vehicle to share this part of the roadway.
Cyclists mixed with motor scooters turned left onto uptown 3rd Ave. Cyclists were all moving across to the right side side of 3rd to use the right lane. I was approximately 50 to 75 feet north of the 40th St intersection and in the nest to the right hand lane when a Scooter Officer yelled "Number 19 Pull Over." We stopped on the right side of the roadway.
I believe that I was stopped for being #19.)
Note that the officer consulted with his Sergent about filling out this ticket - so his selection of the cited NYS VTL versus the correct NYC code may have been reviewed by his senior officer.
This ticket took about 20 minutes to write out. At the same time, a platoon of about 18 scooter cops was assembling on the SE corner of 40th and 3rd Ave - the Officer was part of this platoon. It appears that the Officer wanted to get in a collar just before he had to stop for his unit's assembly here.
The officer demanded my identification but I insited to know why he stopped me before handing over ID. Finally, reluctantly, the officer said that I was pulled over for failure to ride on the right side. Telling him he was wrong, I gave him my ID. The Officer was not particularly abusive, but was clearly clueless as to the traffic laws and particularly to the bicycle traffic laws.
I have photographs of the Officer issuing the ticket. Attached Below
LAW CITED ON TICKET:
"V&T" "412(P3)"
(this citation is a garbled version of the City Admin Code: 34 RCNY 4-12(p3) - It is NOT from the state V&T law. Even the way the code citation was written - 412 instead of 4-12 indicates a lack of knowledge of this law and of legal citation in general. There was no lack of time or lack of support - his Sergent was advising him - as an excuse why this officer got it wrong. This cop did not have a clue)
There was a second ticket issued for "failure to obey a lawful order."
# 19 went to court - court won - cyclist zero
As you may recall from the last episode, I got a traffic ticket on the March 2007 Critical Mass night.
It was allegedly for failing to ride to the right side of the road, when I was making a left turn from E 40th St onto 3rd Ave, and the cop pulled me over 75 feet north of 40th St while I was already one lane from the far right side.
It was actually for wearing Critical Mass T-Shirt Number 19 on the night of the ride.
The ticket stated that I violated NY State DMV rules and then used the NY traffic code number "412(p3)". Apparently "slightly defective tickets are not invalid, but still, this scooter cop was clueless to the traffic law.
The traffic court hearing was set back by the DMV 3 times, from Aug - to Sep - to Oct - and then to this morning.
The DMV letters also changed the alleged violation to Biking Off Lane in NYC.
And, I also got a "Failing to Comply with Order" ticket because I questioned the cop about why he stopped me.
So I go in to the traffic hearing ready to show that it's legal to be riding in the left according to NYC law, that I was on the far right when I was stopped and that there are no bike lanes on 40th St or 3rd Ave. Copies of the law, photos of the street showing no bike lanes and the NYC DOT bike map showing no bike lane.
In summary, the cop lies - he flat out states that he followed me down 38th St and not 40th, and then says he followed me two blocks up 3rd Ave where I was supposedly riding up the middle of the avenue. Shit, I was totally blindsided by this lie. I had even taken photos of riding with the police scooters on Park Ave past 38th St and then down 40th St, but I didn't make prints because I didn't think I would need them.
The cop readily admits that there are no bike lanes and his original ticket didn't say I violated them. Ok, but then why did my letter from DMV change the charge, and just what charges am I supposed to be responding to? The hearing officer never tried to explain how and why the charges could be changed on the fly, and if they are proved wrong, they can go back to some other charge.
The hearing officer believes every word the cop says, and finds me guilty on both charges. Total of $130 in fines.
A couple of weeks ago Jen Benepe wrote up a review the the new bike law book and an analysis of an incident she had with a cop at a turn in NJ. One thing that her review failed to address is what happens when the cops are willing and anxious to lie about the whole incident. Too many judges and hearing officers are ready willing and able to take every word from a cop as the sworn truth and the word of a cyclist as trash. You may think you have the law and the facts on your side but get to court, and you find neither.
Are there any experts on filing an appeal to a traffic ticket who can assist me? It appears that besides filling out the form, there is the need to write in the reason for the appeal. I would like to know what can be said here, and if I can still introduce prints of the photos of us riding down 40th St and not 38th St. It would be nice to get this cop for perjury, or at least have the tickets dismissed.
It's so nice to see democracy in action, up close and personal.
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