fonzo.biz

Now that Spring is approaching, I figured it would be a good time for me to yank the good ‘ol bicycle off the rack and put those good ‘ol fashioned pedal powered wheels in motion. The destination? My local gym. My thinking was that I would save myself some miles on my car, some gas, and the hassles of parking by simply riding my bike to and from the gym. And that is what I did .. until I got pulled over.

Today, while doing my not-so-daily trek from the gym, I was stopped by two bicycle cops. Serious! The problem? Well there were a few … lets take a glance at them:

1. Crossing-over. I was riding in the bike lane. The light was green, but the walk sign was red. As I approached the intersection I swayed into the cross-walk lane (to give myself some distance from the traffic) and went through the green light (red walk sign). Apparently that was bad. According to the cop, I have to be either in the bike lane (following car traffic signals), or in the pedestrian lane (following pedestrian signals). I cannot pick and choose. Sounds a bit picky, but I kind of understand; I guess.
2. No bike helmet. Pretty self-explanatory. I always thought bicycle helmets were an option?
3. Listening to iPod. I only had one headphone in, but according to the good ‘ol police man, that was a no-no. What is strange is that it would have been OK if it was a hands-free set connected to my phone. Sounds a bit unreasonable to me.
4. No reflector lights. I am supposed to have one “white” light on the front of my bike, and one “red” reflector light on the back. This all occurred during the daylight, but they figured they’d mention it anyway.

The end result, a fine of $81 for each offense. Sounds a bit ridiculous to me. I can’t believe each of those carries a fine of $81, so I checked. According to the City of Kent website on Bicycle Safety:

• Always ride on the right side of the road in the same direction as traffic.
• Try to use bicycle lanes.
• If you must ride on a sidewalk for safety-you must be courteous to walkers.
• Watch traffic closely for turning cars or cars pulling out of driveways.
• Stop at all stop signs and obey traffic (red) lights just as cars do.
• Be careful at intersections.
• Always walk your bike across busy intersections using the crosswalk and following traffic signals.
• When riding with friends, always ride single file.
• Never change directions or change lanes without first looking behind you and using the correct hand signals.
• If you ride your bike after dark you must have reflectors on your bike and a working headlight.
• Only one person should be on a bike at a time. DO NOT have a friend sit on the seat behind you or on the handle bars.

And from the City of Kent’s official City Code:

A. Any person who violates any provision of this chapter shall have committed a traffic infraction punishable by a monetary penalty in the amount of twenty-five dollars ($25).

Hmmm, $81 sure is a long ways away from $25. Easy mistake I guess. And I couldn’t find any information regarding riding with headphones in, but I didn’t really do that thorough of a search. I guess lucky for me I was let off with a warning. It’s sad, but needless to say that will probably be my last trip to the gym via pedal power. I guess that is what I get for trying to be active. Grrr.

Do these bicycle laws sound a bit absurd to anyone else, or is just me?

[Update: 2007.04.08] I got a few questions regarding my ticket, or lack thereof. To be clear, I did not get a ticket, merely a warning. The ticket ‘would’ have been $81 for each offense.