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Posted 3 years ago #
I just got ticketed at the t-intersection of queen and peter, even after yielding to all pedestrians. I even had my foot on the ground. being a t intersection i then went on my way and boom. there was even an article in the star where an actual bike cop said what i did was ok.
http://bikingtoronto.com/forum/topic.php?id=277
what is going on? careful everyone.
Posted 3 years ago #
Hey Jeff... what direction were you traveling? I'm assuming east or west along Queen.
Did you go through the red light?
The cop in that article was talking about rolling (carefully) through stop signs, not red lights.
Posted 3 years ago #
@Joe - That's the way I read it the first time I saw that article, but if you read back, it's written very ambiguously.
And the bottom line for me is that while one police officer may say that he doesn't pay much attention to a particular offense under specific conditions, there's no telling what others do or whether they consider you to have fit in to their own little loophole. Unfortunately, though I don't practice this all the time, the only nearly certain way to avoid a ticket is to never break the law.
Posted 3 years ago #
i was traveling west along the unbroken sidewalk and not very fast either, i had stopped to let the pedestrians cross. bikes need secondary signage in these silly situations where what makes sense for a car is stupid for a bike another is that idiotic light in the middle of the block in front of the eaton center on queen.
Posted 3 years ago #
What was the ticket for?
Posted 3 years ago #
failure to stop, but i had stopped, even put my foot down, and when the pedestrians had crossed I continued even though the light was still red but as I was crossing the top of a "T" I didn't see the big deal. no one I see on a bike who goes through there seems to either. feel like a sucker waiting there, and you end up having to wait in the middle of soho anyway so it just seems all screwed up from a cyclists POV.
Posted 3 years ago #
I stop at red lights to enforce my habit and because pedestrians are unpredictable. Not a big deal, it gives me a break and I grab a drink.
I also feel like a sucker when I'm stopped at a red light and a half dozen other cyclists keep going through, I wish the cops would enforce this more often.
Posted 3 years ago #
I guess I'm lucky that there are only about a half dozen cyclists on my commute. I have had a few people push from behind to run a red light on their bike, and just can't bring myself to yell, "Hey, what are you doing?"
Although, I think there should be a better reason for people to stop at red lights aside from just avoiding a ticket.
Maybe a Lego man can shed some light on this:
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Posted 3 years ago #
Hahahaha... I LOVE that Duncan!
Jeff, if you went through a red, then the ticket was justified.
The cops are doing their jobs. Until the law changes to say cyclists can go through red lights (not likely), then the cops have an obligation to ticket for it.
I really don't see the big deal about stopping at a red, even at a t-intersection. It's a maximum of 1 minute waiting time, and honestly, I like reds because it gives me a rest. haha.
Posted 3 years ago #
@Duncan - that's fantastic!
I hate having to pass the same guy over and over only because they passed me by running the red light. Playing leapfrog with red-light running cyclists is obnoxious.
But Joe's right - they're just doing their job, and I think there's also much less leeway when it comes to red lights versus stop signs. And I also appreciate the rest sometimes.
I suppose it also gives us an opportunity to role model the patience we all wish many drivers would have. Many were grumpy at the drivers being upset about the 2-3 minutes commute time added by upcoming changes to Jarvis. How different are we if we're unwilling to stop for a minute or two at a red light?
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