Rolled the Stop Sign

[veenou]

Just my luck! I live in a rural area, not many cars at night, nor day. The city is populated by 7000 people + 800 college students. They have the police task force the size of Los Angeles. I mean, there are at least 8 cars out at the time out of 20 cars. Thats a lot for a ****ty town. I hate this town by the way, ran by bunch of uneducated rednecks.

Ok, here is my deal. I never stop on a stop sign, unless I see someone comming or bacon rolling down the street :) . Oh, screw it, I don't stop on traffic lights! Why? Because they wont turn green for me, ever, unless I get off the bike and start jumping around the sensor. Today, I was going down the street, and just my luck, some seniors are sitting on the corner bench and waiving to people. Ok! I look no cars (4way stopsign). I apply the back break and slow down to 10-15mph. I let go of the break, wave to mofo seniors, and as I am cutting the corner I see a cop cutting me off, with his lights off. Ok! Now I am PISSED! Its my birthday today, btw! He pulls me over, gives me a ticked and takes my drivers license away. I have a court date in 2 weeks. Now I am even more pissed. I am 21, NO DRIVERS LICENSE.

I need your help guys to defend myself in the court. Of course, I got no money to pay for the ticket, nor will I pay for, nor am I going to jail. Let me know of good excuses. Here is what I come up with right now:

-- Mopeds under 50cc don't need registration and are considered as bicycles in the state of AR
-- I had all itentions of stopping but I got distracted by two friendlies waving
-- I've never done this before
-- My record is clear, thus it speeks for it self
-- I saw the cop waiting for me to run the stop sign. He was semi-hidden in the bushes making this whole thing entrapment
-- The officer was polite, but wasnt considarate
-- I am suffering emotional damages bcos I was waiting 21 years for this day and now I get a tiket and can't go to bars for next two weeks
-- If i was to be judged by my peers, I want to be judged by college students

Guys, please come up with some more. I need to get rid of this ticked! Very important, otherwise I'll be paying mofo insurance rates on my car for a small thing I did on my scoot.
THANKS

[Zuma88]

you should go through red lights or stop signs im 16 and i have found out how to do it. when at a light STOP AND WAIT 1min after it should have turn for you make sure ther is no one at the other side infornt of youand then go.
stop signs welcome i hate the thing i think they where made by the devil.
but still just as long as you STOP to a stand still for 2 secs you cant get a ticket.

the only thing i can tell you is well dont get cought, i used to be real stupid on my scooter light insteed of stoping doing a wheelie through the intersecion
and do stoppie's at red lights (well still do somtimes if ther is a sport bike around.)

what you have thought of to get out of the ticket is lame and will not hold up incourt.

[Malformed]

well you didnt stop, you deserved the ticket.

i dont see how the cop was able to take your license away though, thats unfair.

i dont think you have a chance with the entrapment thing, he might have been waiting for someone to run the sign, but i dont think thats entrapment... hell even if it is, try to prove that he WAS waiting for someone to run the sign.

emotional damages? HAH!
go to the DMV and get a photo ID, it will get you into the bars.
you should get a new ID after you turn 21 anyway, that way the new one will not have the
"Under 21 untill" **** on it.

i used to be a bouncer and door man for a night club, and those "under 21 untill XXXX" Id's allways got me suspicious.

carefull what you try to use to your advantage...
claiming you were distracted might be an excuse, but its a bad one.
its called inattentive driving, i think thats a whole nother ticket right there you could have recieved.

also the "Mopeds under 50cc don't need registration and are considered as bicycles in the state of AR"

might want to seriously check into your local laws, because in alot of places, its not a "MOPED" unless it has pedals & is under 50cc & wont go over a certain MPH

in florida, my zipr3i is considered a 'motorized scooter' along the same lines as a "Go-Ped" (see goped.com) and they do require a license plate here, along with drivers license.
i still dont have a drivers license. ;)

im not saying thats how it is in your area, but before running your mouth in court, you may want to find out for sure and print out all the facts so you can take them to court with you.
hell, even if it IS considered a bicycle... that doesnt mean you can run stop signs.

good luck.

[veenou]

You are both right, I am just a bit pissed off. I dont want to pay for that ticket. They say it is $150. WTF? $150! Thats way too much money! I couldnt see the cop bcos he was behind the bushes in the middle of the city. How gay! Anyway. Thanks a lot, and I will still run the light and a stop sign :)

[Zuma88]

150 is CHEAP AS #E||.
here riding with out a helmet is a 350 doller fine and they dont give warning when you dont ride helmets.

[Zuma88]

you will learn the hard way. not to be mean but that is stupid.
you will end up getting ran over. and if not that you will have your ID takin away for good. you have 3 strikes on you dirver id before you get it takin away.


my friend slim got ran over in the county going through a stop sign that he thought no one used. he died may 23 2002.

[scooterconvert]

This is why we need round-a-bouts to replace all stop signs. The only thing that raises my eye brow is that he confiscated your license...I've never heard of that. I'd be happy to pay the ticket if it got my license back. Maybe you can ask the judge if the cop takes everyone's license away that runs the stop sign :confused:

[Zuma88]

for real for all the cop knows you brake had gone out you your gas got stuck
the only way i would think he could take you Drivers is if you where DUI.
wait how did you drive home?! if he toke it and said go home he is guilty of a crime well maybe

[XPS1210]

You are both right, I am just a bit pissed off. I dont want to pay for that ticket. They say it is $150. WTF? $150! Thats way too much money! I couldnt see the cop bcos he was behind the bushes in the middle of the city. How gay! Anyway. Thanks a lot, and I will still run the light and a stop sign :)

This is the kind of stuff that is complete and total ignorance!

Sorry but if you run stop signs, don't complain... Don't try to BS your way out of the ticket! Don't make BS excuses... It's your own fault, suck it up and grow up! It's sad when a 15 year old kid, is telling you that you'll learn the hard way... He should be looking up to you!

Sorry, but this is just plain DUMB... IMO if you are that bold as the statements above... IT serves you right! Practices like that are why people on motorcycles die for no reason... They act STUPID and do DUMB things and then makes everyone have a bad taste for motorcycles...

POINT: PAY THE DAMN TICKET, GROW UP AND FOLLOW THE LAW... DON'T COMPLAIN WHEN YOU GET CAUGHT BREAKING ONE!

[Elliott]

Scooters have been Around at Least 40 - 50 Years it's seems like LAW enforcement dont have very much to Do with them selfs..

If it wasnt for these scooters will be out Robbing Banks and selling drugs.

[Malformed]

150 is pretty good.

i got nailed for $208 for driving after revokation.
in actuality, i never had the license in the first place, it was a learners permit.
and it wasnt revoked, it was suspended because i didnt pay a fine fast enough. i paid the fine, but didnt know i still had to pay the reinstatement fee for the license. (didnt think i had to, it was a permit not a license.)

pretty lame realy, i was just moving my stepdads large cargo van from the front of the bar to the back so we could load it up.
we were remodeling the bar.
it just happened to be around 2am, and the cop pulled me over cause i didnt have my headlights on. :confused:
the street was well lit, and i was only going around the block to the rear parking lot.

part of the problem is ticket quotas.
i think most places, they need to write a minimum amount of tickets for the month(?) so when it comes down to it, quite a few are just looking for suckers to nail.
but then again, if they didnt have quotas to fill, they may just sit around doing nothing.

in my case, the cop should have just given me a break. honestly, its not like i was cruising the streets without a license.
but running a stop sign... thats just asking for trouble.

[King Vino]

Wow, the one night I take a nap early, and I wake up with three PM's about this thread asking it to be locked and or deleted. I'm going to reply as an ex cop for the nation's Capitol and not as a mod here.

In every state in the US, bicycles must follow the traffic laws set forth by the DMV. Bicycles in all fifty states must observed ALL rules of the road. There is not a single state in the US that exempts bicycles, motorcycles, scooters, mopeds or any other powered or unpowered vehicle from right of way, signage, or keep right of traffic. I am going to quote and address many of the inaccuracies here in this thread before locking it.(I don't need 50 more PM's over this thread)

pretty lame realy, i was just moving my stepdads large cargo van from the front of the bar to the back so we could load it up. we were remodeling the bar.it just happened to be around 2am, and the cop pulled me over cause i didnt have my headlights on. the street was well lit, and i was only going around the block to the rear parking lot.

part of the problem is ticket quotas.i think most places, they need to write a minimum amount of tickets for the month(?) so when it comes down to it, quite a few are just looking for suckers to nail. but then again, if they didnt have quotas to fill, they may just sit around doing nothing.

Driving without headlights is a MAJOR safety issue, since on a scooter motorcycle they are required to be on under FedDOT you had a critical piece of safety gear which was inoperable. You put your own safety as well as the safety of the public at large at risk. As far as quotas go, there are no official quotas, but having a set number of citations on record are in place to show the public that the police are enforcing public policy.

But this isn't the crux of the thread, so not to dwell on it any longer, moving on to the issue at hand. Now here's why you going to end up losing in court:

-- Mopeds under 50cc don't need registration and are considered as bicycles in the state of AR
In AR they are classed as mopeds not bicycles, but even bicycles must observe rules of the road and are subject to citiations for traffic infractions

-- I had all itentions of stopping but I got distracted by two friendlies waving
You did not stop, and in traffic court intent is not A defense, and by stating you were distracted you then violated the distracted driving law and showed you were a public safety hazard by benign inattentive.

--I've never done this before
First offense means first time caught

-- My record is clear, thus it speeks for it self
Best defense is to plead "Quilty with explanation" and he may just site you the fine with no points unles you get a real hard ass. If you go in there with a story, and complaining about quotas, and waving to friends, the judge is going to slam you with

-- I saw the cop waiting for me to run the stop sign. He was semi-hidden in the bushes making this whole thing entrapment
The judge will laugh you out of court, he may even think you're being a smart ass an add an attachment to your citation meaning higher fines and more points. Speeding traps are not entrapment, and are usually set up because of problems with red light runners or speeders, both of which are public nuisance.

-- The officer was polite, but wasnt considarate
He doesn't need to be either, both are nice to encounter but they are not there to be your friend they are there to enforce public safety.

-- I am suffering emotional damages bcos I was waiting 21 years for this day and now I get a tiket and can't go to bars for next two weeks
Bul****, if you're that emotionally unstable you should not be permitted on the road in the first place.

-- If i was to be judged by my peers, I want to be judged by college students
Your peers are the general public of the same county inwhich you live chosen by the prosecute and defense. You can request a trial jury, but you'd have to pay for your own lawyer, but you will certainly lose, not once have I ever found a jury acquit anyone for traffic court. Judges and juries find traffic court a waste of time. Judges have REAL trials the need to focus on, and juries tend to want to be part of a real trail and are often upset to serve for traffic court, they always convict.

Time, to close this before I get another 30 PMs asking to close or delete it, ugh Great way to start a morning