That was the cost of my ticket for rolling through an otherwise deserted stop sign in Redondo Beach, CA. That changes your mindset a bit. For $25 I'd continue to risk it...not $212.

I guess this whole thing does just come down to the fact that too many people are just too stupid or rude to have a common sense law. I used to roll through deserted stop signs. If there was a car there before me I would stop as it was obviously there right of way. I would ride through deserted stop lights because I couldn't trigger them, but would stop at lights were there were cars waiting.

It makes some sense to me that the number of crashes decreased in Idaho. One of the most vulnerable times for bikers is starting from a dead stop...bike wobbling while you attempt to clip into your pedals. It also takes a little while to get going, and I have experienced a situation many times when I dutifully wait, and when it's my turn I start to go and then another car will try to go because they think I'm not going yet.

It's the same here in Gainesville, FL. I got a $140 fine for making a rolling stop through a completely empty intersection. Why? Because, as the pamphlet the bike cop (yes, bike cop - I was on a university campus) gave me clearly stated: bikes are vehicles too. So a moving violation on a bike is equivalent to a moving violation in a car. Awesome.

yeah...nothing whatsoever to do with padding the police force/campus coffers huh?

Yeah,

I got a ticket for rolling though a stop sign right before entering Venice beach (CA). I was going very slow (one foot pushing of the ground). The officers were hiding around the corner, giving tickets to two others before me.

Price $135

Purely a money making scheme for the city.

Same, too, in Tucson. They're cracking down on cyclists and giving $150 fines (OR you can take a free bicyclist safety class and get the ticket waved). Pain in the ass it all is.

Look, guys, either you're vehicles and follow the law or you're not and you don't.

Maybe the law should be appropriate to the weight of vehicle used as part of the infraction, say, $10 for every 100 pounds of weight? So, for a 2 ton SUV you're fined about $$00, and for cyclist about $2.50.

Watch out in Santa Monica -- $260 for no light at twilight and improper left turn -- detained for 40 min because I didn't have a license. (Judge threw all it out when the cop admit I didn't make an improper left turn.)

Think the situation is bad in california because bicycles are seen as impeding traffic.