semach.the.monkey wrote:
"...if he "shall wilfully ride upon any footpath or causeway by the side
of any road made or set apart for the use or accommodation of
foot-passengers or shall wilfully lead or drive any carriage of any
description upon any such footpath or causeway."
"The introduction of the fixed penalty is not aimed at responsible
cyclists who sometimes feel obliged to use the pavement out of fear of
traffic and who show consideration to other pavement users when doing
so."
If you choose to go to court, you could use those two quotes (with the
proper references of course) as ammunition. Your argument should be
that you were the "responsible" cyclist who only used the pavement to
go around a single, stationary vehicle to put you in a safer, more
visible spot while waiting for the signal to change. This makes it a
judgement the court can then render, without challenging existing laws.
Remember the above argument assumes guilt on your part, but with what
would seem to be a reasonable explanation. This is much more likely to
work.
I agree with others to try to argue that you should be allowed to use
the pavement risks *disallowing* you and all other UK unicyclists from
using the roadways. Bad idea. If we can't handle living under the same
rules as bicyclists, especially on 36" wheels, we should join with them
to change legislation, not try to carve out our own.
BTW, if you do go to court, by no means should you try to mislead the
court as to what you were riding. If you bring a 20" you will somehow
be implying that a 20" wheel should be okay but that a 36" should not.
Is that your intended message? Better to bring *no* unicycle and let
the court use their imagination as to wheel size.
I know what the "correct" thing to do was, and I do often overtake
traffic on the right if the route through on the left is blocked,
although in this situation, I considered it, but due to bollards at the
front by the traffic lights, I didn't think I would be able to safely
get through.
That would be a good, honest explanation to accompany the above.
I can't idle on my coker, sadly, so the only other option would have
been to dismount. My mounting skills on the 36" wheel aren't that
great either 
By no means should anyone be idling a 36" wheel at a crowded
intersection. Do you see cars going back and forth while they wait?
Sometimes people will ride their clutches and roll forward and back,
usually a few inches, but that's generally considered bad practice (as
well as bad for the clutch). If you need to stop, stop. Sometimes I
hold a light pole, but if there's nothing there I simply dismount.
Can't mount reliably? I wouldn't mention that in court either. Work on
those mounts! It takes a while, but with practice you should be able to
do 10 out of 10. For me it's not so much about the mount, but the first
few revolutions afterward. I'm adjusting my feet on the pedals and my
crotch on the seat, so I always start off a little slow. This should
not be a problem as long as you can do it in a straight line. Does a
motorcyclist have to put his feet down at intersections? Same idea. He
shouldn't be trying to do a track stand or riding in circles either.
I appreciate that from some view points, it would be nice to have things
legally defined as to what we can do...
In most cases they are. You're a bike. UK law seems to be a bit more
specific, but from what I've read it seems that generally you're still
a bike. Being a bike is good. That means the law protects you, and you
have rights. At least where I live, where the tendency would be to
apply laws for bicycles, especially in the case of a 36" wheel moving
fast.
--
johnfoss
John Foss
Email: "jfoss" at "unicycling.com" --
www.unicycling.com
-----------------------------------------------
"pretty much every trail that we've done on the California or Moab Muni
weekends is an XC trail." -- Kris Holm, on XC from a North Shore point
of view
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