criminal court--bike

went to criminal court ( da bronx) re summons riding bike on sidewalk-after
tons of aggrivation--went at 8 am got out at 10.15--$75.00 fine but decided
to fight it

will post follow up

had a massive allergic reaction that day given benadry and steroids--mind
confused and disorientated--took short cut as i knew i might not make it
home safely--told officer about it ( my eyes wherfe almost closed at that
time--explaination went no where

peter

On Feb 1, 12:37*pm, "ilaboo" wrote:
went to criminal court ( da bronx) re summons riding bike on sidewalk-after
tons of aggrivation--went at 8 am got out at 10.15--$75.00 fine but decided
to fight it

will post follow up

had a massive allergic reaction that day given benadry and steroids--mind
confused and disorientated--took short cut as i knew i might not make it
home safely--told officer about it ( my eyes wherfe almost closed at that
time--explaination went no where

peter

A freind of mine was pulled over in his car and commenced with a huge
long-winded yarn about why he had been speeding. The story involved
the dog pound, his sister's girlfriend, and went on and on. When he
was finished, the officer said that was the goddamndest, stupidest,
most bull-**** story he'd ever heard, and chukling, let us go with a
warning.

The moral of the story is that police officers have heard all manner
of dumb explainations as to why some infraction or other was
warranted. Your allegic reaction to medicine wasn't compelling enough.

Claim it wasn't you.

Joseph

On Fri, 1 Feb 2008 04:43:04 -0800 (PST),
" wrote:

On Feb 1, 12:37*pm, "ilaboo" wrote:
went to criminal court ( da bronx) re summons riding bike on sidewalk-after
tons of aggrivation--went at 8 am got out at 10.15--$75.00 fine but decided
to fight it

will post follow up

had a massive allergic reaction that day given benadry and steroids--mind
confused and disorientated--took short cut as i knew i might not make it
home safely--told officer about it ( my eyes wherfe almost closed at that
time--explaination went no where

peter

A freind of mine was pulled over in his car and commenced with a huge
long-winded yarn about why he had been speeding. The story involved
the dog pound, his sister's girlfriend, and went on and on. When he
was finished, the officer said that was the goddamndest, stupidest,
most bull-**** story he'd ever heard, and chukling, let us go with a
warning.

The moral of the story is that police officers have heard all manner
of dumb explainations as to why some infraction or other was
warranted. Your allegic reaction to medicine wasn't compelling enough.

Claim it wasn't you.

Joseph


My favorite story along those lines was driving upstate in NY and
getting stopped for speeding. I explained that I was taught in
driver's education that it was important to maintain the speed that
everyone is doing and that if the speed limit is 55 and everyone is
going 70, you have to go 70. I really was taught that.

The cop smiled and said: "but you were going 75". But he didn't give
me a ticket. I guess it was a good enough line.

"dgk" wrote in message
news
On Fri, 1 Feb 2008 04:43:04 -0800 (PST),
" wrote:

On Feb 1, 12:37 pm, "ilaboo" wrote:
went to criminal court ( da bronx) re summons riding bike on
sidewalk-after
tons of aggrivation--went at 8 am got out at 10.15--$75.00 fine but
decided
to fight it

will post follow up

had a massive allergic reaction that day given benadry and
steroids--mind
confused and disorientated--took short cut as i knew i might not make it
home safely--told officer about it ( my eyes wherfe almost closed at
that
time--explaination went no where

peter

A freind of mine was pulled over in his car and commenced with a huge
long-winded yarn about why he had been speeding. The story involved
the dog pound, his sister's girlfriend, and went on and on. When he
was finished, the officer said that was the goddamndest, stupidest,
most bull-**** story he'd ever heard, and chukling, let us go with a
warning.

The moral of the story is that police officers have heard all manner
of dumb explainations as to why some infraction or other was
warranted. Your allegic reaction to medicine wasn't compelling enough.

Claim it wasn't you.

Joseph


My favorite story along those lines was driving upstate in NY and
getting stopped for speeding. I explained that I was taught in
driver's education that it was important to maintain the speed that
everyone is doing and that if the speed limit is 55 and everyone is
going 70, you have to go 70. I really was taught that.

The cop smiled and said: "but you were going 75". But he didn't give
me a ticket. I guess it was a good enough line.

i was not making any bs excuse--i could hardly see.

tia
peter

On Feb 1, 9:27*pm, "ilaboo" wrote:
"dgk" wrote in message

news


On Fri, 1 Feb 2008 04:43:04 -0800 (PST),
" wrote:

On Feb 1, 12:37 pm, "ilaboo" wrote:
went to criminal court ( da bronx) re summons riding bike on
sidewalk-after
tons of aggrivation--went at 8 am got out at 10.15--$75.00 fine but
decided
to fight it

will post follow up

had a massive allergic reaction that day given benadry and
steroids--mind
confused and disorientated--took short cut as i knew i might not make it
home safely--told officer about it ( my eyes wherfe almost closed at
that
time--explaination went no where

peter

A freind of mine was pulled over in his car and commenced with a huge
long-winded yarn about why he had been speeding. The story involved
the dog pound, his sister's girlfriend, and went on and on. When he
was finished, the officer said that was the goddamndest, stupidest,
most bull-**** story he'd ever heard, and chukling, let us go with a
warning.

The moral of the story is that police officers have heard all manner
of dumb explainations as to why some infraction or other was
warranted. Your allegic reaction to medicine wasn't compelling enough.

Claim it wasn't you.

Joseph

My favorite story along those lines was driving upstate in NY and
getting stopped for speeding. I explained that I was taught in
driver's education that it was important to maintain the speed that
everyone is doing and that if the speed limit is 55 and everyone is
going 70, you have to go 70. I really was taught that.

The cop smiled and said: "but you were going 75". But he didn't give
me a ticket. I guess it was a good enough line.

i was not making any bs excuse--i could hardly see.

tia
peter

I know it was true, but the officer just tuned it out as noise. They
hear so much bs and real sob stories, that your specifics maybe didn't
even interest the officer enough to even form an opinion about your
veracity.

I suppose your best bet might be to go the mitigating circumstances
route and try to get the judge to realize you are a reasonable
responsible person. You knew it was wrong to ride on the sidewalk, but
under the circumstances, you knew it was best to do so for everyone.
You needed to get home expeditiously and not be a danger to yourself
and others due to your condition at the time.

As you noticed and said in your last post, most of the folks down at
court are not exactly model citizens. If you stand out as a "normal"
person that will make a big difference with a judge. You don't want to
seem like a lunatic or somebody without a full deck.

In my experience in traffic court and related places, if you are
presentable, pay attention, speak clearly and concisely (and not go
off reciting paragraph numbers of various vehicle codes) and don't
ramble, you will get as good treatment as possible.

Good luck!

Joseph

ilaboo wrote:

On Feb 1, 12:37 pm, "ilaboo" wrote:
went to criminal court ( da bronx) re summons riding bike on
sidewalk-after
tons of aggrivation--went at 8 am got out at 10.15--$75.00 fine but
decided
to fight it

will post follow up

had a massive allergic reaction that day given benadry and
steroids--mind
confused and disorientated--took short cut as i knew i might not
make it home safely--told officer about it ( my eyes wherfe almost
closed at that

i was not making any bs excuse--i could hardly see.

If you could hardly see, should you have been riding at all?

The moral of the story is that police officers have heard all
manner of dumb explainations as to why some infraction or other
was warranted.

=v= Actually, the REAL moral of this story seems to be that most
cops are motorists, see the world from a driver's seat, and are
sympathetic to the plight of other motorists even when they're
jackasses driving as menaces to society. Your speeding friend
deserved a ticket, though of course that would only have brought
him to traffic court, where consequences are minor and generally
waived on any pretense.

=v= Bicyclists, on the other hand, usually harm nobody with our
infactions, but as nonconformists we are seen as a threat to the
public order, and must be ticketed and prosecuted.
_Jym_

In my experience in traffic court and related places, if you
are presentable, pay attention, speak clearly and concisely
(and not go off reciting paragraph numbers of various vehicle
codes) and don't ramble, you will get as good treatment as
possible.

=v= Yeah, never mind the facts or anything (e.g. 40,000 people
killed each year in the U.S. by bad drivers). Just look good,
and the traffic commissioner -- who's also a motorist -- will
see your offense as good clean fun that could happen to anyone.
_Jym_

P.S.: Also, have the foresight to be born white.

On Feb 2, 12:50*pm, Jym Dyer wrote:
The moral of the story is that police officers have heard all
manner of dumb explainations as to why some infraction or other
was warranted.

=v= Actually, the REAL moral of this story seems to be that most
cops are motorists, see the world from a driver's seat, and are
sympathetic to the plight of other motorists even when they're
jackasses driving as menaces to society. *Your speeding friend
deserved a ticket, though of course that would only have brought
him to traffic court, where consequences are minor and generally
waived on any pretense.

=v= Bicyclists, on the other hand, usually harm nobody with our
infactions, but as nonconformists we are seen as a threat to the
public order, and must be ticketed and prosecuted.
* * _Jym_

In The Bronx where the OP was ticketed, in an area where the officer
would bother to ticket somebody for sidewalk riding, I'm sure it was a
pretty pedestrian area. Listening to some guy with puffy eyes going on
about how he is allergic to steroids wasn't very reassuring to the
cop. I'm sure if he had pulled over a motorist and got the same story,
the consequences would have been even worse.

I think you are reading too much into the cop's behavior. He didn't
single the OP out because he is a non-comformist whatever that is, he
did it because he thought he was doing something dangerous.

Joseph

In article
,
" wrote:

On Feb 2, 12:50*pm, Jym Dyer wrote:
The moral of the story is that police officers have heard all
manner of dumb explainations as to why some infraction or other
was warranted.

=v= Actually, the REAL moral of this story seems to be that most
cops are motorists, see the world from a driver's seat, and are
sympathetic to the plight of other motorists even when they're
jackasses driving as menaces to society. *Your speeding friend
deserved a ticket, though of course that would only have brought
him to traffic court, where consequences are minor and generally
waived on any pretense.

=v= Bicyclists, on the other hand, usually harm nobody with our
infactions, but as nonconformists we are seen as a threat to the
public order, and must be ticketed and prosecuted.
* * _Jym_

In The Bronx where the OP was ticketed, in an area where the officer
would bother to ticket somebody for sidewalk riding, I'm sure it was a
pretty pedestrian area. Listening to some guy with puffy eyes going on
about how he is allergic to steroids wasn't very reassuring to the
cop. I'm sure if he had pulled over a motorist and got the same story,
the consequences would have been even worse.

I think you are reading too much into the cop's behavior. He didn't
single the OP out because he is a non-comformist whatever that is, he
did it because he thought he was doing something dangerous.

Joseph

I'm pretty sure a motorist would have gotten a bigger fine for driving
on the sidewalk, too.

--
Ryan Cousineau http://www.wiredcola.com/
"In other newsgroups, they killfile trolls."
"In rec.bicycles.racing, we coach them."