Penalties for Bike Citations
Question
Mr O asked: I want to know the fee for bicycle citation. I have different fee amount for the same citation and I think clerk of county is making me pay too much ?
1. 2008 Bike/Fail to ride right-hand curb
2. 2008 Bike/Brakes None/Improper
3. 2005 & 2006 & 2008 & 2013 Bike/Lights None Or Improper
Bicycle citations are non-criminal, right?
Answer
These violations all appear to be violations of the Bicycle Regulations and non-criminal.
s. 316.2065 – Bicycle Regulations
(19) Except as otherwise provided in this section, a violation of this section is a noncriminal traffic infraction, punishable as a pedestrian violation as provided in chapter 318.
The state penalties are as follows:
s. 318.18 – Amount of Penalties
The penalties required for a noncriminal disposition …. are as follows:
(1) Fifteen dollars for:
(a) All infractions of pedestrian regulations.
(b) All infractions of s. 316.2065, unless otherwise specified.
These are the state-imposed penalties. There will also be local court costs and possible other charges such as late penalties and interest, which are determined by the local traffic courts. They could be as much as $100 or more.
You should ask the clerk of the court to give you the justification and details of each charge.
Just because you are riding a bicycle does not automatically make it a violation of the Bicycle Regulations. If you were cited for running a red light, for example, it would be a moving violation with higher penalties applicable to any vehicle operator.
Many (most?) county clerks of court post the amounts of traffic penalties on the clerk-of-court website. These can usually be found by using a Web search query like “[name of county] county clerk court traffic fee schedule”. Example: Pinellas County’s traffic fine amounts are listed at http://www.pinellasclerk.org/aspinclude2/ASPInclude.asp?pageName=fees.htm#traffic . Listed amounts include the basic state penalty, plus county fees and surcharges.