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NewsvineWhen Erin Waller ‘09 went to pay an old bike ticket that had been issued during fall quarter, the last thing on her mind was that there was a warrant out for her arrest.
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“I got a bike ticket last November,” Waller said. “I never thought about it again until I went to the police station this spring to pay for the ticket. The officer there told me to go to the courthouse immediately because I had a warrant out for my arrest.”
After leaving the library around 10 p.m. one evening fall quarter, Waller was stopped by campus police at the intersection of Escondido and Campus Drive for biking without a bike light.
When Waller looked at the ticket closely later that night, she noticed that the citation did not state she was missing a bike light, and instead said her bike was unregistered.
“I had registered my bike since freshman year,” Waller said.
What she thought to be a minor mistake made by the police officer turned out to be a huge hurdle.
The California Vehicle Code states that bicycle riders have the same rights and responsibilities as motor vehicle drivers do and are therefore subject to the same citations and fines — which are often hundreds of dollars. Failing to appear in court for this type of misdemeanor violation is grounds for an arrest warrant. Violators may also be punished with six months in jail and/or a $1,000 fine.
“I went to the court house in a panic. The [clerk] said there was a warrant out for my arrest and I had to pay a fine of [approximately] $150,” Waller added. “Since I refused to pay that amount, [the clerk] set up a court date for me.”
Waller did not receive a courtesy notice from the court reminding her to pay the inaccurate ticket, and a “failure to appear” charge had been filed against her. A judge dismissed all violations after she provided proof of her bike registration.
According to Bill Larson, public information officer at the Department of Public Safety, if students do not receive a courtesy notice, they still need to remember to pay their bike tickets before the deadline.
“A courtesy notice may be mailed by the court to the address shown on the citation, but if you do not get the notice, you are still required to pay the fine on time and appear in court if necessary,” Larson said.
Students should contact a Santa Clara County Court clerk if they do not receive a courtesy notice, Larson added, and even write down the officer’s name and the date when the ticket was issued for future reference.
When a ticket has not been processed by the court, students should also contact the courthouse directly. Preferably, students should plan to pay on time and should also have in mind that delays in processing times at the court may also occur, Larson said.
Alison Claire Murphy ‘09 was willing but unable to comply with the law when trying to pay her ticket fine before the deadline.
“I got one [ticket] for running a stop sign in early March. As of today, the ticket has not been processed by the county court, and I have not been able to pay it. Stanford’s Police Office has been very helpful,” she said. “But since I heard it would go on my permanent record if I did not pay [the ticket] on time, I am really worried.”
According to Larson, Stanford’s Department of Public Safety cannot go into the county’s system and check the status of a ticket.
“If you have a problem with your bike ticket, you should work with the court who takes over processing of that violation,” Larson added. “The [police] station will not have record of it.”