Hmmm, I'm not sure if a bike ticket is the same as a motor vehicle ticket here in Washington. I've never heard of that...

I'd never heard of it here in Florida until it happened either. It's not something you really have an easy way to stumble across unless you get one.

Some of the things I've been given a ticket, or told I could receive a ticket for include

• Towing someone on the handlebars or trick pegs. A bike can only carry as many passengers as it has seats. If you attach a seat to your handlebars technically you're not breaking the law, I asked.
• Failing to obey a traffic signal such as a light, stop sign, speed limit sign, one-way sign, etc
• Wearing headphones while riding

I found out about the last two by riding my bike through a four-way stop sign while wearing headphones and riding with no hands on the handlebars. I even saw the police officer coming up to the stop. I lived right around the corner, I knew when there were cars approaching the stop.

That is interesting. I like that.

What are trick pegs?
When we were kids, that's how we always rode bikes, hauling someone on the handlebars down the street to wherever we were going. But that was then, not now.


Very clever question!!

So did the police officer give you a ticket?

Trick pegs are the posts that stick out on the end of the axles- for doing tricks! They used to be skinny little things, now they're almost as big as red Bull cans.

As for four way stops, that's something we just don't have have here - I encountered them whilst in Canada, and to say the least, if you've never come across them before, they're a nightmare! Fortunately my cousin had given me a briefing before I set off...

See the things he's standing on in this photo ?
They're on the back tire too.




I really need to quit asking them questions like I do.
I get an attitude when I do it too.
I think they have my name on some sort of list or something.


Nah. He asked me which one I wanted like a smart ass, so I said "I don't want want either one asshole", and he didn't give me one. I have a bunch of theories about why I didn't go to jail that day, but so far the theory I like best is he could tell I knew what was going on around me when I didn't let him trick me into asking for a ticket.


They rock.
I forget who has the right of way, I go on the "who got there first" method, albeit cautiously.

I remember when they put the first round-about here in Clearwater on the way to the beach, it used to be a nightmare trying to get where you wanted to go on that thing in weekend traffic. If you stayed to the right you'ld end up getting pushed off onto the wrong street, if you got on the inside lane you would end up driving around the thing 2-3 times before you could get back onto the outside lane where you wanted to.

Round-abouts have been popping up on back streets in quiet neighborhoods here where some stretches of road started to get used like racetracks. Most people haven't seemed to be very happy to have a chunk of their front yard torn up and replated with road, but I guess it's better than having people fly down a 25Mph zone doing 50+
We're all still waiting for the drunk who doesn't know it's there and launches their car over the center hump doing 50.

Ok, thanks for the picture, now I know what trick pegs are.

I've been through a lot of round-abouts... and I am still confused and afraid when going through them. I hate round-abouts, unless I have it all to myself!! People seem to just approach them and keep going, like what happen to the "who gets there first gets to go" like we all know of a 4 way stop. But is that what a round-about is... eliminating the stop of traffic? I guess that's the part I am not use to.

I can't believe he didn't give you a ticket!!

Are you riding your bike through this round-about or a vehicle??

I never even thought about a drunk going through a round-about. Whoa!!!

As a Brit, I find roundabouts really easy and the most natural thing in the world. Double roundabouts are heaps of fun, and guaranteed to confuse learner drivers!

Of course, road designers occasionally get carried away and come up with gems like this - witness 'The Magic Roundabout' (yes, it's actually called that - it was originally called 'County Islands', but it was changed in 1980!):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Roundabout_(Swindon)

There's even a link or two at the bottom of the page to other 'Magic Roundabouts' - the one in Hemel hempstead is particularly good fun, by the looks of it!

People ploughing over the tops of roundabouts does happen over here- usually people trying to escape from the Police, and as a result the footage is often seen on 'fly on the Wall' type Police shows on TV. I actually saw an example of it last night, funnily enough.

Double roundabouts??? I didn't know such a thing exists!

This was back when I still drove. On the way to, and on Clearwater beach, bike riders have a clear advantage. There are bike paths along the road, drivers will stop at crosswalks in front of the beach and give pedestrians/bicyclers the right of way.

On a weekend I could probably leave my apartment the same time as someone in a car and be walking on the pier before they even make it there.



That thing looks like some sort of demolition derby figure 8 track from hell !

ha!! I agree. I'd get in there and get lost. I'd create road rage for sure!!