NY Bicycle Traffic Ticket

[uelpeter]

NY

I was given a ticket on 5th avenue -- the officer said for not riding in the bike lane. when i went to court 19 rector street dmv traffic violations bureau
the officer said that i had ridden in front of a bus trying to make a turn. (the bus was stopped and did not have turn signal on)
he gave a ticket 19-176 bike on sidewalk and then gave the bus story in court
I lost, got an appeal sheet and wondering can i appeal the jurisdiction?
this is what i have thus far
� This ticket was written as a violation of 19-176 of the administrative law code. As such it should have fallen under the jurisdiction of the environmental control board.
� The officer wrote the violation for riding on a sidewalk, although I was on the right hand shoulder of a one way street � 5th avenue and 19th street pursuant to 34 RCNY 4-12(p)(3) (Bicyclists may ride on either side of one-way roadways that are at least 40 feet wide)
� The officer told me that he was giving me a ticket for not riding in the bike lane although at the hearing he claimed it was for riding past a bus � again not a violation of 19-176
o There was a truck blocking the bike lane so I could not ride in it.
� The officer did not claim and I was not riding on or near the sidewalk.
� If the officer genuinely felt that I was not riding my bike safely he should have written me up for ???

any help appreciated
the only reciept i have from the court says that i was convicted of improper op of bike/skate but there is no reference to what i was convicted under only the ticket number AAT03455...

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

You should have appealed jurisdiction when you were there. Now you can only appeal matters raised at trial.

 

[HighwayMan]

You must be cloudy about this whole thing.

The Traffic Violations Bureau will NOT (and can NOT) adjudicate violations of the NYC Administrative Code.

You need to be very clear about what you actually got convicted of, because it certainly was NOT AC 19-176.

 

[uelpeter]

[Thanks. i know but the documentation that they gave me does not say what i was convicted of,
it only says that i was found guilt of improper operation of bike and then refers to the ticket number which has the violation as 19-176
no paper work they gave me after i paid has any further details.
is it worth trying an appeal based on my bullets?

thanks much for your response.

best

sam

 

[HighwayMan]

AC 19-176 should not even have been entertained - they shouldn't even be able to input that in any online system for the ticket processing. The TVB should have rejected any such summons outright.

I would love to see a copy of the ticket and your disposition.

In the case of TVB, an appeal costs money. I don't know what the appeal fee is nowadays. You can appeal the verdict, the penalty, or both. In this case you would appeal the verdict. Without knowing what you were really written for and then convicted of it's hard for me to make a judgment here.

I never do this, but if you feel comfortable providing a relatively minor piece of information I can provide some information about your conviction. Private message me if you want to for details.

 

[HighwayMan]

Okay, Sam has provided me with some detailed information offline and I have had a chance to review it. I'm pretty confused at this point how the TVB would entertain a charge of 19-176 of the NYC Administrative Code. As far as I know they have no way to do this.

I have written tickets for apparently chargeable offenses that did not exist in the TVB code tables, so they have substituted another charge in the official records. The folks in Albany who process the incoming tickets aren't exactly the brightest in the world from what I've seen. I am GUESSING that whoever processed this ticket was clueless about what it had been written for and entered it into the system under a different charge. What that charge is I can't say based upon the charge literal that appeared on Sam's disposition from the court. The Administrative Law Judge probably just went with the flow - I am guessing he didn't have the original ticket in front of him but was going with a computer printed charge slip.

I'd be curious what ALJ heard the case, but I doubt Sam would remember the name.

In any event, I don't know how you feel about the conviction Sam. As I told you, there is no conviction on your record for anything. Some charges, like equipment violations, etc, do not show up in a conviction history. So, I don't know if you feel it's worth the cost of an appeal.

If you do appeal, you need to include a clear copy of the original ticket which shows without much doubt that you were charged with a violation of the Administrative Code. I would also include a copy of the statute which clearly states that it falls under the jurisdiction of the ECB, however, I would think that the Appeals Board should know that the charge is not valid.

I didn't recognize the issuing officer's name so he may not be a big writer. To me it sounds like an error that propagated through the system. I cannot guarantee anything or any result, but an appeal may be an easy win.

As I also told you, you are required to have a New York State license. How California DMV issued a license with a New York address on it is beyond me, but I have seen the same from other states including New York. You could have easily received another ticket for the license. Keep that in mind.

 

[uelpeter]

Great response. Thank you for your time and effort. really appreciated.

The officer's name was Joseph out of the 13th i believe.
The hearing officer was Rodriguez -- didn't get a first name hearing room 4 at 19 rector street.

the risk reward works for me ten more bucks to get 50 back. what the heck.
i'm assuming that i risk little chance of them changing this to go on my record in the event of a denial of appeal.

thank you again.

best

sam

 

[HighwayMan]

The officer's name was Joseph out of the 13th i believe.

Saw that on the summons. Never heard of him.

The hearing officer was Rodriguez -- didn't get a first name hearing room 4 at 19 rector street.

I haven't been to 19 Rector in over a year. I know a few ALJs retired. This must be a new one.

the risk reward works for me ten more bucks to get 50 back. what the heck.

I didn't realize the appeal is so cheap. I would assume that if you needed a transcript of the hearing it would be a lot more.

i'm assuming that i risk little chance of them changing this to go on my record in the event of a denial of appeal.

There is no chance of that. If the appeal is denied then the original decision stands as is. The charge won't be changed.


Please update this thread with your result. I am really curious about this one.