Do I have to go to court to fight this $1,000 ticket?
Cyclists are supposed to be in the middle of the lane, and the sharrows are painted there to remind everyone of this.
Q Am I the only one who was astonished about the “sad plight” of Bob of Sunnyvale, who may owe over $1,100 for having no front plate and a “photo-deflecting cover” on the rear? This seems an illegal scheme to evade getting tickets for little pranks such as running red lights.
Sorry, Bob. If your fine is, in fact, over $1,100 it’s probably too little, as who knows how many times you’ve gotten away with infractions in the past? You’ll get no tears from me. Mike Gutman San Jose A Bob heads to court next month, so expect an update. Now to another poor soul with an outrageous fix-it fine. Q I recently got a ticket for having an illegal covering on my license plate. The officer said that there was “some weird plastic” covering my plate, making it impossible to see at night. After the officer left, I investigated and discovered that there was some plastic peeling from the license plate, but it wasn’t anything that had been added. There is nothing over the plate at all; it’s just a stock California license plate that is having some plastic peeling off due to old age. Do I have to go to court over this? Jason Banich Mountain View A I would, with a $1,000 ticket at stake. Q I rode my bicycle down Niles Canyon with several friends last week. Caltrans has recently painted “sharrows” in the lanes, and some drivers did not seem to understand how they work. Some were patient and waited until it was safe to pass us; some were not so patient and shouted obscenities as they went by.
Mr. Roadshow, could you please remind your readers that cyclists are supposed to be in the middle of the lane, and the sharrows are painted there to remind everyone of this? Sue Stanton Castro Valley A You just did. But I’ll happily expand on that. Sharrows are white arrowlike stripes that are often painted on streets when the travel lane is too narrow for a car and bike to ride side by side. In these situations, bicyclists may travel in the middle of the lane, whether there exists a sharrow or not.
However, drivers often don’t realize this, resulting in the bicyclist getting squeezed between the curb or parking lane and the moving car. Adding sharrows informs people where bikes should be riding for safety purposes: in the middle of the lane and outside the “door zone” of cars parked on-street. Q For some time now, the housing developers on the north side of Highway 85 near Cottle Road have been using the sound walls to place marketing banners. I hate the idea of sound walls becoming billboards for commercial purposes. Why is Caltrans letting them get away with this? Bob Steiner San Jose A Part of the sound wall is on private property, and the state allowed the developers to put up their banners.