Bicyclists getting tickets need to watch the road, and court computers

City of Charlottesville:

“With the Charlottesville Police Department handing out more tickets to bicyclists, riders should watch not only the rules of the road, but also the strokes on the keyboard. Bicyclists can receive demerit points if the police and courts don’t accurately document the offense. At the heart of the matter is the information contained on the summonses issued by a police officer and a computer database field recently added to Virginia’s court case management system. The field, when checked, is intended to prevent tickets issued to bicyclists from being sent to the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles.

‘The courts have the ability to indicate in their systems when convictions are from bicycling infractions,’ DMV spokeswoman Pam Goheen confirmed in an email. Absent the database notation, bicycle convictions appear just like other traffic tickets, which can result in demerit points being added to the offenders’ driving records, a circumstance that can increase vehicle insurance premiums.”

~Writes Charlottesville Tomorrow

Click here for more information