The Message in a $96 Ticket That Was Handed Out to 15-Year-Old Bicyclist

Since I seem to have created a furor of backlash with my letter (June 11) regarding my 15-year-old who got the $96 bicycle ticket, I would appreciate the opportunity of responding.

First, in the interest of brevity, I did not accurately portray the actual incident in my original letter. Contrary to the impression it evidently conveyed, and which The Times’ accompanying illustration reinforced, my son did not ignore a stop sign and go zooming out into an intersection. He was making a right-hand turn. What he did was slow, check the traffic (none was in the vicinity, so no, he did not fail to yield the right of way to another vehicle) and then continue on around the corner without coming to a complete stop. In Irvine, this means that at no time did his tires leave the bike lane. (It also means that the chance of his becoming a “lifeless body” due to this action were slim to none.)

Mr. Hermon (letters June 18) fondly reminisces that in Colorado the kids would be hauled to the station house and upon apologizing to the officer and promising not to do it again, the ticket wuld “disappear.” My son did apologize to the officer, on the spot of his own volition. But apparently justice is not served in the same way as in Colorado. The officer went ahead and ticketed him anyway.

Let’s talk about bicycles and traffic laws. Every kid who learns to ride a two-wheeler becomes a bike rider. I wonder how many of these children know what the California vehicle code requires? Since they are not required to pass a test and be licensed, as are vehicle drivers, how many of them do you think read the manual? I think most rely on basic common-sense safety precautions, such as don’t cross against the red, use crosswalks, look both ways, which would leave them open to a great many offenses committed out of ignorance.

We did not go to court to try to “get out of” the charge, or assert that my son was not guilty. What we did do was go to assert that the penalty was not equitable to the crime. Would anyone feel it just if the fine had been $200? $400? How about $1,000? If you agree to the inequity of any of these, then you agree to what I asserted. Mainly, that there comes a point--somewhere--when the fine ceases to be appropriate to the offense. Where that point comes depends, I suppose, on your financial frame of reference.

To those who wrote, $96 may not be a lot of money, I don’t know how many 15-year-olds can pull this amount out of their pockets, but I know ours can’t. And we, who still cannot afford to buy the most modest home here, can’t either.

The point is, are the courts now operating under the theory that the bigger the fine, the better-learned the lesson? If the real purpose here, or in any ticket issued to a child, is indeed concern for his safety, wouldn’t a far more effective measure be to require his attendance at a bicycle safety class?

What message am I giving my son? Hopefully, that the law in this country is just. That the penalties dealt are appropriate to the offenses committed. And that if you’re issued a bicycle ticket and charged a fine, it’s because the officer is truly concerned about your safety--not because the city needs to pay for the new City Hall.

JOANNE THOMAS

Irvine