headphone ticket

 Thread started by 
KiMS1 at 01.21.09 - 6:20 pm
i got pulled over for riding with headphones on.
i know i know, stupid thing to do. yada yada, spare me the lecture.
i got a ticket.
i have to go to court to find out how much its gonna cost.
has anyone gotten one of these before?
and if yes, how much did it cost?
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When you go to court, say it was an iPhone headphone, you know with the Mic.. and say you use it as your hands free and since you want to respect the law and use a headset, you were abiding by the law.
 boogalooSHRIMP
boogalooSHRIMP01.21.09 - 6:22 pm
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FTP!!
Make sure u bring ur "headset" as proof
 pretti*ugli
pretti*ugli01.21.09 - 6:25 pm
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+1 boogalooSHRIMP
fuck, please don't tell me they're gonna start cracking down on this. sorry to hear you got a ticket. 
yes, i wear headphones... how taboo. i keep the volume low enough that i can still hear my surroundings.
 i saw a grip of cops while i was biking today... i'm glad they didn't pay attention to me. 
 coldcut
coldcut01.21.09 - 6:28 pm
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if cyclists can't wear headphones, then people shouldn't be allowed to listen to their stereos in their cars!  it's just as distracting, if not more... specially when people are tuning stations.
 coldcut
coldcut01.21.09 - 6:31 pm
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Thats retarded, head phones while driving a bike or car is a stupid ass idea. Bottom line. 
 Graham
Graham01.21.09 - 6:33 pm
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yes and no, coldcut. even at low volumes, your aural awareness is lowered while wearing headphones. with cars its different, because you can hear everything around you because the sound isnt going directly into your ear canal. cars with "bangin systems" need to go.
 ruinedbyidiots
ruinedbyidiots01.21.09 - 6:34 pm
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how much different is it than listening to a stereo on blast in a car?
some people actually have common sense and keep their headphone volume low enough to hear everything around them. 
 coldcut
coldcut01.21.09 - 6:35 pm
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cops can write tickets for excessive stereo volumes in a car as well.
 ruinedbyidiots
ruinedbyidiots01.21.09 - 6:37 pm
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Were these "ear-buds", "classic", or those big-ass ones that chopper-pilots usually wear?
I sport earbuds all the time and they're usually concealed by my helmet straps.
 bentstrider
bentstrider01.21.09 - 6:38 pm
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i can see what you mean, ruinedbyidiots. 
to somewhat justify my actions, i only listen to music during the daytime. there's no way i'd listen to music at night. i don't trust cars.
i'll continue to break the law in an unsafe manner, i guess.
 coldcut
coldcut01.21.09 - 6:38 pm
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i dont feel safe listening to headphones while riding in la and i dont know how anyone could, regardless of the volume youre playing it at. 
are the iphone ones with the built in mic a single earbud or two earbuds? i see people driving on the freeway with two in and i make sure to switch lanes and get away from them for obvious reasons.
 ruinedbyidiots
ruinedbyidiots01.21.09 - 6:42 pm
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rbi, how can I gain your knowledge and wisdom?
Honestly, really how did you get to your current level of awareness and what not. 
 Alfredo
Alfredo01.21.09 - 6:45 pm
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you dont have to rock both head phones u can keep one free to hear traffic flow... Listening to music while i ride helps me ride harder than having no music
 Debut213
Debut21301.21.09 - 6:47 pm
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then life would fucking suck. 
 coldcut
coldcut01.21.09 - 6:53 pm
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Alfredo please dont feed the animals here @ the M.R zoo. They just end up biting ur hand off....
 Debut213
Debut21301.21.09 - 6:53 pm
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that's a deep ass question, straight up.
 coldcut
coldcut01.21.09 - 6:54 pm
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i agree, life would be terrible. but at the same time, would there be something else to fill the void?
 ruinedbyidiots
ruinedbyidiots01.21.09 - 6:58 pm
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It's legal to wear one ear bud while riding or driving, but not two.
 mr rollers
mr rollers01.21.09 - 7:07 pm
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@boogalooshrimp and mr rollers
the cop said it's legal to listen to music/talk on the phone as long as it's only one earbud. 
i mean, he got me on a legitimate ticket. 
this happened while i was leaving campus. 
apparently a lot of cyclists have been getting greased on my campus and they all had headphones on when they crashed. 
parking is shitty here, drivers are erratic and mix that with a bunch of kids who just got their brakeless fixed gears skidding all over the place, you get cops crackin down on head phones.
 KiMS1
KiMS101.21.09 - 7:26 pm
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good thing those brakeless bikes are still considered legal, unlike portland or wherever it was an issue. great britain is like that too.
 ruinedbyidiots
ruinedbyidiots01.21.09 - 7:29 pm
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the cop that got me showed me this piece of paper that he follows for bike laws and there was a section about brakeless bikes and yes, it is ILLEGAL for any bike on the street to be brakeless and to be quite honest, i think its a legitimate law. 
most of my friends ride brakeless and i trust them enough to paceline behind them but for others i dont know, its nerve wracking. 
plus with all these idiots with suicide hubs i think its a good accident prevention strategy. 
 KiMS1
KiMS101.21.09 - 7:43 pm
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its worded strange, because you have to be able to make a skidded stop on dry pavement.
your front headlight is also supposed to emit a beam of light that can be seen from something like 300ft in front of you too.
 ruinedbyidiots
ruinedbyidiots01.21.09 - 8:40 pm
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PRICE OF TICKET 
$164
bummer town.
 KiMS1
KiMS102.20.09 - 2:13 pm
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when you see a cop just pull one ear down.
its not illegal to have one ear covered. and always pull down the side not in view of the officer,so his argument is not technically wrong.
 _iJunes
_iJunes02.20.09 - 2:26 pm
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was music invented? to me it seems more like it was discovered...
 la duderina
la duderina02.20.09 - 3:47 pm
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Is that over already then? Did you not fight it at all?
 danya
danya02.20.09 - 4:29 pm
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If you're dumb enough to think that listening to music while you ride doesn't lower your awareness and concentration on the road, regardless of the volume, you deserve to be hit by something you didn't hear coming.
 Lance K
Lance K02.20.09 - 5:05 pm
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i get into more accidents when i wear a helmet nd have no headphones
true story.
 _iJunes
_iJunes02.20.09 - 5:06 pm
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@ sara
nah, i havent paid it yet.
its due by march 9
i cant think of a good argument though?
someone mentioned gonig the iphone route.
idk, it seems like he caught me fair and square. 
 KiMS1
KiMS102.20.09 - 5:54 pm
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I have the headphones you were wearing at the time. There's a tear in the left wire, no sound comes out of the earbud, but you wear it so it doesn't get tangled in your spokes.
And you didn't mention this to the cop because of previous bad experience or some shit.
 danya
danya02.20.09 - 6:28 pm
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I love it when people use the word "SPORT" as a verb.
As in
"Next time we see bentstrider he might be sporting a mullet."
 ephemerae
ephemerae02.20.09 - 6:45 pm
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I really didnt know there was a law against wearing  headphones and I wear them all the time. but just like he said at a lower volume that Im still able to hear whats around me. I just think that if you use headphones you just have to be more cautious than normally
 Avis_One
Avis_One02.20.09 - 7:21 pm
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I think that's a legitimate law. Too bad you got busted though. Isn't the sound of your bike and the wind music to your ears? 
 Velocipede
Velocipede02.20.09 - 7:29 pm
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since the inception of this thread i have not worn my headphones while i ride! 
to tell you the truth, i never really payed attention to the music cos i was too busy paying attention to the my surroundings... so it's no biggie not having tunes while i ride.
 coldcut
coldcut02.20.09 - 8:35 pm
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@velocipede
yeah, it totally is a legitimate law.
i have had close calls bc i couldnt hear things but i guess im just way stubborn. 
its similar to the reason why a lot of us dont wear helmets. just being stubborn. 
i wish there was someway to keep the headphones but still be fully aware of what the hells going around you.
@sara
totally good idea. shit, i might just actually try it.
 KiMS1
KiMS102.21.09 - 12:40 am
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The headphones are in my bag, I'll give them to you at TNS if I don't see you before.
 danya
danya02.21.09 - 2:36 pm
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