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Cop Tickets Cyclist for Not Wearing Helmet (Not Illegal, FYI)
By
John Del Signore
Published Feb 7, 2011
Modified Feb 7, 2011
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By
John Del Signore
Published Feb 7, 2011
Modified Feb 7, 2011
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It's always a gas when you try to explain the law to an ignorant cop writing you a ticket—it's like trying to explain to Paula Deen that butter is a condiment and not actually food. The NYPD's cyclist fetish has intensified to such a degree that cops are not even bothering to write tickets for things that are even technically illegal (like blowing through a red light in the park). Here is the infuriating story of one David Curtis Lettier, an Air Force veteran who was pulled over on West 127th Street while riding his bike to class today:
I was pulled over today at 127th and Lenox for not wearing a helmet by Officer Purdie of the NYPD. After explaining to him that I am above the age of 13 and I do not/have never/currently wasn't using my bicycle for commercial purposes I was still given the ticket.
When he pulled me over he asked where my helmet was. I said I didn't need one by law but I offered to turn back and get the one in my apartment. He asked for my ID and motioned me to approach his passenger window. I gave him my military ID but he still asked for my driver's license so I gave him that too. I showed him I complied with all state and local laws and that I didn't see where in the law I needed a helmet. He told me to step away and that he'd double check with his sergeant. Instead, he sat in his unmarked car writing the ticket while talking out his driver side window with what I assume was his buddy. This random guy actually pulled over in front of the unmarked car, got out and struck up a conversation with Officer Purdie. The guy was in civilian clothes.
He motioned me back to the window and said he never heard that riders do not need helmets. He hands me the ticket while I ask what to do about this. Round and round we go until I offer to pull up the law on my phone. First I showed him the article from 2007 from your very own website about the helmet law. He wasn't buying it and had the tone of "prove it." Playing the lawyer, he wrote down my source as "Gothamist" in his ticket book and had me spell it out. It was then that I said forget that and pulled the law from the NYC.GOV website and had him read it.
His tone changed once again explaining he couldn't take back the ticket as if it was written in stone handed down by the mayor himself. He repeatedly tried to get his sergeant on the phone as he kept fumbling with the blackberry each time removing the battery for some odd reason. Having read the law he now backtracked explaining he didn't know if I was working or not. I explained there were only books in my book bag showing him my school ID. I had told him earlier that I was on my way to class which I was now late for.
In the courtroom of commonsense, if he did truly suspect that I was working, he could of pulled me over, asked if I was working, saw that I wasn't, and went on his day. In reality he, I guess, truly believes all cyclists must wear helmets and thought he had his first catch of the day─seeing as though targeting law abiding cyclists was his only assignment for the morning. I was illegally detained, wrongly ticketed, and now must waste the City's time proving there wasn't any violation.
The law, not that it matters, states that helmets are "required by law for children age 13 or younger and working cyclists, helmets are a good idea for cyclists of all ages." Lettier provided us with a copy of the summons and adds, "You'll notice the license plate number says 'Grander.' I don't know what it means. I didn't even have a plate on my bike. The cop wouldn't tell me what it means either." He intends to fight the ticket, which—if it was correctly issued to the parent of a helmet-less cyclist under 14—would be $50. But Lettier tells us, "I can't find anything on adults not wearing a helmet...well, because it isn't against the law. So I guess in my case it's $0.00." $0.00 plus his wasted time fighting Officer
Dim's
Purdie's Kafkaesque abuse of power.
Tagged
bicycle
bicyclists
crackdown
cyclists
helmet
law
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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