Cyclist arrested for riding on sidewalk spends a day in jail

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Originally Posted by PamNY

Here's what the Fox News story says: "Police tell Fox 5 that proper procedure was followed, that since Miguel didn't have ID they were obligated to try to identify him." That doesn't quite make sense, because arresting him doesn't make him any more identifiable.

I don't object to enforcement of quality-of-life crimes, and I consider the occasional ticket part of the cost of living in a city. I just want to know if I have to carry my driver's license to avoid being arrested in a case like this.

Personally, I'm astonished that none of the news coverage addresses the ID issue. In a city full of people who don't own cars, it must have come up before.

Pam

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Ok, I'm a cop. I am in Texas, not your state, but the laws are generally similar. You don't have to have a license to ride a bike. You don't have to have ID on you at all times. If you are stopped for whatever and a cop asks you who you are and what you are doing, and you rattle off your name and date of birth, it all jibes (even if you don't have your license on you, if the cop runs you through dispatch and the descriptors match, its good) you are NOT going to have a problem.

The problem comes when someone has no ID, refuses to give his name or date of birth when detained, or gives a name but can't give a birthdate, or gives different spellings for one name, or gives a birthdate but when asked his age comes up with something different. That is fishy. I don't want to issue a citation for some false person or (as is usually the case) the suspect's brother or roommate whose name popped into his head.

I don't carry my ID when I ride my bike. In fact, I seldom even take it with me in the car if I am going to ride the MTB, I don't want to leave it in the car. If I were stopped, I would give my name, date of birth, I know my DL number, and would be surprised if I were even issued a citation for failure to display a DL (different than failure to ID or driving without a DL), although I could be. The cop would run me, find that I match the info given, find that I am without warrants, and let me go after issuing me a citation for whatever he pulled me over for, if he chose to do that.

Having said that, if you are driving the car, take your DL.

Thank you for that explanation. I am, just out of curiosity, going to call our local precinct. They have a good community relations person and are usually very helpful. Having this background from you will help me have a more intelligent conversation. They will probably still get a chuckle out of it, but that's okay.

Pam

Getting arrested would be the farthest thing from my mind - but I don't go anywhere without ID. Driver's license, insurance card, organ donor card, and phone. Not even to run speedwork on the track. If something were to happen, I don't want any delay in getting medical treatment and getting my next of kin notified.

I leave it in my (locked) locker at the gym, but only because everyone there knows who I am and knows which locker I use and could vouch for me/call DH in an emergency. If I'm working out someplace where I'm not known, I keep my phone and ID in my spibelt just as I would if I were running outdoors.

I know this issue has been discussed here ad infinitum ... but not in this thread until now. :p

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Originally Posted by OakLeaf

Getting arrested would be the farthest thing from my mind - but I don't go anywhere without ID. Driver's license, insurance card, organ donor card, and phone.

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Heck - I do too.... I don't ever want to be shunted off to the cheapest ER because they don't think I have insurance.... but I also know that if I'm not driving that it can't be demanded that I produce ID. That doesn't even mean that I wouldn't if asked, but I can see how this could be used to single out certain people who may not drive and may not even have picture ID. We still have a free enough society that you don't have to have your "papers in order" to be able to move from place to place....