Pack of Cyclists fined $12,000 in Mill Valley for right turn on red light

Mill Valley, CA - March 14, 2009 - A pack of approximately 30 cyclists were pulled over en masse and each issued a citation for $400 for failing to stop at a red light before making a right turn from E. Blithedale onto Camino Alto.

That totally sucks!

I'm all for riding safe, but the punishment should really fit the crime. I believe moving violation fines shoud be based on kinetic energy (1/2 MV^2). So, if a 155 pound cyclist on a 20 pound bike going through a red light at 8 miles per hour is fined $400, then a person driving a 6,000 pound SUV going through a red light at 40 miles per hour should be fined $342,857.14.

Or conversely, if the SUV driver is fined $400, then the cyclist with 1/857th of the kinetic entergy should be fined $0.47