The other day, probably the last fine beach day this year, I was riding on a curbside bike path with my blanket in my back basket, thinking about catching the 9:30 am ferry to cityside paradise and lounging and chatting. I noticed a car creep up beside me and follow my speed. A police car, actually. The driver started talking to me. The officer, actually, started talking to me, and it took a moment to occur to me that I should probably stop.

He’d been telling me how he saw me cross the intersection back there on a red light, and how I shouldn’t do that, because then he has to give me a three hundred and fifty-five dollar ticket.

Did he say $355?, I thought!

No, I hadn’t! I crossed the first part of a two part pedestrian crossing on the pedestrian green, then hovered there waiting for the second part – and car traffic – to turn green. Of course, I didn’t say that, because I wanted to catch the ferry, and because that would have opened up a whole other discussion about why I thought it was ok not to dismount on a pedestrian crossing. $85 fine.

Oh, I said, with my most earnest and patient ferry-catching face. Sorry. OK. And since he didn’t seem inclined to write me said ticket, I quietly said, Thank you.

He reiterated once more that I can’t just do that, and I said thank you once more. And OK. And he moved on.

Whew.  $355! Did you know that? I had no idea. Last I checked the Ministry of Transportation the average fine was 85 dollars!

Today I did a little more research. Not my strong suit, but here is some information I found on the website of a group of “paralegals and former police officers” – not sure when this is dated; the fine seems to have gone up:

A red light ticket has four different penalties:

• Three demerit points
• A three hundred and twenty five ($325.00) dollar fine
• A conviction registered on your driving record for three years
• Possible insurance increases
• Determination of fault in accident cases

So you wanna take ownership of your part of the road, and be treated just like any other vehicle. I suppose it’s best to start behaving like one.  …355 dollars…..