BS from the City of Austin Municipal Court ...

The City of Austin Municipal Court has updated their schedule of fines. They now have some bicycle-specific fines listed --

Bicycle - No Lights $147 $170
Bicycle - Ran Red Light $217 $275
Bicycle - Riding on Sidewalk $146 $185
Bicycle - Wrong Way One Way $201 $251

(first number is if you pay quickly, second is if you don't.)

OK, the fine for running a red light is the same as in a car -- fair enough. They don't have any information on driving your car on the sidewalk, I guess that doesn't happen very often, so that's fine.

But the fines for `no lights' and `wrong way' are actually *higher* on a bike than in a car! Here's the relevant fines that don't mention bicycles --

Driving Without Lights $137 $155
No Headlights $137 $155
Equipment Violations -Light violation-flashing lights to front, signal device violations, brakes, muffler, defective tires, light violation-headlight, taillight. $137 $155
Defective Lights - Headlights $137 $155
Wrong Way on One Way Street $167 $200

... what's up with that?