New Zealand cyclist given points on driving licence for riding through stop sign
Despite not having a licence, the cyclist received 20 demerit points
A cyclist in New Zealand was given points on a driving licence that he doesn't even have because he cycled through a stop sign.
Paul Taylor was riding in Rolleston - just over 20 kilometres from Christchurch - when he failed to come to a halt at a stop sign because he claims a truck was going through the junction behind him so he knew he could pass without any other traffic coming from the right.
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But his actions were caught on camera by a police man who pulled him over and asked for his driving licence.
Mr Taylor doesn't have a licence but was still given 20 demerit points; drivers who receive 100 points in two years are suspended from driving for three months.
"I said I don't have one. That's why I ride a bike. He took 20 demerit points off. But I haven't got a licence," Mr Taylor told Stuff.
Mr Taylor was also fined $150. He says he has been cycling for 46 years and this was the first time he had been stopped by police.
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"I've never ever heard of anyone getting a ticket on a bike before," he added. "My bike's probably worth $20."
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A freelance sports journalist and podcaster, you'll mostly find Chris's byline attached to news scoops, profile interviews and feature writing across a variety of different publications. He has been writing regularly for Cycling Weekly since 2013.
Previously a ski, hiking and cycling guide in a number of places, but mostly in the Canadian Rockies and Spanish Pyrenees, he almost certainly holds the record for the most number of interviews conducted from snowy mountains.
He lives in Valencia, Spain.
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