Shelburne, Vt. - Shelburne Police have a message for bicyclists: pay attention to the rules of the road or pay the fines.
Shelburne Police Officer Jim McKnight says the department is cracking down on bike riders who commit traffic violations.
"It came to a point where we started issuing warnings. And it became so blatant with some of the violations that we had no choice but to issue a traffic ticket," McKnight said.
The violations are mostly for more than two cyclists riding side by side, and more serious, for running red lights and stop signs.
"The village ordinance which covers our stop signs is a 214 dollar ticket and there's two points assessed to your driver's license," McKnight said.
Bike enforcement is something McKnight says he has always done. But now, there are more bikes on the road.
"Five years ago, if you saw three or four bicycles in an entire shift that was a normal day. And now it's not uncommon for us to see 20, 30, 40 bicyclists on a shift," McKnight said.
And McKnight says patrolling them is necessary for safety.
"We have had serious accidents. This year alone we've had three or four serious accidents with bicyclists."
