Portland Police have a message for bicyclists who don’t obey the rules of the road. Be prepared to pay a $242 dollar fine if you roll through a stop sign.

In two days police handed out at least three-dozen citations to bicyclists who ran stop signs in one area of Southeast Portland.

Officer Bret Barnum catches a cyclist speeding through a stop sign at the corner of Southeast Fourth and Caruthers Tuesday morning. He asks why she didn’t stop. She explains she didn’t see any cars and thought it was safe to proceed. Officer Barnum pulls out his ticket book and explains "it's a pretty expensive ticket for running a stop sign, it's the same as a motor vehicle so it's $242 dollars."

Police are now patrolling this area after complaints from construction workers and business owners. This popular cycling route along the Springwater Corridor is currently clogged with construction trucks, pedestrians and cyclists.

Workers have seen several “near misses.” Angie Peck controls traffic for a local construction company, and describes once cyclist who “blew the stop sign” and was nearly hit by a cement truck. "I ask everyone to please be careful!”

Portland Police Lieutenant Mark Kruger says it’s about safety. "If you get hit you stand a very good chance of getting killed as a result of that, we see it on enough of a regular basis that we are trying to spread the word."

In fact, Portland Police Bureau statistics show in eleven years 24 cyclists have been killed in Portland. Police say 14 of them were found “at fault”, and four died after running stop signs.

Jonathan Maus is an avid cyclist who plays it safe and stops at traffic signals. “I always stop.” He’s also the editor of a website called BikePortland.org and shares word of “enhanced police patrols” on the site. He adds, “we have such an increase in cyclists, we need to look at different solutions with some of these traffic control issues.” He suggests “yield” signs where they’re safe on right turns, varied fines for cyclists and more education.

It turns out “more education” may also save some from paying a $242 dollar ticket. On a cyclist’s first offense, he or she may attend a “Share The Road” class in Multnomah County. Officer Barnum explains “you attend this class, you get some education, they give you a certificate. You give that to a judge and the whole ticket goes away."

Still, his advice – don’t skip the stop sign.