mushrooshi

Hi guys, I'm 15. I don't have a drivers license either. Am I allowed to ride in the road? Obviously I can in neighborhood roads, but what about major roads?

By the way, I am in Texas, and here is a link to the driver's handbook

https://www.txdps.state.tx.us/ftp/forms/DLhandbook.pdf

tadawdy

you don't have to have a driver's license to ride your bike. it's for driving.

there are several reasons you see a lot of illegal immigrants riding bikes around, and not being able to get a state-issued license is one of them.

mushrooshi

I don't see illegal immigrants riding bikes around in my area . Even though it is Texas.

One other thing I am worried about: I look like I'm 12, when I'm 15, I am kind of a slow bike rider (I need to get in shape, and biking will help), and San Antonio isn't exactly... a biking city. Infact, it was once awarded fattest city in America. So it basically looks like I am a little kid playing in the street on a cute widdle bicycle.

Oh, and I am also paranoid about teenagers. They wouldn't mess with an adult biker, but if they see some small asian fry on the road, I'm kind of worried they would harass me, by pretending to run me over, blow an airhorn when they pass by me, honk their horn, etc. I get it all the time when I walk home from school on the sidewalk.

CB HI

Get a State ID Card to prove you are over twelve and ride the road.

Read this:
https://www.bikexprt.com/streetsmarts/usa/index.htm


And maybe take a Road 1 cycling course.

GodsBassist

+1 to all three suggestions here. +3?

Pscyclepath

You have a constitutional right to travel on the public roads. It's the means by which you travel that sometimes gets regulated. You have to have a valid drivers license and the appropriate liability insurance in order to drive a motor vehicle on the public roads, due to the potential for damage and mischief that these things can cause to others (crashes, collisions, etc.) You do not have to have a license to walk, to ride a bike, or a horse, or to drive a team of mules with a wagon.

The advice to look up John Allen's Bicycling Street Smarts is good stuff, as well as taking one of the League of American Bicyclists' Smart Cycling courses. At any rate, when you're on a bike, you are no longer a pedestrian, and the same traffic laws and regulations that apply to drivers of motor vehicles applies to you, too. You can be stopped and ticketed on your bike for violating traffic laws, just like car drivers can.

Bikes aren't toys. They're typically the first vehicle that a young person learns to drive. You have all the same rights -- and the same responsibilities -- as any other vehicle driver.

sggoodri

License and age restrictions only apply to motor vehicles. Non-motorized vehicles can be driven on the roadway by anyone able and willing to obey the rules for drivers of vehicles. Parents, not the government, decide when minors are responsible enough to do this.

I started riding significant distances on roadways for transportation at age 10. At age 13 I was traveling from one town to another by myself. At 16 I got a driver's license and had use of a car, but I still preferred bicycling for lots of trips. A couple of teenagers laughed or rubbernecked but didn't cause me any problems. You might want to wear sunglasses if you want your identity and reactions to be less obvious to others.

I recommend that you become familiar with the skills required to operate safely and lawfully on roadways by bicycle. Here are a few starting points: https://www.humantransport.org/bicycledriving/page6.html

If you find yourself transporting stuff and find backpacks uncomfortable (I do), I recommend you get a rear rack & bag or handlebar bag. If you'll be riding when it's not light out, get a headlamp and rear light.

Enjoy your independence!

bluegoatwoods

I'd suggest giving yourself a "serious" appearance. Helmet, reflective safety vest, proper lights, etc.

Couple this with a co-operative attitude toward motor traffic and the police will look on you with favor.
So will most motorists. There'll still be a few bozos who get a kick out of jeering bicyclists, but they're not as common as you might think.

You ought to do just fine.

sggoodri

If he's worried about teasing from teenagers, it might be good to skip the reflective safety vest. A bright shirt would do well enough in daylight without the nerd factor of the vest. (I don't mean to insult those who use vests; I've been known to cover myself with retroreflective stuff for rainy night rides, but he probably doesn't need such for his purposes.)

Certainly use a helmet and some basic eye protection (for wind and bugs), and use lights at night.

sggoodri

FYI I was a skinny, non-athletic kid when I started biking. Biking greatly improved my strength and fitness. It was really my only significant source of aerobic exercise until I was 18. It wasn't long before the other neighborhood kids had a hard time keeping up with me. If you say you're small, that may actually end up an asset to your cycling, because small cyclists tend to do very well, especially climbing hills. Try to find a bike that fits you well and is hopefully lightweight with low rolling resistance.

Laggard

What amendment would that be?

crhilton

It's not. Constitutional right to travel is based on a bunch of legal mumbo jumbo.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom...#United_States

Mionske interprets it as: You have the right to move between states therefore you must have to the right to get to the border where you would do so. It sounds to me like that's not really the case. (Bicycling and the Law, by Mionske) However, I doubt you'll see any states removing the default right to use *most* public roadways.


I could see a state licensing bicycles. Not out of practicality but out of malice from other road users.

IANAL

ItsJustMe

The right to use public roads is not actually in the constitution, the right to travel is inferred from some parts of the constitution. Right to travel:
https://supreme.justia.com/constituti...to-travel.html

But basically, common law states that the public roads are there to be used by the public. That's what it means. In general you can't keep anyone from using the public roads, however, it's been accepted that you can regulate what types of equipment and modes of travel that an individual can use on the public roads, on the grounds that some types of vehicle are very dangerous and it is in the best interest of the public to ensure that operators are qualified to operate the vehicles safely.

Therefore motor vehicles with significantly large motors (large enough to move with significantly more speed than a muscle powered vehicle) are regulated, and the right to operate them on public land is a priviledge that must be earned and retained.

Muscle powered conveyance is considered to not constitute an unusual danger to the public, so people walking, riding bicycles, or driving horses are not restricted by law except for limited access roadways, and even then only if a reasonable alternate route is available (because the right to travel may not be unduly hampered).

https://bicycledriving.org/public-awa...ts-should-know
"There is a common law right for anyone to use the public roads. Driving a motor vehicle can create a public danger and therefore is a privilege that can be revoked. "

CB HI

Agreed, but some local laws have age statements about 10 or 12 year olds and sidewalks. Most of the laws allow cyclist to ride on sidewalks when under 12, in areas where adults are not allowed to do so. Sadly some cops confuse these laws to mean under 12 cyclist MUST ride on sidewalks and stay off the roads.

OP, you should also check if there are any helmet laws for cyclist under 15, 16 or 18.

BurnMyEyes

Unfortunately that's something you just have to learn to deal with while cycling amongst cars. Your first assumption is wrong. I am an adult cyclist, and I'm over 6 feet tall and pretty imposing, and I get harassed periodically. I actually suspect it's exactly opposite of what you think. The younger you look, the less likely you are to get harassed, possibly.

Since it sounds like you are new to riding on the streets, you might want to take a look at these sites. There is some good information that will keep you on the lookout for the typical dangers.
Bicycling Street Smarts
How to Not Get Hit By Cars

CB HI

And practice your emergency stops and emergency turns in an empty parking lot.

mushrooshi

No helmet laws, even for children, but I'm going on the safe side and going to use a helmet. When I was... 12? I rode my bike and the tire slipped on wet road, my head hit the ground but I was wearing a helmet, so it was all good.

atbman

If you want to learn more about safe road riding techniques, log on to https://www.bikeleague.org/cogs/resou...16&submit.y=11 and scroll down until you reach the 3 San Antonio Leage of American Bicyclists road safety instructors.

Good luck

mushrooshi

Well, I read the bicycle street smarts and how not to get hit by cars in a 30 minute sitting, and I think I am completely ready to ride on the road. All I need now is just a good set of bike lights for when it rains, since I won't be doing any night riding (Parents forbid, and seriously, its creepy out there), and since San Antonio is in the middle of a drought and it won't be raining for a loooong time, I really am prepared.

On a side note, while riding by car to school, I decided to pay attention to the kids and teens riding bikes. Out of the 8 I saw:

None rode the road
None had helmets
4 rode against the traffic on a sidewalk.
One was a Gary Fisher bike, the other walmart bikes
One of them almost wobbled off the sidewalk >.<

These were kids and teens in age from... 10 to 18 max, probably 12-16ish. So when I am a cruisin' on the road, they will think 'WHAT THE [expletive]', and be confused. Heh.

I also heard from my sister that the middle school AND the elementary I'm passing by that she attends has those 'Safety Patrol' programs, and they yelled at some students for road biking. I'm going to have a lot of fun with them. I have full entitlement to the road including right of passage to cars, and I don't want to be caught riding on the sidewalk looking silly in front of real cyclists. Yea, there are some roadies riding in the morning... why they don't wait until after school traffic ends, I don't know.

CB HI

They are probably commuting to work and need to be on time, just as you leave home when you do to arrive at school on time.

Sundae

While this seems to make perfect sense when you think about it, please check your local laws anyway. There are a number of places where bicycling infractions will go on your driving record. There's a thread in this subforum where a guy's going to a safety class to keep his ticket (from biking) off his driving record.

Given how little sense that concept makes, I wouldn't trust any locale that does it to make sense with any of their other rules (like licenses required to bike on major roads, etc). Check your local laws to play it safe.

Really though, you'll probably have no issues at all. Just make sure, for your own sake and the sake of those around you, that you are a competent and safe cyclist when you on major roads.

mushrooshi

Well, so I rode my bike to school and back, my bike wasn't stolen or vandalized, but I have a problem:

San Antonio isn't very... bike friendly. Barely any bike lanes, and the drivers are nuts.

So when I was doing 25mph on a 30mph road, 4 'cagers' told me to get off the road and into the sidewalk (in which the sidewalk is, infact, illegal to ride). The norm around here is kids ride their walmart mountain/bmx bikes (lol, bmx for a school commute?) to school by sidewalk, and these adults who don't know their traffic law very well were probably shocked to see a 12 year old looking 15 year old little tyke riding his bike in the oh so dangerous traffic. The 4th guy, some middle aged man with an angry face, decided to yell "GET ON THE SIDEWALK", and his SUV crept up to me and he was honking like a madman when I decided "Screw this", and I pulled to the side of the road and my front tire hit the curb and I jumped off my bike as the flatbars hit the sidewalk. I walked my bike, humiliated, the rest of the way. Why was I humilitated? I worried some roadie will see me walking and think "Haha, that noob doesn't know how to ride the road".

On the way home, I decided to ride down the (6 foot wide!) sidewalk... I know, its illegal, 5.5times as dangerous, and 'rude' for pedestrians... but I kept my speed down to 10mph (lol pitiful), but on the 'easy going' road I hit the asphalt and rode the rest of the way on the black tarmac.

I also realized the importance of a mirror. My friend also pointed out my helmet was too small... I got it 3 years ago, and I don't like it anymore... it has blue flames which were all the rage back then, and now it looks silly. Should I put reflective tape on the helmet and on my backpack?

In my AP US history class, I saw that my teacher had a few bike-related stickers on his school laptop, so I asked him if he biked, and since he said yes I asked him about what to do when a motorist tells me to get on the sidewalk, he said I should just keep riding and that the city is 'a bit prejudiced against bikes'.

By the way, when I was riding, the honking motorist was doing this while I was occupying the centermost lane, preparing to enter the turning lane into the school.

I checked my city's bike laws, and I was doing everything right; I took up an entire lane because the lane was too narrow to share with a car, and the curb is really, really trashed. It has tons of dust, dirt, storm drains, trash, and stuff. I don't want to take chances getting buzzed by a car on a slick surface and land on some broken glass with my bike getting hit by cars as I fall off.

And, by the way, if you need to ask, the sidewalk ride was terrible; I had to slow down a lot because of pedestrians, I took my flatbar road bike to the grass trying to pass these girls walking 4 abreast, and it was bumpy. When I took a turn, I almost hit the edge and fell out into the road, and I was only going 8mph.

edit: There is a critical mass on the 28th. Should I join?

CB HI

Critical Mass rides do nothing for cyclist rights.

Your daily ride does far more for all cyclist.

15 year olds worry too much about what others think about them, but do not worry about other cyclist and rude motorist. The only thing that counts for you right now, is your safety. You are doing fine so far, so keep using your best judgement as you become more comfortable with riding in traffic.

rnorris

^^^+1. Kudos to you, you're doing a small but significant part in bringing to San Antonio the idea that cyclists belong on the roads. Don't worry about what "roadies" think; if you need to take a break from the road for short stretches, do it. Keep your riding going, and you'll be a pretty good roadie yourself!


FWIW.... I'm built like a skinny 14 year old and get mistaken for a kid by some drivers. On rare occasions some teenagers will yell something at me, but it always comes out like a silly bunch of garbled syllables and it's kind of funny.

sggoodri

You were doing everything right on the road. Keep doing it. You are entitled to it.

Understand that when drivers believe they are yelling at a kid to stay out of the roadway for the child's own good, they aren't about to run him over. The last thing a driver wants is to be faulted for hurting a kid.

Most roadies are pleased when they see a kid on a road bike, flat bar or not. I bought a flat bar road bike for my niece (now age 15) so she could ride more efficiently and keep up with her dad. She didn't care for drop bars after test riding some.

You'll feel better if you can find some more people who will ride on the roadways with you. My parents never did, but I found some peers with road bikes, and the rest is history.