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At work I had a conversation with a coworker about where a bicyclist is allowed to travel on the roads here. He was sure that they were to travel on the sidewalks, while I was sure they were treated as regular vehicles. We attempted to find the laws online, but I couldn't pinpoint anything.
Could anyone help direct me to where I could find state and local laws, Weather it's on the internet or going down to some building? I'd like to learn these laws and figure out what I am and am not allowed to do, espically if a driver pushes the limits, or if a police officer tries to do something.
I also want to know where I stand....I do my best to be polite to drivers, giving them as much room as I can and the like. I've 'trained' a few of the drivers on my morning commute...they know how I go through several intersections and that I'll give'em room when I can :)
Many thanks
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The most important law pertaining to bicycles in Michigan is MCL 257.657, which reads
MICHIGAN VEHICLE CODE (EXCERPT)
Act 300 of 1949
257.657 Rights and duties of persons riding bicycle, electric personal assistive mobility device, or moped or operating low-speed vehicle.
Sec. 657. Each person riding a bicycle, electric personal assistive mobility device, or moped or operating a low-speed vehicle upon a roadway has all the rights and is subject to all fo the duties applicable to the driver of a vehicle by this chapter, except as to special regulations in this article and except as to the provisions of this chapter which by their nature do not have application.
The chapter deals with various vehicle laws and so forth. You can find this, and other Michigan laws, at the Michigan state legislature website.
To start with, Fred Oswald of "Reforming Bicycle Laws" (http://www.geocities.com/fredoswald/law-reform.html), says that Michigan ties for the worst bicyce laws in the nation, rating a grade of F-minus: (http://www.geocities.com/fredoswald/bike-laws/Michigan.pdf)
"These Michigan laws constitute a substantial variation from the Uniform Vehicle Code and, in
effect, utilize rules that were deleted from the Code in 1934 following the advent of one-way and
multiple-lane roadways. They have been judged unworkable and impractical in other states and
materially contribute to poor utilization of roadway space and to unsafe driving practices."The site goes on to say that our MVC does not even define bicycles as vehicles.
Here is a link to the actual text of the Michigan Vehicle Code (Act 300) (http://www.legislature.mi.gov/(g0iqce4533vqta55c1xt12rt)/mileg.aspx?page=getobject&objectname=mcl-Act-300-of-1949&queryid=14646114&highlight=vehicle%20code).
But there is some slightly good news. The League of Michigan Bicyclists (http://www.lmb.org/) reports that the "bike bill" designed to reform the Michigan Vehicle Code is making its way through the legislature now. So maybe things will get a little better for us in the near future.
Here is a summary of the new Michigan Bike Bill (http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2005-2006/billanalysis/House/htm/2005-HLA-1224-3.htm) (Senate Bill 1224) that would replace some parts of our current archaic laws, passed before there were one-way and multilane roads. (There are definite disadvantages to living in the first state that had auto traffic and traffic laws.)
:eek: Jeeze, Ohio acutally better bicycle laws than at least one other state?
Jeeze, Ohio acutally better bicycle laws than at least one other state?
I'm not sure, but I think I read that Ohio recently passed some pretty good laws.
Thanks folks. I knew it was out there somewhere, I guess my google searches were worded wrong or something. :)
Here in the mitten we have some of the worst and most confusing laws for cycling, not to mentioin that the roads are 100% catered towards automobiles. There are two things made certain on the michigan.gov site for bikes though; That a bicycle, when ridden upon the road, is considered a vehicle and is afforded all rights and held accountable for all rules of the road. And that we are to ride as far to the right as is practible. Since they used the word "practible" that means it is totally up to the cyclist on how far to the right to go, a basic definition of practible is "to be used for a specific purpose". So to me, the gutter is not practible, neither is the sidewalk.
We do need better, more defined laws here and in Macomb county they are currently working on them because alot of the police in the Sterling Heights and Clinton Township departments are also cyclists and pushing for a change.
Mr H, this link may help.
http://www.lmb.org/pages/Resources/Legal/TenMythsAboutBiking.htm
There are also city laws to worry about, it was recently found that in fact, in the City of Livonia you are -required- to ride on the sidewalk, no matter what.
Critical Mass Detroit's Law Page (http://www.criticalmassdetroit.org/?laws) has the relevant Detroit and State of Michigan laws concerning Bicycles.
Florida seems to have their act together.
http://www.dot.state.fl.us/safety/ped_bike/laws/ped_bike_bikeLaws1.htm
Thanks, I went to the city webpage and found that they actually have a link to their Code of Ordanices. Followed that, did a search, and I discovered a few local things I didn't know (apparently I need to register my bike. Who knew....).
The site they used was 'American Legal Publishing' (http://www.amlegal.com/). Dunno if they have other city ordinances up there somewhere.
I'm not sure, but I think I read that Ohio recently passed some pretty good laws.
Yeh infact we did house bill 389 wich was signed in to law june 17th by taft and goes in to effect sept 15 of this year.
Lots of invali ords will become illegal ords Meaning no city can ticket you for not riding on a side walk. Where as right now they can but you can beat the ticket in court. Ohio has always classed bikes as vehicals but there was no specific legal wordign to prevent cities like avon and avon lake from creating overly restrictive local ords that were in direct conflict with ohio vehical code and law.
A city could ticket you for breakign one of these ords but if you fought the ticket it would fall flat and be voided. Now cities cant hand out tickets on these ords nor can they pass these restrictive ord that are in direct conflict with ohio law.
I think but am not sure that ohio has a b+ to a when it comes to its vehical code and bike laws when you only look at its law and not cities.
Basically ohio will have every city in state with laws gettign a grade of a
Here in the mitten we have some of the worst and most confusing laws for cycling, not to mentioin that the roads are 100% catered towards automobiles. There are two things made certain on the michigan.gov site for bikes though; That a bicycle, when ridden upon the road, is considered a vehicle and is afforded all rights and held accountable for all rules of the road. And that we are to ride as far to the right as is practible. Since they used the word "practible" that means it is totally up to the cyclist on how far to the right to go, a basic definition of practible is "to be used for a specific purpose". So to me, the gutter is not practible, neither is the sidewalk.
We do need better, more defined laws here and in Macomb county they are currently working on them because alot of the police in the Sterling Heights and Clinton Township departments are also cyclists and pushing for a change.
A little fyi for any one who live in a city where its local laws are highly restrictive and or dangerous.
I beleive most if not all states have varius wording in their state trafic laws that make local ords invalid if/when they are in direct conflict with state law.
A ticket given for violation of such a local law or ord when chalenged in court is suminarilly voided. Remember in court cases looser pays court costs. In the case of a challenged ticket case this would be your city that pays the court costs not you.
Chances are these invalid ords have a fine of between $50 and $150 while court costs will be closer to $200 to $300.
I beleive you can even challenge tickets given acording to state laws as theuniform vehical code (wich is federaly created) classes a bike as a vehical. How ever in this case you might be in for a much longer harder fight.
Also the more people that challenge tickets handed out by a city ord that conflicts with state law the more likly the city is to stop ticketign for that law or repealing it all togather.
As for laws such as "close as praticable to the right" its open to interpratation a city could argue that this is 1 foot away in most all cases but you could also argue that riding that close to a road edge could get you killed as you have no place to escape to.
... we are to ride as far to the right as is practible [sic]. ...
"As far to the right as practicable" is standard language in the bicycle codes of most states. Fortunately, it does NOT mean "as far to the right as possible." The good news is that it is a flexible definition, which permits a rational cyclist to exercise reasonable judgment and discretion, such as sharing a wide outer lane or taking a narrow outer lane. The bad news is that it is a flexible definiton, and some law enforcement officers and some motorists don't "get it."
Mr H, this link may help.
http://www.lmb.org/pages/Resources/Legal/TenMythsAboutBiking.htm
Thanks Mr H. As many times as I've gone to thLMB site, i never stumbled on these articles.
Arkansas state law lays out that bicyclists have the rights and responsibilities, but it was the Sargent of the Little Rock Police Bicycle Patrol who informed me that "only" the police have the right to ride on the sidewalk in Little Rock.
There are also city laws to worry about, it was recently found that in fact, in the City of Livonia you are -required- to ride on the sidewalk, no matter what.
Critical Mass Detroit's Law Page (http://www.criticalmassdetroit.org/?laws) has the relevant Detroit and State of Michigan laws concerning Bicycles.
Well, that's one place where I won't be living any time soon. Sounds like redneck heaven.
There are some things Massachusetts does right. That state bicycle laws, (chapter 85, section 11B) allow cyclists to ride on all roads in the commonwealth, except for divided express highways where bicycles have been prohibited. The signs are posted at the on-ramps. Typically, they say no bicycles, horses, or pedestrians.
Cities and towns may not "make their own laws" on this, despite the best efforts of some places to do just that. Sidewalk riding is prohibited in all zoned business districts, statewide. Outside a zoned business district, sidewalk riding is permitted, "unless regulated by local ordinance." The law does allow local governments to regulate sidewalk riding if they want. The only place I can think of that does this, is Needham, where bicycles may not be ridden on the walkways of the town common.
Some years back, the little town of Hudson attempted to ban bicyclists altogether from the downtown area. Local cyclists got together, and pointed out the state law to the board of selectmen. And that was that. I understand that they did have an attorney with them though. Guess you would need one.
Other point of interest / amusement: Only the state's department of public works has the authority to change speed limit signs here. Cities and towns may not do this. I've been told that this was passed back in the 30's, to prevent any town from becoming a southern style "Speed trap".
There are also city laws to worry about, it was recently found that in fact, in the City of Livonia you are -required- to ride on the sidewalk, no matter what.
Critical Mass Detroit's Law Page (http://www.criticalmassdetroit.org/?laws) has the relevant Detroit and State of Michigan laws concerning Bicycles.
This morning a cop pulled me over in Livonia and told me to ride the sidewalk. I was in full commuter gear: lights, rear blinkie, reflective vest, reflectors, mirror, and helmet. It was 5:15 AM with little traffic. Two lanes each way with no berm and a 45 mph speed limit. I was taking the right lane but there was very little traffic and I wasn't slowing down anybody. My commute has five miles in Livonia. In addition the dangers of riding the sidewalks, everyone has their sprinklers on in the morning and I get soaked. :(
I would say that Holland Mi and Zeeland Mi are the best citys for bicyclists except for north holland they have paths and lanes that are flat tarmac that run next to the road so much nicer then the cracks in the sidewalk albeit they are still dangerous but I think I would still ride on them. In downtown zeeland mi there is a sign that says share the road and has a little bicycle picture and there is the same thing in hudsonville as well, and downtown holland you can't be on a sidewalk they call it a wheeled enforcement zone and even the fancy resturants down town have 2 or thre bikes chained up out front allendale mi is the worst unless you ride on campus the local police in allendale actually don't give you any room when they pass you. On the campus in allendale there are scads of bicycles chained up all over the place on the other hand I seem to be the only one that rides one my little region in a nut shell
I grew up in Livonia. Where did they get those mentally challenged ideas?
There are also city laws to worry about, it was recently found that in fact, in the City of Livonia you are -required- to ride on the sidewalk, no matter what.
Critical Mass Detroit's Law Page (http://www.criticalmassdetroit.org/?laws) has the relevant Detroit and State of Michigan laws concerning Bicycles.
Yeah, whatever the state law is, you still have to check the local ordinances. Lawmakers have some pretty freaky local laws. Actually, there have been some other threads in th BF that said some people were riding town to town and the laws changed from one to the next. How are we supposed to know. Although most are not enforced, laws are what they are.
Governor Granholm signed Senate Bill 1224 and it went in to affect on 8/16/06, good news.
Another link with some good info http://www.m-bike.org/milaw.htm.
I've been passed by no less then three police officers while riding into work, and not one has stopped me. I don't know if that means they're well educated about the laws, or if I just got lucky. Fortuantly I've been checking the online databases of laws in the area I ride and not one seems to indicate anything stating that I have to ride on the sidewalk (unless, of course, the police determine for some reason that bikes should be on the sidewalk for an emergency (Road being constructed, down to one lane, that type of thing)).
Governor Granholm signed Senate Bill 1224 and it went in to affect on 8/16/06, good news.
Fantastic! Here is one major thing this bill changes: it eliminates language that allows local ordinance to require bicyclists to use an adjacent sidepath.
:beer:
Now all we need is for every state to do the same. If Michigan can do it, anyone can!
I've been passed by no less then three police officers while riding into work, and not one has stopped me. I don't know if that means they're well educated about the laws, or if I just got lucky. Fortuantly I've been checking the online databases of laws in the area I ride and not one seems to indicate anything stating that I have to ride on the sidewalk (unless, of course, the police determine for some reason that bikes should be on the sidewalk for an emergency (Road being constructed, down to one lane, that type of thing)).
No state has ever had a law telling cyclists that they need to use the sidewalk in any situation. Most states say that sidewalk use in permitted in some areas though. Most of the "bike paths" I've seen are just glorified sidewalks so I avoid them as they don't offer me any advantages. I've only had one cop ever hassle me for using the roadway (instead of the shoulder or sidewalk) and this was at 6:30am on a Sunday on an empty two lane each way road. He was a complete arse. A road being down to one lane is far from a valid excuse to put bike traffic on the sidewalk. Those of us who ride narrow one lane each way roads often know that a cyclist causes an insignificant disturbance in the overall traffic flow.
Speaking of police, I cross through jurisdictions of 7 different police departments (5 city and 2 county) on my commute. I've never been ordered onto a sidepath, even though there are provisions in Georgia law allowing local authorities to do so.
Yet, I'd like to keep that loophole closed, and remove that law.
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