I've noticed that there's been some confusion about the rights and obligations of cyclists recently, especially in light of the CM cockup on Friday. Apparently some cop was telling people that in any collision between a cyclist and a car, the cyclist is always at fault. There was also mention of CM riders being harassed by cops over registrations.

Therefore I've decided to post a copy of the Chicago Municipal Code sections dealing with bicycles. Hopefully this will be a helpful reference if you find yourself in an incident with a motorist or cop who claims it is unlawful for you to do whatever it is you were doing.



Chicago Municipal Code § 9-52-010

§ 9-52-010 Rights and duties.

(a) Every person riding a bicycle upon a roadway shall be granted all of the rights and shall be subject to all of the duties applicable to the driver of a vehicle by the laws of this state declaring rules of the road applicable to vehicles or by the traffic ordinances of this city applicable to the driver of a vehicle, except as to those provisions of laws and ordinances which by their nature can have no application.

(b) The regulations in the traffic code applicable to bicycles shall apply whenever a bicycle is operated upon any roadway or public sidewalk or upon any public path set aside for the exclusive use of bicycles, subject to those exceptions stated herein.

(c) Whenever authorized signs are erected indicating that no right or left turn or turn in the opposite direction is permitted, no person operating a bicycle shall disobey the direction of any such sign unless he dismounts from the bicycle to make the turn, in which event he shall then obey the regulations applicable to pedestrians.

(d) Every person convicted of a violation of any provision of this chapter regulating bicycles shall be fined $25.00.

§ 9-52-020 Riding bicycles on sidewalks and certain roadways.

(a) No person shall ride a bicycle upon a sidewalk within a business district.

(b) No person 12 or more years of age shall ride a bicycle upon any sidewalk in any district, unless such sidewalk has been officially designated and marked as a bicycle route.

(c) Bicycles shall not be operated on Lake Shore Drive or on any roadway where the operation of bicycles has been prohibited and signs have been erected indicating such prohibition.

(d) Whenever a usable path for bicycles has been provided adjacent to a roadway, bicycle riders shall use such path and shall not use the roadway.

§ 9-52-021 Riding bicycles on sidewalks--Penalty.

(a) The penalty for any person age 18 and older who rides a bicycle on the sidewalk adjacent to North Sheridan Road, between West Ardamore Avenue and West Sheridan Road (6400 north) shall be as follows:

(1) The bicycle shall be temporarily disabled without permanent damage; and

(2) The violator shall be subject to a fine of $50.00.

(b) Following passage and approval, this section shall be in full force and effect upon the posting of signage notifying bicyclists of the penalty for violation of this section.

§ 9-52-030 Speed of bicycles.

No person shall operate a bicycle at a speed greater than is reasonable and prudent under the conditions then existing.

§ 9-52-040 Yielding right-of-way.

(a) The operator of a bicycle emerging from an alley, driveway or building shall, upon approaching a sidewalk or the sidewalk area extending across any alleyway, yield the right-of-way to all pedestrians approaching on the sidewalk or sidewalk area and, upon entering the roadway, shall yield the right-of-way to all vehicles approaching on the roadway.

(b) Whenever any person is riding a bicycle upon a sidewalk, such person shall yield the right-of-way to any pedestrian and shall give audible signal before overtaking and passing such pedestrian.

(c) Every person operating a bicycle upon a roadway shall ride as near as practicable to the right-hand side of the roadway, exercising due care when passing a standing vehicle or one proceeding in the same direction and at all times giving the right-of-way to other moving vehicles.

§ 9-52-050 Riding in single file required--Exceptions.

Persons riding bicycles upon a roadway shall not ride other than single file except on paths or parts of roadways set aside for the exclusive use of bicycles.

§ 9-52-060 Carrying articles on bicycles.

No person operating a bicycle shall carry any package, bundle or article which prevents the rider from keeping at least one hand upon the handlebars.

§ 9-52-070 Parking.

No person shall park a bicycle upon a street other than upon the roadway against the curb or upon the sidewalk against a rack, parking meter or sign pole to support the bicycle or against a building or at the curb in such manner as to afford the least obstruction to pedestrian traffic.

§ 9-52-071 Abandoned bicycles.

(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to abandon any bicycle on any public way within the city. A bicycle shall be deemed abandoned if it:

(1) Is in such a state of disrepair as to be incapable of being operated in its present condition; or

(2) Has not been moved or used in more than seven days and bears physical indicia of having been deserted.

(b) Any bicycle deemed abandoned pursuant to subsection (a) of this section may have a notice affixed to it which informs the bicycles owner that the bicycle appears to be abandoned. The commissioner of transportation or his designee is authorized to affix such notices upon bicycles. This notice shall indicate:

(1) A telephone number for the owner to call to inform the department of transportation that the bicycle is not abandoned; and

(2) The date after which the bicycle may be removed if it is not claimed by its owner.

A bicycle shall not be deemed to be abandoned if the owner of the bicycle, within seven days of the affixing of a Notice of Abandonment, notifies the department of transportation that the bicycle is not abandoned.

(c) If a bicycle is not relocated or claimed by its owner within seven days of the affixing of a Notice of Abandonment, that bicycle may be removed and disposed of by the commissioner of transportation or his designee.

§ 9-52-080 Headlamps, reflectors and brakes.

(a) Every bicycle when in use at nighttime shall be equipped with a head lamp which shall emit a white light visible from a minimum distance of 500 feet from the front and with a rear red reflector capable of reflecting the head lamp beams of an approaching motor vehicle back to the operator of such vehicle at distances up to 200 feet or a rear lamp emitting a red light visible from a distance of at least 200 feet from the rear.

(b) Every bicycle shall be equipped with a brake that will enable the operator to make the braked wheel skid on dry, level, clean pavement.

§ 9-52-090 Riding regulations.

(a) A person propelling a bicycle shall not ride other than astride a permanent and regular seat attached thereto.

(b) No bicycle shall be used to carry more persons at one time than the number for which it is designed and equipped.

§ 9-120-020 Registration.

It is hereby made the duty of the owner of every bicycle, before operating or permitting the operation of the same upon any public way within the city, to register said vehicle with the commissioner of police on a form provided for such purpose.

Registration may be accomplished by filing the registration record or form, duly filled out, in the office of the commander of the police district in which the bicycle owner resides, or by mailing said form, duly filled out, postage prepaid, to the commissioner of police.

§ 9-120-030 Registration record.

The registration record shall be in size and style as prescribed by the commissioner of police and shall contain the date of registration, the make, serial number, model and description of the bicycle registered, the name and residence address of the owner, the signature of the owner, the owner's age, and if such owner is under 21 years of age, the name and address of his or her parent or guardian, the name and address of the person from whom purchased, the date of purchase, and such additional information as the commissioner of police may require.

§ 10-28-284 Closure of sidewalks and bicycle lanes.

(B) Closure of Bicycle Lanes. When the use of a construction canopy results in the closure of a bicycle lane, signs must be provided warning bicyclists of the lane closure and warning vehicles of the need to yield to the bicyclists. The signs must be of a type as designated by the department of transportation and the office of emergency management and communications. At a minimum, the lane closure signs must be located on both sides of the street in the direction of the approach to the construction canopy at a point 600 feet and 300 feet in front of the construction canopy. In addition, lane closure signs must be attached to the end of the construction canopy facing the approaching bicycle traffic. At a minimum, the yield to bicyclists signs must be located on both sides of the street in the direction of the approach to the construction canopy at a point 100 feet and 50 feet in front of the construction canopy. In addition, yield to bicyclists signs must be attached to the end of the construction canopy facing the approaching bicycle traffic. The permittee is responsible for maintaining the signs for the life of the construction project.

What's up with the restriction herein, "The penalty for any person age 18 and older who rides a bicycle on the sidewalk adjacent to North Sheridan Road, between West Ardamore Avenue and West Sheridan Road (6400 north) shall be as follows:

(1) The bicycle shall be temporarily disabled without permanent damage; and

(2) The violator shall be subject to a fine of $50.00."

Also, "A person propelling a bicycle shall not ride other than astride a permanent and regular seat attached thereto."

Whaa?

this post seems to reaffirm everything the cop said.

That had to do with all the crap a few years back with bike riders leaving the LSD path and how people complained and started fussing/petitioning.


yeah, thats lost on me too

Thanks for posting this! Very interesting.

means that a person moving on a bike has to have their legs on either side of the bike seat

Sounds like the guy from the station down on Division who was telling me exactly this after I got hit on one of the first DCC rides. The cab driver was next to me claiming responsibility, but the cop essentially told him to shut up because it was clearly my fault, no other way it could've been.

Ah, CPD, I love you like a jaw loves the caress of brass knuckles...

It is cool to see the laws...but it looks like quite a few of these laws were broken.

Are the current CM organizers trying to break laws on purpose to prove that they are stupid, or are they really trying to bring sympathy to the plight of the biker.

Of those people who ride CM, did you know how many laws you were breaking? Do you care?

Just wondering...

So everyone who went through a red light, or stopped in the intersection broke the law, and could have been fined $25.


Looks like another couple of laws were broken...

I wonder how many CM riders were in compliance with these last 2?

Part of the point of CM (albeit secondary), is to point out that traffic laws, like those above, are NOT always written in such a way so as to be fair to cyclists. Sometimes laws are broken to make a point.

I've always heard that bikes can flib-flop from pedestrian traffic laws to vehicle traffic laws depending on where you ride i.e. if you are on a sidewalk/cross walk you have to follow pedestrian laws, if you are on the road you have to follow vehicle traffic laws and that's why you can cut through traffic at the cross walk or sprint through a light legally if there is no traffic the same way a pedestrian can cross the street against a light when the coat is clear.

Is this all bull****?

I think CM is exempt from those requirements because it qualifies as a "parade" under this other section of the code:

§ 10-8-330 Parade, public assembly or athletic event.

(1) "Parade" means any march, procession or other similar activity consisting of persons, animals, vehicles or things, or combination thereof, upon any public street, sidewalk, alley or other public place, which requires a street closing or otherwise requires police officers to stop or reroute vehicular traffic because the marchers will not comply with normal and usual traffic regulations or controls.

... [sections ommitted]

(b) No parade or athletic event is permitted on any portion of the public way of the city of Chicago unless a permit allowing such activity has been obtained from the office of emergency management and communications.

... [sections ommitted]

(t) Any person who knowingly interferes with any other person or organization lawfully conducting a parade, public assembly or athletic event or any person violating any of the provisions of this ordinance, or any of the provisions of the regulations promulgated hereunder, shall be subject to incarceration for up to 10 days and fined not less than $50.00 nor more than $1,000.00.


Since it seems pretty clear that CM is a "parade," I wonder if you could file a complaint under § 10-8-330(t) against the ******face in the black SUV for disrupting it? It probably wouldn't be too hard to show that he "knowingly interfer[ed] with it."

self edit: "coast is clear" not "coat is clear"

It would be cool to have a shirt with this document printed on the front of it. Then, it would be easier to argue with cops who don't know the law. Of course, you would need a different shirt for each state.

Do the CM organizers REALLY get a permit? If so, why is the traffic not diverted, but rather overwhelmed by the bikers?

No he can't be charged with disrupting a parade because it wasn't sanctioned by the city.

And the cops and the driver could read the law, just as it's written, right on your dead torso.

Yeah, I have heard the "rules are meant to be broken", but just reading the replies on this thread it seems like many of the bikers do not even know the laws/rules...

It seems to me it woudl be more "valid" to have a weekly ride, organized by a Pro-Bike group, where you had 20-30 bikers ride through the city, breaking some laws(the single file law, all the way to the right, etc) while moving at the speed of traffic, and otherwise following the laws that cars do. i.e. not taking the whole street up, moving at the speed of traffic, not stopping at intersections, not "abusing" drivers. i.e. Flipping cars off, swearing at drivers, tapping cars, etc.

As a driver, I would be impressed by bikers that follow the rules and seem to feel they should be an equal on the road, as opposed to being able to do whatever they feel is their 'right" at the moment.

Huh, I assumed something as big as critical mass would have a permit. If not, then it really is breaking a ton of ordinances.

I had no idea about the duty to register a bike before riding it. I don't know anyone who has done this.

Yeah but there is no formal organization in CM. I think it would be wrong for anyone to make an attempt to get a permit for CM considering that CM is an anarchic, unbearucratic organization. Representing an entire mass movement even in just one city is overly self-righteous. Especially when you consider that there is legal precendence stating CM is not a parade. Thus what single person has the right to steer the legal/political course of CM?

these laws do not apply to people on fixed gears, it's a fact. we are the law.