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Anyone here ever come across some strange and unusual bicycle laws? When I was stationed at the Navy base in Orlando back in 1990 we had to register the bicycle with the base police and attach a military base sticker to the front of the bicycle. I've heard there are some places in the world that require a license to ride a bicycle on the road (considering how some people are this probably wouldn't be such a bad idea).

I don't know about license plates or stickers but I did hear of a strange law while I was in college. Apparently bicycles can be considered no different from other vehicles (cars, motorcycles). With this idea it dictates where a bicycle can go and how it's suppose to obey traffic laws. On the road there's no difference, however, if you were to cross in a cross walk you are technically suppose to dismount and walk your bike across the intersection.

I found this out because I had a guy on my floor that was riding across a crosswalk and got hit. The person was trying to swerve around some pedestrians and ended up hitting the dude. Lucky for the cyclist the collision was relatively slow. He flipped up onto the hood and his back landed right in the middle of the windshield. He walked away with a couple of bruises. If either the car or the cyclist had been going slower or faster he could have easily broken his back on one of the A-pillars.

I'm sure this applies to a couple of other states. Maryland definitely has some weird laws.

The mililary thing makes a great deal of sense. A bike is potentially massive pipe bomb, so keeping track of them is necessary, plus the MPs need to know who to talk to if the the bike isn't parked/stowed correctly.

mtbiker278...can you restate the accident...
Who was trying to swerve? Did the car hit the bike or the bike hit the car? Did the accient happen within the crosswalk or did the bike swerve out of the crosswalk? And lastly...who had to pay for damages? Just curious.

I don't know of any strange laws, but IL has a number of crossing points where cars are supposed to stop for bikes, but the only marking are the yellow hashes on the ground. So when most bikes get to these, they stop and wait for the cars to go past (which they aren't...they should stop, but never do). You would think a yield sign on either side of the crossing would make it clearer for those people too ignorant to know and properly act on driving laws. Sometime in the past I mentioned that when I did stop for a biker at one of these paths, the people behind me starting honking and waving angrily at me. People comes from the other direction kept driving straight on (despite me as an example of what to do). Ultimatly the biker nodded thanks and waved me on.

Thanks!

The car was trying to swerve around some pedestrian on the right hand part of the crosswalk. The cyclist was coming in from the left in the crosswalk riding in a straight line. The cyclist was hit in the crosswalk. I don't think any damages were charged, although technically speaking the cyclist would have been at fault due to the interpretation of the laws. However, I think there might be some kind of clause in the laws like those for motorcyclist where if they in an accident they are "absolved" for their fault because they'll suffer more damage in general (I not completely sure of this).

The car was trying to swerve around some pedestrian on the right hand part of the crosswalk. The cyclist was coming in from the left in the crosswalk riding in a straight line. The cyclist was hit in the crosswalk. I don't think any damages were charged, although technically speaking the cyclist would have been at fault due to the interpretation of the laws. However, I think there might be some kind of clause in the laws like those for motorcyclist where if they in an accident they are "absolved" for their fault because they'll suffer more damage in general (I not completely sure of this).

Well it is a crosswalk and not a crossride.

All I know about bicycles is that if you're on one you're supposed to follow the same laws as the cars. So stop at redlights and stop signs, and don't exceed the speedlimit. Hey, it's doable in school zones isn't it?

A lot of towns have a law about getting a bike sticker and getting it registered in case it is stolen....but I have not seen the laws ever enforced. In all the areas I have ever been at a bike is supposed to be held to the same laws as a car.....I got a speeding ticket while slip streaming a semi-truck in Columbus, GA....37 in a 30....truck was NOT pulled over....I was okay and laughing about it until it showed up on my IN driving record!!! (used to race bicycles before I started racng cars)

A lot of towns have a law about getting a bike sticker and getting it registered in case it is stolen....but I have not seen the laws ever enforced.

I love that law, require a bike permit under the guise that it is for theft protection, but get you bike taken from you if you don't comply.

Toronto have voluntary bicycle registration with the police, that is for theft prevention and recovery. I did register, about a decade ago, then I lost the paperwork. :o That came back in the spotlight with the recent busting of a bike theft ring, run by a bike shop owner! :eek: Of the some 3000+ bikes recovered, only 400 or so found their way home last time I checked.

Well it is a crosswalk and not a crossride.

All I know about bicycles is that if you're on one you're supposed to follow the same laws as the cars. So stop at redlights and stop signs, and don't exceed the speedlimit. Hey, it's doable in school zones isn't it?

Laws vary by jurisdiction, but as a rule of thumb the regulations have the jist that bicyclists are allowed to ride on either the road or the sidewalk so long as they abide by the same rules as cars on the road (think of bike commuters) and the same rules as pedestrians on the sidewalk (think of neighborhood kids).

Which set of rules usually applies to a bicyclist crossing a road in a pedestrian crosswalk? I don't know, but maybe the pedestrian rules since you don't want bicyclists running down pedestrians in the crosswalk?

Penn State Universtiy and State College, PA require bicycle registration and a headlight after dark. Their enforcement, however, is different. A violation on campus is a $5 fine, $4 if you pay it within 24 hrs. A violation in State College IS THE SAME AS IN A CAR. I rode my bike the length of a building the wrong way down an ALLEY, and was stopped by one of FOUR police officers staked out in that alley, specifically pulling over cyclists. I got a fine of $84, and THREE POINTS ON MY LICENSE. I pushed the bike the rest of the way down the alley, and was nearly run down by a car that ran a stop sign, then made a left ON RED, tires squealing.
Not saying I didn't deserve a ticket for a violation, even a stupid one, but the fine was excessive, and there shouldn't be points given for a BICYCLE.
Then again, a guy was given a DUI on a SKATEBOARD there.
Plus, Pennsylvania's Moped laws are some of the worst written.

Riding in the day time in Ontario requires a bell which is primarily to warn pedestrians that typically aren't walking on the road.

Riding at night requires the following:

When on a highway at any time from one-half hour before sunset to one-half hour after sunrise and at any other time when, due to insufficient light or unfavourable atmospheric conditions, persons and vehicles on the highway are not clearly discernible at a distance of 150 metres or less, every motor assisted bicycle, bicycle or tricycle shall carry on the front thereof a lighted lamp displaying a white or amber light and on the rear thereof a lighted lamp displaying a red light or a reflector approved by the Ministry, and in addition there shall be placed on the front forks thereof white reflective material, and on the rear thereof red reflective material covering a surface of not less than 250 millimetres in length and 25 millimetres in width. R.S.O. 1990, c. H.8, s. 62 (17).

25mm x 250mm is 1" x 10"

In Ontario, having just a reflector on the back of the bike is unsafe yet legal while having a flashing red light on the back is technically against the law. Most Police bikes fail the tape requirement.

There isn't even agreement when you write Ministry officials if the tape should be oriented to help visibility from the front and back or from the sides. I've seen both mentioned.

In the Houston area, you have to register your bike for about $2, but if you don't, you get fined for $200