NYBC | Education and Enforcement

IMPROVING BICYCLING AND PEDESTRIAN SAFETY IN NEW YORK STATE

Operation of Bicycles Article 34

Section 1230. Effect of regulations.

(a) The parent of any child and the guardian of any ward shall not authorize or knowlingly permit any such child or ward to violate any of the provisions of this article.

(b) These regulations applicable to bicycles shall apply whenever a bicycle is operated upon any highway, upon private roads open to public motor vehicle traffic and upon any path set aside for the exclusive use of bicycles.

Section 1231. Traffic laws apply to persons riding bicycles. 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 this title, except as to special regulations in this article and except as to those provisions of this title which by their nature can have no application.

Section 1232. Riding on bicycles.

(a) A person propelling a bicycle shall not ride other than upon or astride a permanent and regular seat attached thereto, nor shall he ride with his feet removed from the pedals.

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

Section 1233. Clinging to vehicles.

1) No person riding upon any bicycle, coaster, roller skates, sled or toy vehicle shall attach the same or himself to any vehicle being operated upon a roadway.

ii) farm type tractors used exclusively for agricultural purposes or other farm equipment; and

iii) riding on the open, uncovered cargo area of a truck with the permission of the operator of such truck; and

iv) vehicles employed by a municipality for local garbage collection; and

v) vehicles participating in a parade pursuant to a municipal permit.

3) No vehicle operator shall knowingly permit any person to attach any device or himself to such operator's vehicle in violation of subdivision one or subdivision two of this Section.

Section 1234. Riding on roadways, shoulders, bicycle lanes and bicycle paths.

(a) Upon all roadways, any bicycle shall be driven either on a usable bicycle lane or, if a usable bicycle lane has not been provided, near the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway or upon a usable right- hand shoulder in such a manner as to prevent undue interference with the flow of traffic except when preparing for a left turn or when reasonably necessary to avoid conditions that would make it unsafe to continue along near the right-hand curb or edge. Conditions to be taken into consideration include, but are not limited to, fixed or moving objects, vehicles, bicycles, pedestrians, animals, surface hazards or traffic lanes too narrow for a bicycle and a vehicle to travel safely side-by-side within the lane.

(b) Persons riding bicycles upon a roadway shall not ride more than two abreast. Persons riding bicycles upon a shoulder, bicycle lane or bicycle path intended for the use of bicycles may ride two or more abreast if sufficient space is available, except when passing a vehicle, bicycle or pedestrian standing or proceeding along such shoulder, lane or path, persons riding bicycles shall ride single file. Persons riding bicycles upon a roadway shall ride single file when being overtaken by another vehicle.

(c) Any person operating a bicycle who is entering the roadway from a private road, driveway, alley or over a curb shall come to a full stop before entering the roadway.

Section 1235. Carrying articles. No person operating a bicycle shall carry any package, bundle, or article which prevents the driver from keeping at least one hand upon the handle bars.

Section 1236. Lamps and other equipment on bicycles.

(a) Every bicycle when in use during the period from one-half hour after sunset to one-half hour before sunrise shall be equipped with a lamp on the front which shall emit a white light visible during hours of darkness from a distance of at least five hundred feet to the front and with a red light visible to the rear for three hundred feet. Effective July first, nineteen hundred seventy-six, at least one of these lights shall be visible for two hundred feet from each side.

(b) No person shall operate a bicycle unless it is equipped with a bell or other device capable of giving a signal audible for a distance of at least one hundred feet, except that a bicycle shall not be equipped with nor shall any person use upon a bicycle any siren or whistle.

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

(d) Every new bicycle shall be equipped with reflective tires or, alternately, a reflex reflector mounted on the spokes of each wheel, said tires and reflectors to be of types approved by the commissioner. The reflex reflector mounted on the front wheel shall be colorless or amber, and the reflex reflector mounted on the rear wheel shall be colorless or red.

(e) Every bicycle when in use during the period from one-half hour after sunset to one-half hour before sunrise shall be equipped with reflective devices or material meeting the standards established by rules and regulations promulgated by the commissioner; provided, however, that such standards shall not be inconsistent with or otherwise conflict with the requirements of subdivisions (a) and (d) of this Section.

Section 1237. Method of giving hand and arm signals by bicyclists. All signals herein required to be given by bicyclists by hand and arm shall be given in the following manner and such signals shall indicate as follows:

1) Left turn. Left hand and arm extended horizontally.

2) Right turn. Left hand and arm extended upward, or right hand and arm extended horizontally.

3) Stop or decrease speed. Left hand and arm extended downward.

Section 1238. Passengers on bicycles under one year of age prohibited; passengers and operators under fourteen years of age to wear protective headgear.

1) No person operating a bicycle shall allow a person who is under one year of age to ride as a passenger on a bicycle nor shall such person be carried in a pack fastened to the operator. A first violation of the provisions of this subdivision shall result in no fine. A second violation shall result in a civil fine not to exceed fifty dollars.

(b) such passenger is placed in a separate seat attached to the bicycle and such seat shall have adequate provision for retaining the passenger in place and for protecting the passenger from the moving parts of the bicycle.

3) Any person who violates the provisions of subdivision two of this section shall pay a civil fine not to exceed fifty dollars.

4) The court shall waive any fine for which a person who violates the provisions of paragraph (a) of subdivision two of this section would be liable if such person supplies the court with proof that between the date of violation and the appearance date for such violation such person purchased or rented a helmet which meets the requirements of paragraph (a) of subdivision two of this section. Further, the court shall waive any fine for which a person who violates the provisions of paragraph (b) of subdivision two of this section would be liable if such person supplies the court with proof that between the date of violation and the appearance date for such violation such person purchased or rented a seat which meets the requirements of paragraph (b) of subdivision two of this section. The court may waive any fine for which a person who violates the provisions of subdivision two of this section would be liable if the court finds that due to reasons of economic hardship such person was unable to purchase a helmet or seat. Such waiver of fine shall not apply to a second or subsequent conviction under paragraph (a) or (b) of subdivision two of this section.

5) No person, one or more years of age and less than fourteen years of age, shall operate or ride as a passenger on a bicycle unless such person is wearing a helmet meeting the standards of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI Z 90.4 bicycle helmet standards) or the Snell Memorial Foundation's Standards for Protective Headgear for use in Bicycling. For the purposes of this subdivision wearing a helmet means having a helmet of good fit fastened securely upon the head with the helmet straps.

(b) The court shall waive any fine for which a person who violates the provision of subdivision four of this section would be liable if such person supplies the court with proof that between the date of violation and the appearance date for such violation such person purchased or rented a helmet.

(c) The court may waive any fine for which a person who violates the provisions of subdivision five of this section would be liable if the court finds that due to reasons of economic hardship such person was unable to purchase a helmet or due to such economic hardship such person was unable to obtain a helmet from the statewide bicycle helmet distribution program, as established in section two hundred six of the public health law, or a local distribution program.

7) The failure of any person to comply with the provisions of this section shall not constitute contributory negligence or assumption of risk, and shall not in any way bar, preclude or foreclose an action for personal injury or wrongful death by or on behalf of such person, nor in any way diminish or reduce the damages recoverable in any such action.

8) A police officer shall only issue a summons for a violation of subdivision two or five of this section to a parent or guardian of a person less than fourteen years of age if the violation by such person occurs in the presence of such person's parent or guardian and where such parent or guardian is eighteen years of age or more. Such summons shall only be issued to such parent or guardian, and shall not be issued to the person less than fourteen years of age.

9) Subdivisions five and six of this section shall not be applicable to any county, city, town or village that has enacted a local law or who is one or more years of age and less than fourteen years of age from operating or riding as a passenger on a bicycle without wearing a bicycle helmet. The legislative body of a county, city, town or village may enact a local law or ordinance that prohibits a person who is fourteen or more years of age from operating or riding as a passenger on a bicycle without wearing a helmet.

(NOTE: Public Health Law, Section206, authorizes the NYS Commissioner of Health to establish a statewide bicycle helmet public education and awareness program and a statewide bicycle helmet distribution program for persons who can demonstrate an economic hardship that precludes them from purchasing a helmet.)