California law |
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Constitution |
Codes |
Note: There are 29 California codes. |
Courts of record |
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Bicycle law in California is the parts of the California Vehicle Code that set out the law for persons cycling in California, and a subset of bicycle law in the United States. In general, almost all the same rights and responsibilities that apply to car drivers apply to bicycle riders as well.
CVC 21200 states that the rules of the road, set out in Division 11 of the California Vehicle Code, that do not specifically apply only to motor vehicles are applicable to cyclists. Police officers riding bicycles are exempt from the provisions when they are responding to an emergency call, engaged in rescue operations, or in immediate pursuit of a suspect.
Laws Applicable to Bicycle Use
21200. (a) Every person riding a bicycle upon a highway has all the rights and is subject to all the provisions applicable to the driver of a vehicle by this division... except those provisions which by their very nature can have no application.
— California Department of Motor Vehicles, CVC 21200, Laws Applicable to Bicycle Use: Peace Officer Exemption [1]
CVC 21650 sets the on-road position for all vehicles, including bicycles.
Right Side of Roadway
21650. Upon all highways, a vehicle shall be driven upon the right half of the roadway...
— California Department of Motor Vehicles, CVC 21650, Right Side of Roadway [2]
21650(g) clarifies that bicycles are not prohibited from riding on sidewalks or crosswalks but does allow for local ordinance to prohibit such operation.
21650. (g) This section does not prohibit the operation of bicycles on any shoulder of a highway, on any sidewalk, on any bicycle path within a highway, or along any crosswalk or bicycle path crossing, where the operation is not otherwise prohibited by this code or local ordinance.
It is not illegal for bicycles to ride on the sidewalk in a direction opposing the flow of traffic. [3] However, doing so is quite dangerous. [4]
CVC 21650.1 clarifies that cyclists, unlike drivers of vehicles, are generally not prohibited from riding on the shoulder of the road.
Bicycle Operated on Roadway or Highway Shoulder
CVC 22517 obligates motorists attempting to open vehicle doors to check for cyclists approaching along the shoulder or right hand edge of the roadway to prevent so-called "dooring accidents" (bicycle colliding with a suddenly opened door) [5]
21650.1. A bicycle operated on a roadway, or the shoulder of a highway, shall be operated in the same direction as vehicles are required to be driven upon the roadway.
— California Department of Motor Vehicles, CVC 21650.1, Bicycle Operated on Roadway or Highway Shoulder [6]
Cyclists are allowed but never required to ride on the shoulder. [7] CVC 530 defines the "roadway" as "that portion of a highway improved, designed, or ordinarily used for vehicular travel". [8] The on-road position of cyclists is narrowed by CVC 21202, which requires riding "as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway" except in certain circumstances.
Operation on Roadway
21202. A. Any person operating a bicycle upon a roadway at a speed less than the normal speed of traffic moving in the same direction at that time shall ride as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway except under any of the following situations:
- When overtaking and passing another bicycle or vehicle proceeding in the same direction.
- When preparing for a left turn at an intersection or into a private road or driveway.
- When reasonably necessary to avoid conditions (including, but not limited to, fixed or moving objects, vehicles, bicycles, pedestrians, animals, surface hazards, or substandard width lanes) that make it unsafe to continue along the right-hand curb or edge, subject to the provisions of Section 21656. For purposes of this section, a "substandard width lane" is a lane that is too narrow for a bicycle and a vehicle to travel safely side by side within the lane.
- When approaching a place where a right turn is authorized.
— California Department of Motor Vehicles, CVC 21202, Operation on Roadway [9]
The wording shall ride as close as practicable to the right is sometimes misunderstood by police officers as well as cyclists. [10]
CVC Section 21960 authorizes local authorities to prohibit or restrict the use of bicycles on freeways.
Freeways and Expressways Use Restrictions
21960. (a) The Department of Transportation and local authorities, by order, ordinance, or resolution, with respect to freeways, expressways, or designated portions thereof under their respective jurisdictions, to which vehicle access is completely or partially controlled, may prohibit or restrict the use of the freeways, expressways, or any portion thereof by pedestrians, bicycles or other nonmotorized traffic or by any person operating a motor-driven cycle, motorized bicycle, or motorized scooter.
— California Department of Motor Vehicles, CVC 21960, Freeways and Expressways Use Restrictions [11]
Where bike lanes exist on roadways, CVC 21208 requires cyclists to use them, except under certain conditions. There is no requirement to ride in a bike lane or path that is not on the roadway. [7]
Permitted Movements from Bicycle Lanes
21208. (a) Whenever a bicycle lane has been established on a roadway pursuant to Section 21207, any person operating a bicycle upon the roadway at a speed less than the normal speed of traffic moving in the same direction at that time shall ride within the bicycle lane, except that the person may move out of the lane under any of the following situations:
- When overtaking and passing another bicycle, vehicle, or pedestrian within the lane or about to enter the lane if the overtaking and passing cannot be done safely within the lane.
- When preparing for a left turn at an intersection or into a private road or driveway.
- When reasonably necessary to leave the bicycle lane to avoid debris or other hazardous conditions.
- When approaching a place where a right turn is authorized.
(b) No person operating a bicycle shall leave a bicycle lane until the movement can be made with reasonable safety and then only after giving an appropriate signal in the manner provided in Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 22100) in the event that any vehicle may be affected by the movement.
— California Department of Motor Vehicles, CVC 21208, Permitted Movements from Bicycle Lanes [12]
There is no requirement in the California Vehicle Code, but side-by-side riding may be regulated by local ordinance. [lower-alpha 1]
CVC 21100 sets out that "Local authorities may adopt rules and regulations... regarding the ... Operation of bicycles, and, as specified in Section 21114.5, electric carts by physically disabled persons, or persons 50 years of age or older, on the public sidewalks." [14] Under this provision, many California cities have banned sidewalk cycling in business districts. [15]
CVC 22107 requires cyclists to yield and signal before moving left or right.
Turning Movements and Required Signals
22107. No person shall turn a vehicle from a direct course or move right or left upon a roadway until such movement can be made with reasonable safety and then only after the giving of an appropriate signal in the manner provided in this chapter in the event any other vehicle may be affected by the movement.
— California Department of Motor Vehicles, CVC 22107, Turning Movements and Required Signals [16]
CVC 21656 specifies that slow-moving vehicles causing a queue of five or more vehicles behind them must turn off the roadway in order to allow the vehicles behind to pass them. Section 21202 explicitly states that cyclists are "subject to the provisions of Section 21656".
Turning Out of Slow-Moving Vehicles
21656. On a two-lane highway where passing is unsafe because of traffic in the opposite direction or other conditions, a slow-moving vehicle, including a passenger vehicle, behind which five or more vehicles are formed in line, shall turn off the roadway at the nearest place designated as a turnout by signs erected by the authority having jurisdiction over the highway, or wherever sufficient area for a safe turnout exists, in order to permit the vehicles following it to proceed. As used in this section a slow-moving vehicle is one which is proceeding at a rate of speed less than the normal flow of traffic at the particular time and place.
— California Department of Motor Vehicles, CVC 21656, Turning Out of Slow-Moving Vehicles [17]
CVC 21760 requires motor vehicles to leave a 3-foot margin while passing a cyclist if possible.
Three Feet for Safety Act
21760. (a) This section shall be known and may be cited as the Three Feet for Safety Act. (b) The driver of a motor vehicle overtaking and passing a bicycle that is proceeding in the same direction on a highway shall pass in compliance with the requirements of this article applicable to overtaking and passing a vehicle, and shall do so at a safe distance that does not interfere with the safe operation of the overtaken bicycle, having due regard for the size and speed of the motor vehicle and the bicycle, traffic conditions, weather, visibility, and the surface and width of the highway. (c) A driver of a motor vehicle shall not overtake or pass a bicycle proceeding in the same direction on a highway at a distance of less than three feet between any part of the motor vehicle and any part of the bicycle or its operator. (d) If the driver of a motor vehicle is unable to comply with subdivision (c), due to traffic or roadway conditions, the driver shall slow to a speed that is reasonable and prudent, and may pass only when doing so would not endanger the safety of the operator of the bicycle, taking into account the size and speed of the motor vehicle and bicycle, traffic conditions, weather, visibility, and surface and width of the highway. (e) (1) A violation of subdivision (b), (c), or (d) is an infraction punishable by a fine of thirty-five dollars ($35). (2) If a collision occurs between a motor vehicle and a bicycle causing bodily injury to the operator of the bicycle, and the driver of the motor vehicle is found to be in violation of subdivision (b), (c), or (d), a two-hundred-twenty-dollar ($220) fine shall be imposed on that driver.
(f) This section shall become operative on September 16, 2014. [18]
It is arguably legal for cyclists to race each other on open public roads in California if that is safe at the time under the circumstances. In traffic, or where visibility is limited (rain, fog, wooded areas, curvy roads), racing would be arguably negligent and unlawful. CVC 21200(a), provides: "Every person riding a bicycle upon a highway... is subject to all the provisions applicable to the driver of a vehicle by this division... except those provisions which by their very nature can have no application." Under the common law in California, all vehicle operators (including bike operators) have a general duty to use reasonable care to avoid collisions with other cyclists, cars, runners and pedestrians, [19] since it is not the case that runners and pedestrians (for example) are always prohibited by the CVC from sharing a bike lane. [20]
A bicycle ridden on public roads must have a brake on at least one wheel which can make the wheel skid on dry pavement. [21]
CVC 21201 (d) A bicycle operated during darkness upon a highway, a sidewalk where bicycle operation is not prohibited by the local jurisdiction, or a bikeway... shall be equipped with all of the following [21]
CVC 21212 requires cyclists under the age of 18 to wear helmets. The charge can be dismissed if the person charged declares under oath that it is their first violation of this section. Otherwise, the infraction is punishable by a fine not more than $25. Parents will be held liable for the fine. [22]
Youth Bicycle Helmets: Minors
21212 (a) A person under 17 years of age shall not operate a bicycle, a nonmotorized scooter, or a skateboard, nor shall they wear in-line or roller skates, nor ride upon a bicycle, a nonmotorized scooter, or a skateboard as a passenger, upon a street, bikeway, as defined in Section 890.4 of the Streets and Highways Code, or any other public bicycle path or trail unless that person is wearing a properly fitted and fastened bicycle helmet that meets the standards of either the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) or the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), or standards subsequently established by those entities.
— California Department of Motor Vehicles, CVC 21212, Youth Bicycle Helmets Minors [23]
Under CVC 21100(a) local authorities may adopt ordinances for the purpose of "Regulating or prohibiting processions or assemblages on the highways."
CVC 21200.5 prohibits riding a bicycle while under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. [24]
CVC 39002 abrogates the power of local authorities to prohibit riding of unlicensed bicycles. [lower-alpha 2]
39002. (a) A city or county, which adopts a bicycle licensing ordinance or resolution, shall not prohibit the operation of an unlicensed bicycle.
(b) It is unlawful for any person to tamper with, destroy, mutilate, or alter any license indicia or registration form, or to remove, alter, or mutilate the serial number, or the identifying marks of a licensing agency's identifying symbol, on any bicycle frame licensed under this division.
— California Department of Motor Vehicles, CVC 39002, Registration and Licensing of Bicycles [26]
Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads/sidewalks) for travel and transportation.
Jaywalking is the act of pedestrians walking in or crossing a roadway if that act contravenes traffic regulations. The term originated in the United States as a derivation of the phrase jay-drivers, people who drove horse-drawn carriages and automobiles on the wrong side of the road, before taking its current meaning. Jaywalking was coined as the automobile arrived in the street in the context of the conflict between pedestrian and automobiles, more specifically the nascent automobile industry.
John Forester was an English-American industrial engineer, specializing in bicycle transportation engineering. A cycling activist, he was known as "the father of vehicular cycling", for creating the Effective Cycling program of bicycle training along with its associated book of the same title, and for coining the phrase "the vehicular cycling principle" – "Cyclists fare best when they act and are treated as drivers of vehicles". His published works also included Bicycle Transportation: A Handbook for Cycling Transportation Engineers.
Vehicular cycling is the practice of riding bicycles on roads in a manner that is in accordance with the principles for driving in traffic. The phrase vehicular cycling was coined by John Forester in the 1970s. In his book Effective Cycling, Forester contends that "Cyclists fare best when they act and are treated as drivers of vehicles".
Non-motorized access on freeways may allow or restrict pedestrians, bicyclists and other non-motorized traffic to use a freeway. Such roads are public ways intended primarily for high-speed travel over long distances, and they have resulted in highways in the United States with engineering features such as long sight-distances, wide marked lanes and the absence of cross traffic. These provide faster and safer travel, at least for vehicles driving at similar speeds.
A wide outside lane (WOL) or wide curb lane (WCL) is an outermost lane of a roadway that is wide enough to be safely shared side by side by a bicycle and a wider motor vehicle at the same time. The terms are used by cyclists and bicycle transportation planners in the United States. Generally, the minimum-width standard for a WOL in the US is 14 feet. A wide outside through lane (WOTL) is a WOL that is intended for use by through traffic.
Overtaking or passing is the act of one vehicle going past another slower moving vehicle, travelling in the same direction, on a road. The lane used for overtaking another vehicle is often a passing lane farther from the road shoulder, which is to the left in places that drive on the right and to the right in places that drive on the left.
Bicycle safety is the use of road traffic safety practices to reduce risk associated with cycling. Risk can be defined as the number of incidents occurring for a given amount of cycling. Some of this subject matter is hotly debated: for example, which types of cycling environment or cycling infrastructure is safest for cyclists. The merits of obeying the traffic laws and using bicycle lighting at night are less controversial. Wearing a bicycle helmet may reduce the chance of head injury in the event of a crash.
Many countries have enacted electric vehicle laws to regulate the use of electric bicycles, also termed e-bikes. Some jurisdictions have regulations governing safety requirements and standards of manufacture. The members of the European Union and other regions have wider-ranging legislation covering use and safety.
The California Vehicle Code, informally referred to as the Veh. Code or the CVC, is the section of the California Codes which contains almost all statutes relating to the operation, ownership and registration of vehicles in the state of California in the United States. The Vehicle Code's "Rules of the Road" generally apply to operating vehicles, bicycles, and animals on a public roadway, except for provisions which by their very nature can have no application. The Vehicle Code also contains statutes concerning the California Department of Motor Vehicles and the California Highway Patrol.
Lane splitting is riding a bicycle or motorcycle between lanes or rows of slow moving or stopped traffic moving in the same direction. It is sometimes called whitelining, or stripe-riding. This allows riders to save time, bypassing traffic congestion, and may also be safer than stopping behind stationary vehicles.
Bicycle law in the United States is the law of the United States that regulates the use of bicycles. Although bicycle law is a relatively new specialty within the law, first appearing in the late 1980s, its roots date back to the 1880s and 1890s, when cyclists were using the courts to assert a legal right to use the roads. In 1895, George B. Clementson, an American attorney, wrote The Road Rights and Liabilities of Wheelmen, the first book on bicycle law, in which he discussed the seminal cases of the 1880s and 1890s, which were financed by Albert Pope of Columbia Bicycles, and through which cyclists gained the right to the road.
The Highway Traffic Act is a statute in Ontario, Canada, which regulates the licensing of vehicles, classification of traffic offences, administration of loads, classification of vehicles and other transport-related issues. First introduced in 1923 to deal with increasing accidents during the early years of motoring in Ontario, and replacing earlier legislation such as the Highway Travel Act, there have been amendments due to changes to driving conditions and new transportation trends. For example, in 2009, the Act was revised to ban the use of cell phones while driving.
The geometric design of roads is the branch of highway engineering concerned with the positioning of the physical elements of the roadway according to standards and constraints. The basic objectives in geometric design are to optimize efficiency and safety while minimizing cost and environmental damage. Geometric design also affects an emerging fifth objective called "livability", which is defined as designing roads to foster broader community goals, including providing access to employment, schools, businesses and residences, accommodate a range of travel modes such as walking, bicycling, transit, and automobiles, and minimizing fuel use, emissions and environmental damage.
Cycling infrastructure is all infrastructure cyclists are allowed to use. Bikeways include bike paths, bike lanes, cycle tracks, rail trails and, where permitted, sidewalks. Roads used by motorists are also cycling infrastructure, except where cyclists are barred such as many freeways/motorways. It includes amenities such as bike racks for parking, shelters, service centers and specialized traffic signs and signals. The more cycling infrastructure, the more people get about by bicycle.
Bicycle law is the parts of law that apply to the riding of bicycles.
The Bicycles May Use Full Lane sign, also referred to as BMUFL or R4-11, is a traffic sign used in the United States to:
Rolling coal is the practice of modifying a diesel engine to deliberately emit large amounts of black or grey diesel exhaust, containing soot and incompletely combusted diesel. Rolling coal is used as a form of anti-environmentalism protest. In most jurisdictions it is illegal, due to violating clean air laws, and also reduces the fuel economy of the vehicle.
Traffic law in the Philippines consists of multiple laws that govern the regulation and management of road transportation and the conduct of road users within the country.
A common mistake made by law-enforcement officers (and others) is to interpret the requirement to ride "as close as practicable to the right" to mean "as close as possible."