Bike Laws
In 2021, we saw four major trends in bike-related laws that might point toward future changes.
This article explores what it might look like if scooters, by law, became bicycles. It includes a table that looks at 12 topics that are covered in our Bike Law University series and considers how scooters fit within those topics.
The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices regulates how traffic control devices can be used on public roadways and bikeways.
Last Friday, our #BikeChat dove deeper into our new set of model bike laws/legislation. We chatted with Ken McLeod, the League’s Policy & Legal Specialist, about these three new and updated laws and how advocates might use them in their states. Want to learn more about bike laws? Check out our state resources here.
Every year we make recommendations that states improve laws for bicyclists. In 2015, we recommended that 22 states adopt a 3 foot or greater safe passing law and 30 states adopt a vulnerable road user law. In the last decade these types of laws have proliferated, with 15 states adopting new safe passing laws and 8 states adopting vulnerable road user laws since 2008. To help states achieve these recommendations I am happy to announce three new or updated model laws that states and communities can use to craft legislation that supports the safety of bicyclists.
Connected and automated vehicles are two distinct technologies that have the potential to revolutionize automotive travel and road safety for everyone — and they’re likely to enter our roadways in just a few years. Connected vehicles can “talk” to each other, exchanging information like speed, brake force and direction. Automated vehicles control driving functions, either relieving a driver of a function or augmenting a driver’s ability.
Last Friday we talked bike laws during our weekly Twitter chat, #BikeChat, with Peter Wilborn of BikeLaw.com and Ken McLeod, the League’s Legal Specialist. The patchwork nature of bike laws throughout the United States is a popular topic of disucssion among advocates, government workers and daily riders alike. The League’s bike law resources and Bike Law University series has aimed to equip people who bike with the information they need when out on the road. And our recent partnership with BikeLaw.com has further bolstered those efforts. You can view the bike attorney directory, powered by BikeLaw.com, here.
While riding, most bicyclists are focused on their safety and their ride, rather than their rights. “Can I make this light?” “What is that car doing?” Rarely, a person riding may notice that they pass from one jurisdiction to another. Maybe there is a Bicycle Friendly Community sign celebrating that jurisdiction’s efforts to improve bicycling conditions, maybe there is a general purpose sign saying that you have entered or are leaving the great city of Wherever. Perhaps, but hopefully not too frequently, the change from one jurisdiction to another will be met with an ominous sign that affects your rights as a bicyclist. The most common may be “No bicycling on sidewalks in the Central Business District,” but depending upon the powers of a local government there may be few, if any, limits on what restrictions you may face. In this edition of Bike Law University, I’m digging into the authorization of local regulations as they relate to riding a bike from one community to the next — and how that might affect your ride.
Electric bikes are undeniably part of a future in which bicycles are a common transportation solution for all types of people. As members of the League, or people interested in bicycling, you have a wealth of bicycling experience that’s important to our efforts in effectively integrating these new vehicles into our laws, infrastructure and culture. Please help us by completing our survey and sharing your thoughts.
Earlier this week, Steve Clark gave a powerful first-hand account of riding with Cherokee Schill in the exurbs of Lexington, Ky., putting a real human face on the sometimes abstract concept of bicyclists’ rights. Ken McLeod followed up with a deep dive into the legislative and regulatory environment that make her case challenging and somewhat unique — thank you, the Commonwealth of Kentucky.