Woonsocket, RI Bike Laws

[kfergos]

Today we were riding in Woonsocket, RI, on the Blackstone River Bikeway. Nice path! Anyway, on the way back to our car, we had to ride on the road maybe half a mile. We got in the left-hand turn lane and then realized both the right and left lanes turned left. So we were too far left for bikes. We were stuck until the light turned, at which point we moved right when it was safe. That was nerve-wracking but OK, until a guy in a car drove by and shouted, "In Woonsocket bikes have to ride on the sidewalk!" or something to that effect.

My immediate response was "Ha! Nobody FORCES bikes to ride on sidewalks!" But later I wasn't sure. Woonsocket and I have a barely-on-speaking-terms relationship, and I wouldn't put it past city lawmakers to do something weird like that. Does anybody know one way or the other about this? In general can cities/states mandate bikes go on sidewalks and not roads?

Edit to add: I found this on the Rhode Island biking web site:

Every person riding [...] an electric motorized bicycle, or propelling a vehicle by human power shall be granted all of the rights and shall be subject to all of the duties applicable to the driver of any other vehicle by chapters 12 – 27 of this title, except as to special regulations in this chapter and except as to those provisions of chapters 12 – 27 of this title which by their nature can have no application. This section shall not forbid a bicyclist [...] from traveling upon the shoulders of the highway except for those highways which prohibit bicyclists

Does that mean that we can ride on pretty much any roads in Rhode Island?

[redrhodie]

Yes, we ride on the road here! Some of the RI bike laws I've read are pretty stupid (like having to hold your arm turn signal 100 ft from the start of the turn, all the way through the turn, which pretty much makes safe braking impossible), but we are required to behave as any other vehicles, on the road, not sidewalk.

I'm sure the guy in the caaaa was just an idiot. What a surprise!

[Crankin]

I had a similar experience in S. Carolina.... only we were yelled at by the police and chased down, being told to "get those fancy bikes off the road."
It turned out that there was some kind of law that said if a path was available, cyclists had to be on it, but we were in Hilton Head, full of tourists on cruisers, babies, and walkers. Some kind people on this board informed me that despite the law, there are plenty of roadies in SC.

[indigoiis]

I get yelled at occasionally here. People are just ignorant and freaked out by bicyclists - usually when there is a lot of traffic and the bike passes them.

But for the most part, it's a pretty cool state to ride in, and folks are good about bicyclists. I've found, ironically, that riding in Providence is better than rural RI - people are used to seeing bikes in Providence.