Here you can be fined for drunk cycling (biggest fine I heard of was €1300) and lose your driving licence. The levels of alcohol for this are much higher than if you are caught driving your car drunk.
Also have to have lights (dynamo for all bikes over 10kg), bell, two reflectors on each wheel, reflectors on pedals, front and back reflectors and two brakes.
The "men in green" usually use a bit of common sense - if you are riding a racing bike in broad daylight without lights and a bell you won't get stopped; do the same thing at night, or ride the wrong way, or go through a red light, then they will jump on you and possibly fine you for every single thing.
Speed limits only apply to motorised vehicles
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Thread: Bike laws
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10-30-2007, 06:56 AM #1
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10-30-2007, 07:20 AM #2
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California has a version of that pedal reflector law, as well, although I think they changed it so it is no longer illegal to sell a bike without reflectors on the pedals, only illegal to ride such a bike after dark.
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10-30-2007, 07:50 AM #3
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Most bikes come equipped with cheap platform pedals at the store, so "offically" they are sold with pedals that have rear and front reflectors. What you do with them afterwards however......
At least one pair of my shoes has reflective material on the back - does that count?"Sharing the road means getting along, not getting ahead" - 1994 Washington State Driver's Guide
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10-30-2007, 09:31 AM #4
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For those riding recumbents, many states have laws as to the size of wheels and the height off the ground the BB is. Many recumbent bikes break both of those laws, with too small wheels and too high a BB.
This is what it says in Wa state
"Bicycle" means every device propelled solely by human power upon which a person or persons may ride, having two tandem wheels either of which is sixteen or more inches in diameter, or three wheels, any one of which is more than twenty inches in diameter.
does that mean my Trike (which has 16" wheels all around) isn't a bike and is therefore not bound by bike laws, or does it mean I'm breaking the law by riding it?
I guess I'll have to ride it down the middle of the street at night with no lights and see if I can fight the ticket based on it not being a bike.Last edited by TsPoet; 10-30-2007 at 09:37 AM.
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10-30-2007, 10:22 AM #5
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No, Eden, that doesn't count. The pedals themselves are illegal! I'm sure it's a law that was probably was written before clipless pedals even existed. RI is notorious for its blue laws. I'm sure it's unenforced.
But, if I'm wrong, and I end up in the slammer for my black market SPDs, I'll be looking forward to Zen's ciggies. Maybe someone else can bake me a cake
? Hope I get the orange jumpsuit instead of the horizontal stripes. No one looks good in those.
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10-30-2007, 10:19 AM #6
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he!
Well here in California, if ride your bike after drinking you can get a DUI on your driver license if you are over the limit (0.08).
If you run a stop sigh or red light, you can get a moving violation with all the fines of regular ticket. It also goes on your driving record. (I saw 4 guys in Redondo Beach getting a ticket cause they blew through a stop sign and right in front of a motocycle police. They didn't even try to slow down... oops)
And yes no helmet under 18 and parents can get a ticket.
Riding without a light at night you will get a ticket.
Should you be speeding, you can get a ticket for going over the speed limit. A friendly motocycle police have taken "pictures" of yours truely in the past. I've clocked pretty fast but only once was I over the speed limit just by 1mph though!!! They usually smile and tell me how fast I'm going.
heh! Just wish I had that kind of conditioning.
smilingcat
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10-30-2007, 10:36 AM #7
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Originally Posted by smilingcat
he!
Well here in California, if ride your bike after drinking you can get a DUI on your driver license if you are over the limit (0.08).
If you run a stop sigh or red light, you can get a moving violation with all the fines of regular ticket. It also goes on your driving record. (I saw 4 guys in Redondo Beach getting a ticket cause they blew through a stop sign and right in front of a motocycle police. They didn't even try to slow down... oops)
And yes no helmet under 18 and parents can get a ticket.
Riding without a light at night you will get a ticket.
Should you be speeding, you can get a ticket for going over the speed limit. A friendly motocycle police have taken "pictures" of yours truely in the past. I've clocked pretty fast but only once was I over the speed limit just by 1mph though!!! They usually smile and tell me how fast I'm going.
heh! Just wish I had that kind of conditioning.
smilingcat
It goes on your driving record
?! That's ridiculous! What do they do when the cyclist doesn't have a license?
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