[Mpls] bicycle laws

Mon Nov 15 09:19:30 CST 2004

As an avid cyclist, and an employee of the Mpls. Police Dept. I thought I'd share a couple of pieces of information with you all related to the current thread on urban cycling.  But the info. is important and might save somebody's  life. Following that is a link to Minnesota Statutes 169.222 - Operating a bicycle. I included a couple of the statutes. The link will take you to all of them. This is a rather lengthy post. I don't do this often, so let me know if this is too long. 

Don Greeley
Minneapolis

The quiz below was written by Tim Nelson, St. Paul Pioneer Press.

What are the rules? 
Learn to stay on the right side of the law with this pop quiz: 

1. Cyclists are required by law to stay as far to the right of a roadway as practical. When can a cyclist legally ride in a regular vehicle lane? 

a) If the road surface is blocked by debris or the pavement is damaged. 
b) To avoid vehicle doors, which may open unexpectedly. 
c) If the road width is too narrow to accommodate both a cyclist and a vehicle. 
d) To make a left turn at an intersection or move into a left turn lane. 

2. Minnesota law requires cyclists to ride on designated bike paths or trails, if such paths are separate from the regular vehicular roadway. 

True or false? 

3. At night, Minnesota law requires a bicyclist to have: 

a) Reflectors on the pedals that are visible from front and rear. 
b) A headlight and rear light. 
c) A headlight and rear reflector. 

4. On an officially designated bike path or bike route, who has the right of way, a pedestrian or a bike? 

5. If a vehicle doesn't have enough room to safely pass a bicycle ... 

a) the cyclist is required to pull off the road to make way. 
b) the vehicle can pass after honking to warn the cyclist. 
c) the motorist must follow at a safe distance until it is safe to pass. 

6. While illegal, it's safer to ride against traffic, on the left shoulder of the road, because you can see approaching vehicles and better avoid them. 

True or false? 

Answers 
1. All are correct, and when cyclists are on the road, the law says motor vehicles can pass no closer than 3 feet from a cyclist. Bikers cannot, however, ride more than two abreast and must stay in a single lane. 

2. False. Bicycles have the same rights to roadways as other traffic -- just as sport utility vehicles aren't required to drive off-road. It's also illegal to drive bikes on sidewalks in downtown business districts, unless specifically permitted by local ordinance. 

3. Correct answers are a) and c). Bikes must have headlights and rear reflectors as well as pedal reflectors. At least 20 square inches of side reflectors are also required. Cycling advocates usually also recommend a flashing red rear light, which is legal under Minnesota law but not in all states. 

4. Bikes must yield to pedestrians -- not just on bikeways but also in crosswalks, at intersections, on sidewalks and everywhere else. State law also requires cyclists to give an audible warning before passing pedestrians. 

5. c) 

6. False. Statistically speaking, you're more likely to run into trouble going the wrong way: You can't see traffic control signs, drivers don't yield to wrong-way traffic at intersections, and the speed of an approaching vehicle actually gives you less time to react.

Minnesota Statutes 2001, Table of Chapters <http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/stats/> 
Table of contents for Chapter 169 <http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/stats/169>
     169.222 Operation of bicycle. 
    Subdivision 1.    Traffic laws apply.  Every person 
 operating a bicycle shall have all of the rights and duties 
 applicable to the driver of any other vehicle by this chapter, 
 except in respect to those provisions in this chapter relating 
 expressly to bicycles and in respect to those provisions of this 
 chapter which by their nature cannot reasonably be applied to 
 bicycles. 

    Subd. 4.    Riding on roadway or shoulder.  (a) Every 
 person operating a bicycle upon a roadway shall ride as close as 
 practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway except 
 under any of the following situations: 

    (1) when overtaking and passing another vehicle proceeding 
 in the same direction; 

    (2) when preparing for a left turn at an intersection or 
 into a private road or driveway; 

    (3) when reasonably necessary to avoid conditions, 
 including fixed or moving objects, vehicles, pedestrians, 
 animals, surface hazards, or narrow width lanes, that make it 
 unsafe to continue along the right-hand curb or edge. 

    (b) If a bicycle is traveling on a shoulder of a roadway, 
 the bicycle shall travel in the same direction as adjacent 
 vehicular traffic. 

    (c) Persons riding bicycles upon a roadway or shoulder 
 shall not ride more than two abreast and shall not impede the 
 normal and reasonable movement of traffic and, on a laned 
 roadway, shall ride within a single lane. 

    (d) A person operating a bicycle upon a sidewalk, or across 
 a roadway or shoulder on a crosswalk, shall yield the 
 right-of-way to any pedestrian and shall give an audible signal 
 when necessary before overtaking and passing any pedestrian.  No 
 person shall ride a bicycle upon a sidewalk within a business 
 district unless permitted by local authorities.  Local 
 authorities may prohibit the operation of bicycles on any 
 sidewalk or crosswalk under their jurisdiction. 

    (e) An individual operating a bicycle or other vehicle on a 
 bikeway shall leave a safe distance when overtaking a bicycle or 
 individual proceeding in the same direction on the bikeway, and 
 shall maintain clearance until safely past the overtaken bicycle 
 or individual. 

    (f) A person lawfully operating a bicycle on a sidewalk, or 
 across a roadway or shoulder on a crosswalk, shall have all the 
 rights and duties applicable to a pedestrian under the same 
 circumstances. 

   Subd. 6.    Bicycle equipment.  (a) No person shall 
 operate a bicycle at nighttime unless the bicycle or its 
 operator is equipped with a lamp which shall emit a white light 
 visible from a distance of at least 500 feet to the front and 
 with a red reflector of a type approved by the department of 
 public safety which is visible from all distances from 100 feet 
 to 600 feet to the rear when directly in front of lawful lower 
 beams of head lamps on a motor vehicle.  No person may operate a 
 bicycle at any time when there is not sufficient light to render 
 persons and vehicles on the highway clearly discernible at a 
 distance of 500 feet ahead unless the bicycle or its operator is 
 equipped with reflective surfaces that shall be visible during 
 the hours of darkness from 600 feet when viewed in front of 
 lawful lower beams of head lamps on a motor vehicle.  The 
 reflective surfaces shall include reflective materials on each 
 side of each pedal to indicate their presence from the front or 
 the rear and with a minimum of 20 square inches of reflective 
 material on each side of the bicycle or its operator.  Any 
 bicycle equipped with side reflectors as required by regulations 
 for new bicycles prescribed by the United States Consumer 
 Product Safety Commission shall be considered to meet the 
 requirements for side reflectorization contained in this 
 subdivision.  A bicycle may be equipped with a rear lamp that 
 emits a red flashing signal. 

      Subd. 8.    Turning, lane change.  An arm signal to 
 turn right or left shall be given continuously during the last 
 100 feet traveled by the bicycle before turning, unless the arm 
 is needed to control the bicycle, and shall be given while the 
 bicycle is stopped waiting to turn. 

Don Greeley
3rd Prec. CCP/SAFE
Minneapolis Police Dept.
217 So. 3 St.
Mpls. MN. 55401-2139
612-673-3482
612-673-3563 Fax
donald.greeley at ci.minneapolis.mn.us

"The first rule of holes: When you're in one stop digging."