“Better Bicycling in Ohio” (HB 389) Now in Effect!
While working the BikeLakewood booth at the Lakewood Community Festival earlier this fall, several people asked me about “the bill about biking that was just passed.” The bill these folks were referring to is House Bill 389, also known as the “Better Bicycling in Ohio” bill. It was passed last June and takes effect on September 21st. Most of the festival attendees had read about HB 389 in a recent Plain Dealer article.
Lakewood cyclists, here’s the scoop. First things first: most Ohio cities have ill-conceived laws regarding cycling. Lakewood is no exception. For example, Lakewood has an ordinance (373.15f) that says, “No person shall ride a bicycle across or through an intersection when crossing a through street. Such intersections are to be crossed by walking the bicycle across or though the intersection.” Not only is this inconvenient but it is unsafe! The problem is, like most cities, Lakewood’s cycling laws were passed long ago, by city officials who weren’t cyclists and didn’t understand bike safety.
The other problem is that various cities in Ohio have different and often conflicting ordinances. A cyclist can go from one city to the next and face contradictory cycling laws. Sidewalks or roadways? Are bells required? Do I have to use the bike path? What about lights and reflectors?
HB 389, which was promoted by the Ohio Bicycling Federation (www.ohiobike.org), an organization dedicated to improving Ohio bicycling through education and legislation, remedies the problems with conflicting municipal cycling ordinances. Let’s quickly review some of the most important implications of HB 389.
Perhaps the most significant pronouncements of HB 389 are that (1) no municipal ordinance shall be fundamentally inconsistent with the uniform rules of the road, and (2) no ordinance shall prohibit the use of bicycles on any public street. So two of Lakewood’s ill-conceived ordinances are now invalid – the one mentioned above about walking bikes through intersections, and another Lakewood ordinance that requires cyclists to use a bike path instead of the street if a path is available.
A third Lakewood ordinance is also now invalid, the one that states, “At no time shall a bicyclist under the age of eight years operate a bicycle on a street” (373.15c). Understand that BikeLakewood would not encourage young children to ride in busy streets (e.g. Detroit), especially unsupervised. But young children should also not be riding on the sidewalk along busy streets either, especially unsupervised and at a speed any faster than walking. This (now invalid) ordinance prevented parents from teaching safe cycling to their children by requiring parents to teach their children to cycle on the sidewalk, which is generally unsafe.
The second significant change brought about by HB 389 regards where cyclists may cycle in a traffic lane. Currently, Lakewood’s bicycle ordinance states (in 373.15a) that “Every person operating a bicycle upon a roadway shall ride as near to the right side of the roadway as practicable…”. So often this is interpreted as “as near to the right side of the roadway as is POSSIBLE…”, which often is unsafe as it can encourage overtaking motorists to “squeeze by” in the same lane as a cyclist instead of using another lane, and can encourage cyclists to ride in the “door zone” of parked cars.
Therefore, HB 389 adds the following additional language: “This section does not require a person operating a bicycle to ride at the edge of the roadway when it is unreasonable or unsafe to do so. Conditions that may require riding away from the edge of the roadway include when necessary to avoid fixed or moving objects, parked or moving vehicles, surface hazards, or if it is otherwise unsafe or impracticable to do so, including if the lane is too narrow for the bicycle and an overtaking vehicle to travel safely side by side within the lane.”
There are many other less significant changes to Lakewood’s cycling ordinances that are brought about by HB 389. They are too numerous to list here but are available by visiting www.ohiobike.org. These changes relate to equipment, hand signals and the like.
The Ohio Bicycle Federation and the Ohio legislature are to be congratulated for the passage of HB 389. This bill has made all Ohio cities, including Lakewood, safer and easier for cycling by invalidating ordinances that are inappropriate and potentially unsafe, and by ensuring uniformity of municipal ordinances throughout Ohio.
Lakewood cyclists, here’s the scoop. First things first: most Ohio cities have ill-conceived laws regarding cycling. Lakewood is no exception. For example, Lakewood has an ordinance (373.15f) that says, “No person shall ride a bicycle across or through an intersection when crossing a through street. Such intersections are to be crossed by walking the bicycle across or though the intersection.” Not only is this inconvenient but it is unsafe! The problem is, like most cities, Lakewood’s cycling laws were passed long ago, by city officials who weren’t cyclists and didn’t understand bike safety.
The other problem is that various cities in Ohio have different and often conflicting ordinances. A cyclist can go from one city to the next and face contradictory cycling laws. Sidewalks or roadways? Are bells required? Do I have to use the bike path? What about lights and reflectors?
HB 389, which was promoted by the Ohio Bicycling Federation (www.ohiobike.org), an organization dedicated to improving Ohio bicycling through education and legislation, remedies the problems with conflicting municipal cycling ordinances. Let’s quickly review some of the most important implications of HB 389.
Perhaps the most significant pronouncements of HB 389 are that (1) no municipal ordinance shall be fundamentally inconsistent with the uniform rules of the road, and (2) no ordinance shall prohibit the use of bicycles on any public street. So two of Lakewood’s ill-conceived ordinances are now invalid – the one mentioned above about walking bikes through intersections, and another Lakewood ordinance that requires cyclists to use a bike path instead of the street if a path is available.
A third Lakewood ordinance is also now invalid, the one that states, “At no time shall a bicyclist under the age of eight years operate a bicycle on a street” (373.15c). Understand that BikeLakewood would not encourage young children to ride in busy streets (e.g. Detroit), especially unsupervised. But young children should also not be riding on the sidewalk along busy streets either, especially unsupervised and at a speed any faster than walking. This (now invalid) ordinance prevented parents from teaching safe cycling to their children by requiring parents to teach their children to cycle on the sidewalk, which is generally unsafe.
The second significant change brought about by HB 389 regards where cyclists may cycle in a traffic lane. Currently, Lakewood’s bicycle ordinance states (in 373.15a) that “Every person operating a bicycle upon a roadway shall ride as near to the right side of the roadway as practicable…”. So often this is interpreted as “as near to the right side of the roadway as is POSSIBLE…”, which often is unsafe as it can encourage overtaking motorists to “squeeze by” in the same lane as a cyclist instead of using another lane, and can encourage cyclists to ride in the “door zone” of parked cars.
Therefore, HB 389 adds the following additional language: “This section does not require a person operating a bicycle to ride at the edge of the roadway when it is unreasonable or unsafe to do so. Conditions that may require riding away from the edge of the roadway include when necessary to avoid fixed or moving objects, parked or moving vehicles, surface hazards, or if it is otherwise unsafe or impracticable to do so, including if the lane is too narrow for the bicycle and an overtaking vehicle to travel safely side by side within the lane.”
There are many other less significant changes to Lakewood’s cycling ordinances that are brought about by HB 389. They are too numerous to list here but are available by visiting www.ohiobike.org. These changes relate to equipment, hand signals and the like.
The Ohio Bicycle Federation and the Ohio legislature are to be congratulated for the passage of HB 389. This bill has made all Ohio cities, including Lakewood, safer and easier for cycling by invalidating ordinances that are inappropriate and potentially unsafe, and by ensuring uniformity of municipal ordinances throughout Ohio.
Volume 2, Issue 22, Posted 11:11 AM, 10.06.06
