Love them or not, cyclists pervade our streets with or without the designated bike lanes. To “share the road” intelligently familiarize yourself with the Georgia Bicycle Traffic Law. Some of the main points are:
- Bicycles are considered vehicles. This means that general vehicular traffic laws must be followed; cyclists should stop at stop signs, maintain the speed of traffic or pull over, yield for pedestrians, etc.
- Cyclists must ride as near to the right side as practicable but, the law allows cyclists to ride two abreast; but no more. Cycling clubs should maintain a single or double file line, but not travel in a cluster and obey traffic laws.
- A cyclist under the age of 16 must wear a bicycle helmet when riding on a highway, path, sidewalk or public roadway.
According to Bicycle Georgia’s website, “Georgia has a number of recreational trails and shared use paths throughout the state that are built to accommodate pedestrians, cyclists, and other non-motorized users; such as The Silver Comet Trail. Georgia Code does not specifically regulate the use of such paths, however it does specify that shared use paths must meet the minimum accepted design guidelines set forth by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). Shared use paths, require similar etiquette as would be used on the road. Users should yield to pedestrians on foot and keep to the right so as to allow other users to pass on the left. All signs and markings should be obeyed and users should pull off to the side of the path if they intend to stop.”
The Georgia Bike Sense guide is available from GDOT and provides additional information on how path users — cyclists, walkers and others — can safely share the space.
Enjoy your ride!
This post brought to you by Neel, Robinson, & Stafford, LLC.
