Bike Walk Connecticut
  • Home
  • About
    • About
    • Board
    • Sponsors
    • Contact
  • News
  • Advocacy
    • Current Advocacy Work
    • Past Advocacy Work
    • Complete Streets >
      • Complete Streets Announcement
      • Public Survey
  • Education
    • Share the Road
    • STR Quiz
    • Walk Audits
    • NACTO Bikeway Design Guide Workshop
  • Events
    • 2022 Discover Olmsted's CT Bicycle Tour
    • Annual Dinner
    • Bike Walk Summit 2015
    • NACTO Bikeway Design Guide Workshop
  • Membership
    • Donate
    • Login
    • Volunteer! >
      • Board Candidates
      • Bike Education Instructors
  • Connecticut Bicycle/Pedestrian Groups
  • Resources
    • Ped & Cyclist Traffic Deaths
    • Resources
    • Complete Streets Resources
    • CT Bike Ped Advisory Board
  • Registration

New Bike Laws Effective July 1

7/1/2015

 
For Immediate Release
Picture
July 1, 2015 (Hartford, CT) -- Important changes to Connecticut's laws for cyclists take effect July 1, 2015.  The Bicycle Safety bill, Senate Bill 502 and now Public Act 15-41, was passed in May with broad bipartisan support.  The Governor signed the bill into law on June 1.

The new law eliminates the confusing--and often unsafe--rule requiring cyclists to ride as far to the right as practicable. 

Instead, the law now requires cyclists to ride as close to the right side of the road as is safe, as judged by the cyclist.  Bike Walk Connecticut specifically advocated for that language, which is modeled on a best practice from Colorado as identified by the League of American Bicyclists.

As of July 1, cyclists don't have to ride as close to the right side of the road when:
  1. Overtaking or passing another vehicle proceeding in the same direction;
  2. Preparing for a left turn at an intersection or into a private road or driveway;
  3. Reasonably necessary to avoid conditions, including, but not limited to, fixed or moving objects, parked or moving vehicles, bicycles, pedestrians, animals, surface hazards or lanes that are too narrow for a bicycle and a motor vehicle to travel safely side by side within such lanes;
  4. Approaching an intersection where right turns are permitted and there is a dedicated right turn lane, in which case a bicyclist may ride on the left-hand side of such dedicated lane, even if the bicyclist does not intend to turn right;
  5. Riding on a roadway designated for one-way traffic, when the bicyclist may ride as near to the left-hand curb or edge of such roadway as judged safe by the bicyclist; or when
  6. Riding on parts of roadways separated for the exclusive use of bicycles, including, but not limited to, contra-flow bicycle lanes, left-handed cycle tracks or bicycle lanes on one-way streets and two-way cycle tracks or bicycle lanes.

The new law also allows two-way bicycle lanes, buffered bike lanes, and cycle tracks to be designed in Connecticut and allows drivers to cross the double yellow line to pass slower-moving cyclists and other road users when it's safe to do so.

Watch for more information from Bike Walk CT this summer about Sharing the Road. 


For more information, contact Bike Walk CT Exec. Dir. Kelly Kennedy at 860.578.5925.

Donna S Swarr
7/2/2015 01:35:39 am

Would you give the rights to republish in a local newspaper?

pedals
7/17/2015 08:06:41 pm

Good changes in the laws. Bu how are drivers going to know about this?

Kelly Kennedy/Bike Walk CT link
7/2/2015 02:18:14 am

Publish away! Please spread the word and include Bike Walk Connecticut's name and url: www.bikewalkct.org.
Thank you!

slevino link
7/2/2015 02:37:03 am

This is a great change, thanks for your efforts and successfully advocating for pedestrian safety!
In reading the amendment (linked from your story) it appears that parking in a bike lane is now illegal: "if a bikeway, as defined in section 13a-153f ... is in place between the parking lane and the curb, such vehicle shall be so placed that its righthand wheels...be within a distance of twelve inches from the edge of such bikeway or buffer area."

and
13a-153f
(4) "Bikeway" means any road, street, path or way which in some manner is specifically designated for bicycle travel, including the provision of a bicycle lane, regardless of whether such facility is designated for the exclusive use of bicycles or is to be shared with other modes of transportation

I can picture a lot of roads with striped bike lanes where parking will now be illegal. Was that the intent?

Tom McColl link
7/2/2015 12:11:02 pm

A step in the right direction. Hopefully, not too many collisions in lag time for drivers to know and understand the new rules.

kconstable
7/3/2015 09:28:26 pm

New bike laws should automatically have a motor vehicle law counterpart - this is the only way to assure that drivers are made equally aware of the laws of the road.

Anita
7/5/2015 03:56:32 am

Where I live we don't have any bike lanes even on the State owned roads. I would like to see the Town and State add Bike lanes to the road. It's very unsafe! (Cromwell).


Comments are closed.
    Bike Walk Connecticut
    NEWS

    Send us your bike walk related news and time permitting, we'll do our best to post it.


    Topics

    All
    Advocacy
    Annual Dinner
    Bike Education
    Bike Friendly Communities
    Bike Share
    Bike To School Day
    Bike To Work
    B P A B
    Complete Streets
    Cyclist Safety
    Data Collection
    Discover CT Ride Series
    DOT
    Education
    Elections
    Events
    Federal Funding
    Grants
    In The News
    Legislation
    Media Releases
    Members
    N A C T O
    National Bike Summit
    Natl Bike Challenge
    Newsletter
    Pedestrian Safety
    Public Meetings
    Share The Road
    State Funding
    Summit
    TOD
    Traffic Skills 101
    Trails
    Video
    Volunteer
    Walking
    Walk To School Day

Picture
(c) 2012-2016   Bike Walk Connecticut | PO Box 270149, West Hartford, CT 06127 | bikewalkct@bikewalkct.org

Photo used under Creative Commons from Roebot
  • Home
  • About
    • About
    • Board
    • Sponsors
    • Contact
  • News
  • Advocacy
    • Current Advocacy Work
    • Past Advocacy Work
    • Complete Streets >
      • Complete Streets Announcement
      • Public Survey
  • Education
    • Share the Road
    • STR Quiz
    • Walk Audits
    • NACTO Bikeway Design Guide Workshop
  • Events
    • 2022 Discover Olmsted's CT Bicycle Tour
    • Annual Dinner
    • Bike Walk Summit 2015
    • NACTO Bikeway Design Guide Workshop
  • Membership
    • Donate
    • Login
    • Volunteer! >
      • Board Candidates
      • Bike Education Instructors
  • Connecticut Bicycle/Pedestrian Groups
  • Resources
    • Ped & Cyclist Traffic Deaths
    • Resources
    • Complete Streets Resources
    • CT Bike Ped Advisory Board
  • Registration