54
votes
Should unconventional colors be avoided for lighting?
A quick search, however, shows other colors available to purchase. Concerning "to be seen" bicycle lights, should they be avoided?
Yes, they should be avoided.
First, off-colors might not be legal ...
- 10.4k
54
votes
Legality and morality around wearing a red / blue flashing light on a bicycle in the UK?
Don't show a red light of any kind on the front unless you want a head-on crash.
Red is for the back only, steady or flashing. In the shadows it will look like you're riding the wrong way down the ...
- 55.8k
49
votes
Can Cycle Camera Evidence be Used by Police to Enforce Dangerous Motorists?
Intro:
I've heard lots of cyclists complain they submitted their helmet camera video of motorist encounters to the Police who "did nothing". To avoid wasting cyclist's time- and the Police's,...
- 2,203
43
votes
Legality and morality around wearing a red / blue flashing light on a bicycle in the UK?
Legality aside, this is a bad idea.
The entire point of putting distinctly colored lights on emergency vehicles is to make them instantly recognizable as such, letting people know that they need to ...
- 11.7k
41
votes
How should I handle a highway patrolman who stops me occasionally to give incorrect instructions about my riding duties?
There is no one size fits all answer to this, except the first point below.
When dealing with police, or other authority figures, always behave respectfully.
Contact the people responsible for ...
- 17.2k
41
votes
Accepted
Should unconventional colors be avoided for lighting?
Most places will legally require you to run with white lights on the front and red lights behind. This is crucially important because it immediately tells everybody else on the road whether you're ...
- 16.9k
34
votes
Accepted
Are Penny-Farthings Legal to Ride on Public Roads (UK)
UNITED KINGDOM
Intro
I ride a 50" Penny-Farthing almost daily on the UK's public roads, both individually and as part of groups in daylight and evening conditions.
Before venturing out onto the ...
- 2,203
31
votes
Accepted
Threatening swerving by driver - should I report it? (Canada)
I also live in Ottawa so I can provide some pertinent viewpoints. Yes, you should report it, and yes, it will probably be an exercise in frustration. Don't expect the police to do anything about it. ...
- 21.6k
29
votes
Why are license plates for bicycles no longer used?
Cost versus benefits.
As you have pointed out, in some societies and at some times, there were perceived benefits. These ranged from every road user is treated the same to we control every aspect of ...
- 17.2k
29
votes
Why are license plates for bicycles no longer used?
In the Netherlands at least:
The license plates for bikes were tied to the taxation of bikes. You needed to get a new plate every year.
The taxation lasted until WWII. The Germans abandoned the tax.
...
- 390
29
votes
Accepted
What should I do with stop lights which don't detect my bike? [Ontario]
These situations are frustrating. This site (Ontario bike laws) explicitly states the "Idaho stop" (Cyclists must stop on a red light, but can then proceed yielding to all traffic) is ...
- 47.8k
23
votes
Should unconventional colors be avoided for lighting?
The topic has been discussed here in the Netherlands, and found an answer summarized in the below chart (text translated into English from the original):
Wrapping up: lights should be fitting the ...
- 7,041
21
votes
Accepted
Biking against traffic on a one-way streets in Europe
In Holland, were I assume cycling is much more common than in Poland, the kind of traffic sign you describe are abundant (see example, "uitgezonderd" is Dutch for "except for").
And cycling against ...
- 326
20
votes
Why are license plates for bicycles no longer used?
The City of Toronto required bicycles be licensed from 1935 to 1957. According to a City of Toronto web page on the topic of bicycle licensing part of the reason given at the time for repealing the ...
- 309
17
votes
Biking against traffic on a one-way streets in Europe
Just to add to FatHippos answer: The same applies to Germany.
In my home town there was a survey of all one-way roads between 2004 and 2010, which resulted in most of them now being open for bikes in ...
- 2,922
17
votes
What are the possible practical consequences of breaking the rules of the road?
The consequences for you as an individual are perhaps not as important as the broader ramifications of your behaviour.
By behaving as if you think that the local rules of the road don't apply to you,...
- 1,185
15
votes
Biking against traffic on a one-way streets in Europe
There is also a Czech version of allowing you to bike 'the other direction'.
Biking against the one way direction is not much of a crime here and where the traffic is low, it's usually tolerated.
...
- 461
15
votes
Accepted
Legal requirement for tire tread pattern in Germany
This rumored requirement at least does not stem from the paragraphs you've cited:
StVZO §63 states that §32, §34 and §36(1) also apply to other road vehicles. However, the tread pattern is regulated ...
- 266
14
votes
Legality and morality around wearing a red / blue flashing light on a bicycle in the UK?
Restrictions on fitting blue warning beacons, special warning lamps and similar devices
16. No vehicle, other than an emergency vehicle, shall be fitted with
(a) a blue warning beacon or special ...
- 13.1k
13
votes
What should I do with stop lights which don't detect my bike? [Ontario]
Please consider contacting the municipality and asking them to tune the specific loop so that bikes can activate it. You may find your muni receptive to such requests; where I live in Vancouver area I ...
- 131
12
votes
Accepted
Cycle law: definition of Dismounting
By definition, dismount means to get off the bicycle. That means you should not be straddling the top tube, but should be standing next to the bicycle. Then, you can walk the bike if needed. This is ...
- 46k
11
votes
Is vehicular cycling legal in France?
An update since there has been a modification of the law in 2015 concerning this question.
The Article 3 of the Décret n° 2015-808 du 2 juillet 2015 relatif au plan d'actions pour les mobilités ...
- 322
11
votes
Why are license plates for bicycles no longer used?
Come election time its most likely vote loser: politicians are not prepared to take on cyclists for little benefit. Further, it has the potential to take on a life of it own and really blow up in ...
- 47.8k
11
votes
Can Cycle Camera Evidence be Used by Police to Enforce Dangerous Motorists?
It depends where you are in the world, and even in countries with the same laws it can vary in difficulty depending on the local police force.
Here in Scotland, Police Scotland recently received ...
- 18.2k
10
votes
Should unconventional colors be avoided for lighting?
Depending on where you are in the world, there may be legal requirements.
For example here in New Zealand at night time you MUST have
White light on the front, no more than two, only one may flash, ...
- 120k
10
votes
Accepted
Are there mandatory bike paths in Netherlands?
Mandatory
Mandatory bike paths do exist in the Netherlands (Article 5 of RVV 1990 regarding traffic and signage rules) and will be marked with a "G11" sign, a round lollipop sign with a ...
- 246
9
votes
What should I do with stop lights which don't detect my bike? [Ontario]
The first thing to do, is to look for the wires in the road. Frequently you'll see a loop of tar snakes where the first car in the queue is expected to stop. Make sure that you are bang in the middle ...
8
votes
Why are license plates for bicycles no longer used?
Since you asked about Switzerland (where I still remember sticking a Velovignette on my bike a few years back), here is how it worked there, based on the German-language Wikipedia entry:
The ...
- 181
8
votes
How cities came to decision to allow bicycles and/or motorcycles to enter bus lanes?
This is not a definitive answer, but it's too long for a comment.
The primary purpose of bus lanes is to allow buses to move (more) quickly through peak hour traffic congestion. A bus carrying 50 ...
- 17.2k
8
votes
Accepted
Is using hand signals a legal requirement in the UK?
They're in the highway code, but the word "must" isn't used in the online version or my paper copy from 1999, which states:
Turning right
155. Well before you turn right you should
Use your ...
- 55.8k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible