Bicycle law in California

The California Vehicle Code is an official drivers safety guide maintained by the Department of Motor Vehicles to ensure those on the road are driving as they should.

Bicycle Relevant Sections

The portions relevant to the operator of a bicycle in 2004 are as follows:

One of the most important passages (21202 (a)) relates to the roadway position that a bicycle should take. This is commonly misunderstood to mean that a bicycle must travel as far as possible to the right-hand side of the road. Indeed the CVC synopsis carried by patrolmen in most of the Police Divisions of Los Angeles, California (where it is obtained from the uniform shop in Long Beach) actually carries incorrect wording, substituting possible for practicable. The combination of the actual legal wording of 21202(a) and the proviso in 21202(a)(3) mean that there is ample justification to take a lane as recommended by the safe cycling practices of Effective Cycling.

Operation on Roadway

21202. A. Any person operating a bicycle upon a roadway at a speed less than the normal speed of traffic moving in the same direction at that time shall ride as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway except under any of the following situations:

When overtaking and passing another bicycle or vehicle proceeding in the same direction.
When preparing for a left turn at an intersection or into a private road or driveway.
When reasonably necessary to avoid conditions (including, but not limited to, fixed or moving objects, vehicles, bicycles, pedestrians, animals, surface hazards, or substandard width lanes) that make it unsafe to continue along the right-hand curb or edge, subject to the provisions of Section 21656. For purposes of this section, a "substandard width lane" is a lane that is too narrow for a bicycle and a vehicle to travel safely side by side within the lane.
When approaching a place where a right turn is authorized.

B. Any person operating a bicycle upon a roadway of a highway, which highway carries traffic in one direction only and has two or more marked traffic lanes, may ride as near the left-hand curb or edge of that roadway as practicable. Amended Sec. 4, Ch. 674, Stats. 1996. Effective January 1, 1997.

External links

this piece Detailed discussion of the laws as they apply to cyclists provided by Alan Wachtel

Availability

The California Vehicle Code is available online through the Department of Motor Vehicles as either a webpage (html) or a pdf.

This is a vital section for anyone using a bicycle for travel in Los Angeles.