{"id":42757,"date":"2022-01-13T18:03:45","date_gmt":"2022-01-13T22:03:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ciccarelli.com\/philadelphia-injury-lawyers\/?p=42757"},"modified":"2022-01-13T18:04:03","modified_gmt":"2022-01-13T22:04:03","slug":"is-it-illegal-to-ride-a-bike-on-a-sidewalk-in-pennsylvania","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ciccarelli.com\/philadelphia-injury-lawyers\/is-it-illegal-to-ride-a-bike-on-a-sidewalk-in-pennsylvania\/","title":{"rendered":"Is It Illegal to Ride a Bike on a Sidewalk in Pennsylvania?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The safe operation of a bicycle is crucial to ensuring the safety of everyone on the roadway. Understanding whether or not it is legal or illegal for a bike to operate on a sidewalk is challenging because the law does not give a particularly clear answer. Here, we want to examine when it is legal for bicyclists to operate on a sidewalk and when they are prohibited from doing so under state law.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sidewalks and Bicycles<\/span><\/h2>\n

When we examine the Pennsylvania Motor Vehicle Code, we can see that bicycles are <\/span>afforded the same rights<\/span><\/a> and responsibilities on the roadway as any other vehicle, with the exception of operating on the freeway (bicyclists are not allowed to ride on the freeway). However, we do know that bicycles can go to places that vehicles cannot go.<\/span><\/p>\n

When it comes to sidewalks, we only have to look at the name side \u201cwalk\u201d to gain an understanding of who actually has the right of way in these areas. Pedestrians absolutely have the right of way on sidewalks. Additionally, pedestrians have the right of way on bicycle paths, as strange as that may sound. However, bicycles are allowed to ride on sidewalks in most circumstances. When a bicyclist must pass a pedestrian on a sidewalk, they are required to give an audible signal as they approach and pass the pedestrian.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is crucial for us to point out that vehicle drivers are not required to yield to bicycles being ridden across a crosswalk, even if the bicyclist is going across the crosswalk after leaving the sidewalk. Remember, we said that bicycles are treated like any other vehicle on the roadway, so a bicyclist will not be considered a pedestrian at a crosswalk if they are riding. We strongly recommend that bicyclists dismount their bicycles and walk across a pedestrian crosswalk so that vehicles have to yield the right of way.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to Pennsylvania law, bicyclists are not allowed to ride on sidewalks in a business district, except when they are permitted to do so by an official traffic control device or when there is a bicycle-only lane available on the sidewalk area.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bicyclists are allowed to park on a sidewalk if doing so does not impede pedestrian traffic. Bicycles can also park at the edge or curb where parking is allowed, as long as doing so does not obstruct other vehicles.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sticking to the Roadway When Possible<\/span><\/h2>\n

Bicyclists should do everything they can to stick to the roadways and off of the sidewalk, if at all possible. Bicyclists should ride on the right-hand shoulder of the road in the right-most lane of traffic (if there are multiple lanes).<\/span><\/p>\n

Drivers on the roadway are required to treat bicyclists as other vehicles, and if they decide to pass a bicyclist, they must do so safely. Drivers must give bicycles four feet of passing distance, reduce their speed, and use extreme caution.<\/span><\/p>\n

Working With an Attorney<\/span><\/h2>\n

If you or a loved one sustain a bicycle accident injury caused by the negligent actions of another driver in Pennsylvania, you should reach out to an attorney immediately. A skilled <\/span>bicycle accident lawyer in Philadelphia<\/span><\/a> will offer a free consultation and help guide you towards the best path moving forward for recovering compensation.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The safe operation of a bicycle is crucial to ensuring the safety of everyone on the roadway. Understanding whether or not it is legal or illegal for a bike to operate on a sidewalk is challenging because the law does not give a particularly clear answer. Here, we want to examine when it is legal for bicyclists to operate on\u2026 READ MORE<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":"","_content_optimizer_report_url":"","_content_optimizer_report_added":"","_content_optimizer_keyword_hide_used":false,"_content_optimizer_keyword_hide_above_average":false,"_content_optimizer_entities_hide_used":false,"_content_optimizer_entities_hide_above_average":false,"_content_optimizer_headings_hide_used":false,"_content_optimizer_questions_hide_used":false,"_content_optimizer_tab_active":"","_content_optimizer_report_url_ce":"","_content_optimizer_report_added_ce":"","_content_optimizer_keyword_hide_used_ce":false,"_content_optimizer_keyword_hide_above_average_ce":false,"_content_optimizer_entities_hide_used_ce":false,"_content_optimizer_entities_hide_above_average_ce":false,"_content_optimizer_headings_hide_used_ce":false,"_content_optimizer_questions_hide_used_ce":false,"_content_optimizer_tab_active_ce":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":{"sm_multiple":false,"sm_custom_multimenu":null,"sm_custom_title":"","sm_disable_sidebar":false},"yoast_head":"\nIs It Illegal to Ride a Bike on a Sidewalk in Pennsylvania?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Here, we want to examine when it is legal for bicyclists to operate on a sidewalk and when they are prohibited from doing so under state law.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ciccarelli.com\/philadelphia-injury-lawyers\/is-it-illegal-to-ride-a-bike-on-a-sidewalk-in-pennsylvania\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is It Illegal to Ride a Bike on a Sidewalk in Pennsylvania?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here, we want to examine when it is legal for bicyclists to operate on a sidewalk and when they are prohibited from doing so under state law.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ciccarelli.com\/philadelphia-injury-lawyers\/is-it-illegal-to-ride-a-bike-on-a-sidewalk-in-pennsylvania\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ciccarelli Law Offices - 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