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Health & Fitness

Rules of the Road

A look at the rules of the road.

Yesterday evening, shortly after I arrived home from work, I was pouring myself a glass of Sauvignon Blanc when I heard what sounded like a tremendous crash on the roadway in front of my house. I ran to the front door and saw three vehicles with a fair amount of bumper damage coming to rest on different parts of the roadway. After calling 911 I went outside to see if I could be of any assistance. As I was bringing an icepack to a girl who had a bump on her head from striking the inside of her mom’s car, the police showed up and took command of the scene. Fortunately, it appeared as though no one was seriously hurt.

The part of Muttontown Road where the accident occurred is heavily used by cyclists, runners and pedestrians, and the accident got me thinking about how we all might benefit from taking a look at some of the rules enshrined in the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law (VTL). Since we all have to share the road, the more we know about each other’s rights and responsibilities, the safer we’ll all be.

As many of you have no doubt noticed, New York has a lot of laws. Many of the laws that govern how we use the public roadways are enshrined in the VTL. Many of these might be familiar to you, but some may not be. I know I was surprised by a couple I haven’t seen since driver’s ed back in the 1980s. I’m going to break this topic up into a couple of posts so I can get all the information in.

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 First Rule: Bicyclists ride with traffic, walkers and runners face traffic. This makes sense when you think about it. Since bicycles have to follow all of the rules of the road, it wouldn’t make sense to have them going against the flow of traffic. As a runner or walker, I sure want to see what’s barreling down on me so I can get out of the way, so that rule makes sense too. Also note that pedestrians are required to use sidewalks when they are available.

Second Rule: The VTL requires motorists to change lanes to pass cyclists if they can't safely do so while staying in the same lane. On narrow or winding roads, a driver should slow down and remain behind the cyclist until he or she can see far enough down the left-hand lane to pull out and safely go around the cyclist. Leaning on the horn of your Porsche Cayenne and giving a cyclist the finger is frowned upon.

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Third Rule: All cyclists from age 1-13 are required to wear bicycle helmets. Children ages one through four must wear helmets and ride in child safety seats. Children under one year old are prohibited from being transported on a bicycle. My son Ben turns one on August 13th and I’ve already got his helmet picked out!

I’ll have a few more later in the week. If anyone is interested in getting the citations to the section of the VTL I’ve referenced, post the question in the comments and I’ll respond there.

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