Where does the bicycle run?
Bicycles are "non-motorized vehicle".
Where does the bicycle run?Many people think that the bicycle runs around the shoulder of the road. The place where the bicycle runs is stated in Article 17 of the Road Traffic Act.
- [Article 17] On a road with demarcations between the sidewalk or side strip (hereinafter referred to in this Article as a "sidewalk or side strip") and the roadway, a vehicle must proceed along the roadway.
The term "vehicle" as used herein refers to an automobile, a two-wheeled vehicle, a light vehicle, and a trolley bus, and since the bicycle is classified as a light vehicle, it is clearly stated that the bicycle must pass the roadway.
However, there are some provisions as exceptional measures.
- [Article 63-4 (1)] Notwithstanding Article 17, paragraph (1), a standard bicycle may be ridden on a sidewalk in the following cases; provided, however, that this does not apply if an officer instructs a person riding a standard bicycle not to ride on the sidewalk, having found it necessary to do so in order ensure the safety of pedestrians:
- (i) if standard bicycles are permitted by road signs or markings to be ridden on the sidewalk;
- (ii) if the person riding the standard bicycle is an elementary schooler, child not yet of school age, or any other person that Cabinet Order prescribes for whom riding a standard bicycle on a roadway is considered to be dangerous;
- (iii) if, beyond as set forth in the preceding two items, roadway or traffic conditions are found to provide compelling circumstances for the person riding the standard bicycle to ride on the sidewalk so as to ensure safe progress.
The important thing is that you can cross the sidewalk if the bicycle can run and if the bicycle driver is a weak person such as a child. The conditions under which the bicycle can pass through the sidewalk are as follows.
- When passing through a sidewalk where there are road signs of "bicycle passage permitted" or "normal bicycle passage specification portion".
- When the driver is under 13 years old, over 70 years old, or has a physical disability.
- When it is inevitable for safety.
In other words, it means "You usually run on the roadway, but you can run on the sidewalk if you want to secure safety".
From when?
Basically the bicycle runs on the roadway, is this a recently changed rule? Actually, it has been decided that the bicycle will run on the sidewalk for a long time. In 1970, due to the revision of the Road Traffic Law, bicycle pedestrian travel was allowed to be accepted limited and provisionally. In the background, traffic accidents have increased dramatically in the latter half of the 1950s and early 1940s, which is related to the frequent occurrence of accidents involving bicycles hit by cars on the roadway, which is called "traffic war". In other words, "the bicycle runs on the roadway" said by the public is "return to the origin".
Q.Where does the bicycle run?
A.The roadway is the principle, but the sidewalk is exceptionally recognized.
