Safety Rules
Safety Rules and Tips for All Riders
- HELMETS are mandatory!
- It’s a good idea to carry your smart phone with you. Carry ID and contact information as well.
- Ride in single file. Bicyclists are never allowed to impede traffic. There may be times where bicycles may travel 2 abreast when traffic is not impeded. It is a traffic violation to ride more than 2 abreast.
- The use of headphones and/or loud speakers is NOT permitted.
- Follow the same traffic rules you would if you were driving a car.
- Be mindful of other cyclists.
- Do not follow too closely behind other bicycles.
- All riders are very strongly encouraged to bring (and use) a rear red light to increase rider visibility and safety.
- New Jersey State law: “A bicycle must be equipped with a bell or other audible device that can be heard at least 100 feet away, but not a siren or whistle”.
- Let other riders, and motorists, know what you are doing.
- Pass only on the left, and call out “On your left!” when passing.
- Use hand signals when turning or when stopping.
- Check for any approaching vehicles before changing lanes.
- Every person operating a bicycle upon a roadway shall ride as near to the right side of the roadway as practicable, exercising due care when passing a standing vehicle or one proceeding in the same direction.
- All riders must comply with NJ traffic laws as they apply to bicycles.
- When passing through an intersection do not call out “CLEAR”. Though many cyclist do this, it is not safe: what may be CLEAR for you may not be CLEAR for the riders behind you. Every rider must make that determination themselves.
Additional Safety Information
| Bicycle Street Smarts | New Jersey Bicycle and Pedestrian Law |
| BicycleSafe.com | New Jersey Bicycling Manual |