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The title says all of it. A friend and I were trying to determine if it is legal to ride on sidewalks. Georgia has clear law explaining what cyclists should do on the road (basically obey all the rules cars do), but I can't find any direction regarding sidewalks.

Russell Steen
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  • Its area and town dependent. In the city I live in, for example, you can't ride on the sidewalks in certain districts. However, the next city over does not have this restriction. – Batman Feb 13 '15 at 19:46
  • That might be covered under a local municipality's codes. Here in Oregon, for instance, there is no state law prohibiting sidewalk riding, but in Salem, it is only allowed where not strictly prohibited (signage is posted in those areas), and only at pedestrian walking speeds. – digijim Feb 13 '15 at 19:48
  • It's a pity there isn't some central resource to find this out, as this question seems to come up over and over for different locations in the US – PeteH Feb 13 '15 at 23:17
  • Pretty much all states put their state traffic laws on the web. And LAW used to maintain a database of state cycling laws (though I haven't been there in over 5 years). (OK, I went there -- bikeleague.org -- and I was reminded that they "dumbed down" the site quite a bit. If they still have the database I can't find it.) – Daniel R Hicks Feb 13 '15 at 23:33
  • (@PeteH take note) Did find this page that leads to a summary of laws by state. With this for Georgia: In Georgia, bicycles are defined as vehicles. Except as provided by resolution or ordinance of a local government for sidewalks within the jurisdiction of such local government authorizing the operation of bicycles on sidewalks by persons 12 years of age or younger, no person shall drive any vehicle upon a sidewalk or sidewalk area except upon a permanent or duly authorized driveway. – Daniel R Hicks Feb 13 '15 at 23:38
  • Yeah,obviously where I was coming from with my comment was to see if there could be some kind of canonical answer to the question. That site looks interesting @DanielRHicks but the couple of states In looked at only seemed to be current up to 2012. But I guess that just exemplifies the problem. – PeteH Feb 14 '15 at 01:14

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Okay, I decided to look this up. It appears that cycling on the sidewalk is not legal in Georgia.

http://www.intownbicycles.com/bicycle-faqs/bicycle-rules-of-the-road

http://www.gahighwaysafety.org/docs/gabicyclelawenforcementguide.pdf

https://georgiabikes.org/index.php/resources/35/76-ga-bicycle-laws

GA Code 40-6-144

Russell Steen
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  • Correct. Lived there for 7 years and state wide it is not legal. – Brady Feb 13 '15 at 21:46
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    Which is good. It should not be legal for adults to ride on the sidewalk. Bikes doing 15-20 mph don't mix well with pedestrians and baby carriages. – Carey Gregory Feb 14 '15 at 02:56