Each statute referenced is a link and its full text will open in a pop up window. Here is a version better for printing.
Here is a very large .pdf (27MBytes) of the entire ARS snapped from the azleg.gov website in March 2013 — good for searching (the search tool on azleg.gov leaves a lot to be desired), and for general off-line use. The curious can find the unix script that was used to generate it. There is also a .pdf of just ARS-Title28, from around the 2013 time period that’s only about 1MByte.
For research on other states’ laws, start here: UVC.
This used to appear here in an iframe but it seems that no longer displays, Just click here to go to a flat-html file good for viewing or printing…
the widget was something like [dciframe]http://www.google.com,300,300,0,auto,border:1px solid blue;align:left;[/dciframe]
So basically anything that says “motor vehicle” does not refer to bicycles and the word “vehicle” alone can refer to a bicycle?
I think that rule of thumb would apply to all sections when reviewing this document.
The section about local authorities being able to make their own rules about bicycles opens up a whole other discussion.
According to ARS 28-101.56, Bicycles are NOT considered vehicles!
Hi BJ — that is correct! You DID see 28-812, though, didn’t you?
Lol.. i never new that I could get pulled over on a bike, well I did for not stoping at a stop sign…
Can the police give you a ticket for riding on the wrong side of the street but its on the sidewalk??
2 lane road north-south with only one bike lane on west side without yellow stripe, no bike lane on east side. I don’t feel safe riding on east side going north without designated lane. Is it legal to ride in west bike lane going north? A southbound biker yelled at me when I was in west lane.
I really like the Idaho rules of the road and am sad that AZ doesn’t adopt them. They really are more practical.
Question, can a driver be cited for unnecessarily honking at a cyclist?
If the right lane of a two lane road is 10-12 feet (3′ for bike and the 3′ rule ) and a car (average 6.5′ wide) passes a cyclist with their car remaining in the right lane, wouldn’t that technically be grounds for a citation for violating the more than one vehicle per lane statute?
is it illegal to ride on the “wrong side of the road” facing traffic?
Are bicycles allowed to use drive-thrus?
Is it illegal?
So there’s no penalty at all for passing with less than 3 feet unless a cyclist is injured or killed??? What sort of law is that? Also no penalty if there’s a bike path nearby? SMDH
Well, no; there is still a penalty, for less than 3 foot pass, it would be handled like any other traffic infraction; a standard fine, and 2 license points.
This is a moot point, since the offense is rarely if ever cited against a driver who isn’t involved in a crash.
You are speaking of the “enhanced penalty”, a extra civil fine, which only applies if a serious injury or death occurs. Keep in mind that all other laws still apply, e.g. if an impaired driver causes a crash resulting in death or serious injury they can be charged with manslaughter / agg assault.
Lastly, the phrase “designated bicycle lane or path is present and passable” isn’t completely clear and has never been tested AFAIK in the many years 28-735 has been on the books, and again, all other laws still apply, e.g. all drivers (and bicyclists!) must control speed to avoid striking whatever is in front of them.
Please see:
https://www.cazbike.org/overtaking-bicycles-and-arizonas-three-foot-law/
Because of the (many) shortcomings of 28-735, in the case of a motorist striking a bicyclist out of (the motorist’s) lane, i.e. where the bicyclist is riding in a bike laen, or shoulder, i would much prefer that police ignore 28-735 and go right for the criminal misdemeanor charge (rather than just a civil infraction), see https://azbikelaw.org/arizona-already-has-a-vulnerable-user-law/
But prosecutors don’t like it, for some reason(?) see e.g. https://azbikelaw.org/drifting-driver-kills-bicyclist-in-scottsdale/
I have been riding a motor assisted bicycle off and on for over 30 years now. It has been interesting to say the least, down right frightening, truth be told. Most people in cars don’t know the laws or the logic concerning driving around bicycles. Good, bad, and ugly things happen because of this. A bicycle rider will always loose when contact is made with a motor vehicle. The rider can be dead right. Doesn’t matter when your dead. Don’t push your rights that far. To perform as a car would is to be in synk with the flow of traffic and far less dangerous. Moving to the right is only logical when traveling slower than the flow. Others can predict your next move if you perform as a car would. They will not even look for you if you are traveling against the flow of traffic. That will find you down and perhaps dead faster than any other transgression you can commit on a bicycle. Never ever travel in front of a car unless you have made eye contact with the driver of that car and know the driver sees you. Again you might be DEAD right. You can dent a car. A car can kill you dead. When riding a rider should come to develop the attitude that many dangers that can happen at any moment are all around them. My mindset is that everything has priority over my travel through my environment. I am alive because of this cautious mindset. With this in mind, here are the things I have had happen through the years I’ve experienced as a rider in the phoenix Az and surrounding area. Some drivers hate it when you are in front of them and they will let you know it in many ways, some very scary and dangerous. Don’t chase down a hostile driver that violated your rights. It never amounts to anything good. Many drivers think that they are the centerpoint of their car and so are driving with their car being to the right of center which is dangerously narrowing the space between their car and the bike they are passing, the scariest thing that is always on my mind. Most drivers do not know that they are to share the road with bikes. Many officers do not know that bikes are to follow the laws that cars follow. Some people flip out when they see me using a left turn lane. Police have flipped out when they saw me in that lane. I had a Tempe officer stop in front of me, get out of his car, grab my bike, throw it onto the sidewalk and tell me to stay off the street or he would arrest me. I have had two collisions with cars that pulled left in front of me, then freeze up right there in front of me leaving me nowhere to go but to hit them. bikes ruined and me hurt badly in both cases. In 2014 i was travelling in the bike lane and came upon cars that were backed up for over a block back of the intersection. I slowed to 5mph because any one of them might open a door and step out in front of me. At a crossroad one block back of the intersection a driver got impatient, suddenly turned the car to the right and gunned the car tword the crossroad i was at that moment I was passing through. i saw what was going to happen but there was nothing i could do but collide with the front right corner of the car as it crossed my bike lane. She never saw me. I could tell she was distracted by many things happening in her car. My hip was blown out with the hip socket having to be completely restructured. It took one and a half months in the hospital $366,000.00 and two years learning how to walk again, recovering from this one mistake she made. I should have never put myself in front of her car until I was certain that she saw me. That people is how careful a bike rider must be to survive the world of distracted and sometimes angry drivers on the road. She crossed over my bike lane, wiped me out because she didn’t look before she turned. The cop blamed me because i had a motor on my bike that he came to find was one cc over the limit of 49cc motors allowed on bicycles before needing a license to operate. Officers don’t like the fact that people can put an assist motor on a bike without needing a license. I have endured years of not driving a car so that the people in the future might have some gas left in their generation. The bike lanes are filled with hazzards, they are not wide enough, drivers hate bikes in their way and police officers don’t even know the bike laws. The gas I have saved the planet by using this way to travel is massive. The hundreds of tons of pollution that I, one person, have not put in the air as a result of not operating my car is mind boggling. Despite all of this I would do it again because we all have to team up in saving this planet. I can dent your car, your car can kill me in one mistake. Please know the bike laws and give the bike rider the space it takes to travel to their destination safely.