[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of Carteret 12-15-1970 as Sec. 7-6 of the 1970 Revised Ordinances, as amended through 3-5-1974. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Streets and sidewalks — See Ch. 222.
Vehicles and traffic — See Ch. 254.
The purpose of this chapter is to encourage the safe and proper operation of bicycles on borough streets, particularly by children; to further the programs established by the police, schools and civic groups to train children in the safe operation of bicycles; and to provide a means of identifying the owners of bicycles and violators of this section and other statutes and ordinances governing the operation of bicycles.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
BICYCLE
A two-wheeled vehicle propelled or intended to be propelled by the physical efforts of the person riding it.
No person residing within the borough shall use or operate a bicycle therein unless it has been registered and bears a registration tag.
An application for the licensing of a bicycle shall be made to the Police Department on a form approved by the Chief of Police and shall contain the following information:
A. 
The name and address of the bicycle owner.
B. 
A description of the bicycle, including the name of the manufacturer and the serial number, if any.
C. 
Any other appropriate information which the Chief of Police may require.
The license fee for each bicycle shall be fifty cents ($0.50) per year and shall be paid at the time a license plate is applied for.
Before a license is issued, the bicycle shall be inspected by a member of the Police Department designated by the Police Chief. No license shall be issued for a bicycle which is in a state of disrepair or which has any mechanical defect or which would for any other reason be unsafe to operate. No license shall be issued to any person who has not shown his ability to ride a bicycle safely.
The registration number shall be evidenced by a license plate and a registration card signed by the owner of the bicycle and by the Chief of Police or some police officer designated by him. The registration card shall contain the assigned number, the name and address of the owner of the bicycle and an identification of the bicycle by make, model, color and serial number, if any. The license plate shall contain the registration number. At the time of licensing, the Police Department shall furnish to each owner a printed copy of safety rules and regulations for the use of a bicycle, and particularly those provided for in Title 39 of the Revised Statutes of New Jersey.
A license shall be effective for a period of one (1) calendar year. All licenses shall expire on December 31 and shall be dated January 1 of the year issued. Upon the renewal of the license, the bicycle shall again be inspected by a person designated by the Chief of Police.
Any person riding a licensed bicycle shall keep the registration card in his possession and display it upon the request of any police officer or other official who may properly request to see it. The license plate shall be securely fastened to the bicycle in such a manner that it can be clearly seen.
No registration number shall be transferred from one person to another or from one bicycle to another unless reissued by the Chief of Police. Any person transferring possession of a bicycle to another person within the borough, whether by sale, gift or otherwise, shall report that fact to the Police Department within three (3) business days after the actual transfer and return the registration card and license plate issued thereto. The report of the transfer shall be made upon forms furnished by the Police Department and shall contain the following information:
A. 
The name and address of the person transferring the bicycle.
B. 
The name, address and age of the person to whom the bicycle was transferred.
C. 
A description of the bicycle, including its make, model, color and serial number, if any.
D. 
If the bicycle was previously registered, its registration number.
A. 
General. All persons operating bicycles in the borough shall conform to all applicable laws of the State of New Jersey and ordinances of the borough, particularly those dealing with the regulation of traffic. Bicycle operators shall obey the same rules as drivers of motor vehicles unless inapplicable or inappropriate.
B. 
Single file. When two (2) or more bicycles are being operated together, the operators shall ride in single file only.
C. 
Passengers. No person shall ride on any part of a bicycle not intended for use by a rider, nor shall more than one (1) person ride on a bicycle unless it is designed to accommodate more than one (1) rider or operator.
D. 
Unsafe bicycle. No person shall operate a bicycle within the borough if it is in a defective, unsafe or dangerous condition.
Any police officer may inspect any bicycle at any time if he has reason to believe that it has not been validly registered, does not have its registration tag properly attached or is not in a safe operating condition. If a police officer determines that a bicycle is in so defective or unsafe a condition as to constitute a danger to the safety of the person operating it or to others, he may impound the bicycle immediately. A bicycle that has been impounded shall not be released until the owner has given satisfactory proof that the defects which led to the impounding will be corrected prior to the bicycle again being operated in the borough, and it shall not be returned except upon the payment of one dollar ($1.).
A. 
Violations.
(1) 
Any person shall be guilty of a violation of this chapter who fails to register a bicycle owned by him, fails to report the transfer of possession of a bicycle or knowingly operates or permits the operation of a bicycle owned by him which is unregistered or which is in a defective or unsafe condition. Where the alleged violation consists of the failure of any person to have in his possession a registration card, no person shall be convicted of a violation of this chapter if, within forty-eight (48) hours of the time of the alleged offense, he produces a valid registration card previously issued.
(2) 
Any parent or guardian having custody of a minor child who knowingly permits that child to possess or operate a bicycle in violation of any provision of this chapter shall be guilty of a violation of this chapter.
B. 
Penalties. In addition to any other penalty which may be imposed by law for a violation of this chapter, the Police Chief, upon receiving information that any person under the age of sixteen (16) has been accused of violating any provision of this chapter, shall require that person to appear before him or his representative for a hearing. The accused person shall be notified of the time and place of the hearing, of the time and place of the alleged offense and of the general nature of the acts constituting the alleged offense. Notice shall be served on the accused person not less than five (5) days before the date of the hearing and shall be in writing, but no special form shall be required. At the hearing, the accused shall have the same rights as a person charged before the Municipal Judge with a violation of the laws of the State of New Jersey or of the provisions of this Code dealing with the regulation of motor vehicle traffic. If the Police Chief is satisfied by clear and convincing evidence that the accused is guilty as charged, he may prohibit the accused from operating a bicycle for whatever period in his discretion seems just, or where the offender has been guilty of a flagrant or repeated violation of this chapter, he may permanently prohibit the offender from operating a bicycle within the borough.