[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Owego 12-1-1969
as Ch. 5 of the 1969 Code of Ordinances. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Vehicles and traffic — See Ch. 187.
This chapter shall be known and cited as the "Bicycle Ordinance of the
Village of Owego, New York."
This chapter shall be effective in the entire area of the village as
bounded and defined by the corporate village lines and shall become effective
in any area which may, at any time hereafter, be incorporated within said
village lines.
The following terms, when used in this chapter, shall, unless otherwise
expressly stated or unless the context or subject matter otherwise requires,
be deemed to mean and include as follows:
Any vehicle which consists of an arrangement or combination of two
wheels, one following the other, supported by a frame and propelled by the
feet acting upon pedals.
Any highway, road, street, avenue, alley, alleyway, public place
for traffic, public driveway, public parking lot or any other public way,
boulevard or drive.
That portion of a street between the curblines or the lateral lines
of a roadway and the adjacent property lines, intended for the use of pedestrians.
A.
Required. It shall be unlawful for any person in the
village to operate a bicycle on any street or public place in the village
unless the bicycle has been inspected, as hereinafter provided, and registered
by the Chief of Police or an authorized police officer at the office of the
Chief of Police or such other place as said Chief of Police shall designate.
B.
Annual. Bicycles shall be registered, inspected and tagged
annually for the period from June 1 in each year to June 1 in the following
year.
C.
Application for registration of a bicycle shall be made
to the Chief of Police or a duly authorized police officer by the owner of
the bicycle upon suitable application blanks furnished by the Police Department.
D.
No bicycle shall be registered unless it shall, on inspection,
be found to be mechanically safe and equipped in accordance with the provisions
of this chapter.
A.
Upon the payment of such fee as may be prescribed by
resolution of the Board of Trustees[1] for inspection and registration, the Chief of Police shall issue
an identification tag to be affixed to each registered bicycle, and such tag
shall not be removed therefrom except by a duly authorized police officer.
B.
Identification tags shall not be transferred from one
bicycle to another, and no person shall attach to any bicycle a tag not issued
for use thereon.
C.
Upon loss of an identification tag or duplicate and upon
application and satisfactory evidence of such loss, a new tag or duplicate
shall be issued upon payment of such fee as may be specified by resolution
of the Board of Trustees.[2]
D.
Willful mutilation, alteration or destruction of an identification
tag issued pursuant to this chapter shall be a violation of the provisions
of this chapter.
The Chief of Police shall provide and keep a record of the registration
of all bicycles.
In the event that ownership of a registered bicycle is transferred,
it must be reregistered by the new owner in the manner set forth in this chapter.
If any bicycle shall be operated on the streets of the village in an
unsafe manner or in violation of any statute or any provision of this chapter,
the Chief of Police shall be authorized, in his discretion, to cancel the
registration of such bicycle and remove the identification tag, if any thereon,
and he shall be authorized to impound such bicycle for a period not to exceed
30 days; such cancellation or impoundment shall be separate from and in addition
to any other penalty provided in such case.
All moneys received for the inspection and registration of bicycles
under the provisions of this chapter shall be accounted for by the Chief of
Police, who shall pay over the same to the Village Clerk-Treasurer at monthly
intervals.
The Chief of Police of the village is hereby empowered to procure application
blanks for the registration of bicycles and identification tags for bicycles
registered under this chapter, and the expense thereof, upon audit by the
Board of Trustees, shall be paid from the general fund.
No person shall throw, drop or place or cause or procure to be thrown,
dropped or placed in or upon any highway, street or public place in the village
any glass, tacks, nails or other material or substance which might injure
or damage a bicycle or tricycle or any person lawfully thereon.
Every person riding a bicycle upon a street or roadway shall be granted
all the rights and shall be subject to all the duties applicable to the driver
of a vehicle by the laws of the state declaring rules of the road applicable
to vehicles or by the traffic ordinances of the village applicable to the
driver of a vehicle, except as to special regulations in this chapter and
except as to those provisions of laws and ordinances which by their nature
can have no application.
A.
Streets enumerated. No person shall ride a bicycle, roller
skates, skateboards, roller blades or scooters on any of the following designated
streets in the village:
B.
Exception. This section shall not apply to newsboys or
delivery persons on regular routes.
C.
"Skateboard" and "scooter" defined. For purposes of this
section, the terms "skateboard" and "scooter" shall be defined as any mechanical
device consisting of an arrangement or combination of two or more wheels,
supported by a frame or platform on or in which a person is capable of riding,
propelled by feet or arms acting upon or against the ground. Wheelchairs,
grocery carts and baby carriages or strollers are specifically excepted from
the aforesaid definition.
A.
State law applicable. Every bicycle operated or driven
upon any public street in the village shall be equipped and operated in accordance
with the laws of the State of New York.
B.
Brakes; steering mechanism; sound device. Every bicycle
shall be provided with adequate brakes and steering mechanism and a suitable
or adequate horn, bell or other sound device to serve as a danger warning
signal, but which shall not be used other than as such warning.
C.
Reflectors; lamps. Every bicycle shall be provided with
an approved front reflector and rear reflector to be applied and adjusted
to the bicycle in such manner as to be visible for at least 200 feet when
opposed by a motor vehicle displaying lawful undimmed headlights at night;
and provided, further, that every bicycle registered or so operated or driven
during the period from 1/2 hour after sunset to 1/2 hour before sunrise shall
display a lighted lamp on the front which shall be visible from a point 500
feet ahead of such bicycle and which shall project either a white or yellow
light.
D.
Riding on bicycles generally.
(1)
Manner. A person operating a bicycle shall not ride other
than upon or astride the permanent or regular seat attached thereto.
(2)
Passengers. A person operating a bicycle shall not carry
another person upon such bicycle other than upon a firmly attached and regular
seat thereon, nor shall any person ride upon a bicycle other than as herein
authorized. No bicycle shall be used to carry more persons at one time than
the number for which it is designed and equipped.
E.
Speed. No person shall operate a bicycle at a speed greater
than is reasonable and prudent under the conditions existing at the time and
place.
F.
Riding on right. Every person operating a bicycle on
a roadway shall ride as near the right-hand side of the roadway as practicable,
exercising due care when passing a standing vehicle or one proceeding in the
same direction.
G.
Emerging from alley, driveway, building. The operator
of a bicycle emerging from an alley, driveway or building shall, upon approaching
a sidewalk or sidewalk area extending across any alleyway, yield the right-of-way
to all pedestrians approaching on said sidewalk or sidewalk area and, upon
entering the roadway, shall yield the right-of-way to all vehicles approaching
on said roadway.
H.
Clinging to vehicles. No person riding a bicycle shall
attach the same or himself to any vehicle upon a roadway.
I.
Riding in a group prohibited. Persons operating a bicycle
upon a street or roadway shall ride single file.
J.
Carrying articles. No person operating a bicycle shall
carry any package, bundle or articles which prevents the rider from keeping
at least one hand on the handlebar.
K.
Duty to yield right-of-way to pedestrian. Wherever any
person is riding a bicycle on any sidewalk, such person shall yield the right-of-way
to all pedestrians and shall give an audible signal before overtaking or passing
such pedestrians.
No person shall park a bicycle upon a street other than in an upright
position supported by a rack or its own standard; and if in the roadway, against
the curb; and if upon the sidewalk, at the curb or next to the inside edge
of said walk; and in any event, in such manner as to afford the least obstruction
to vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
Any violation of any of the provisions of this chapter shall be punishable,
upon conviction, by a fine not to exceed $250 or by imprisonment for not more
than 15 days, or by both such fine and imprisonment, for each such violation,
and the court, in its discretion, may prohibit a person so convicted from
riding a bicycle for a period not to exceed three months and may order such
person's identification tag surrendered.
