[Amended 5-8-1998 by Ord. No. 598-2]
B.
No person who is 12 years of age or over shall ride
or operate any bicycle on any sidewalk adjoining any street within
the corporate limits of the City of Rehoboth Beach.
C.
No person shall ride or operate any bicycle on the
main Boardwalk between the hours of 10:00 a.m., prevailing time, and
daybreak on the following day, from May 15 to September 15, both dates
inclusive, of any year.
[Amended 12-16-2011 by Ord. No. 1211-02]
D.
No person shall ride or operate any bicycle on the
bandstand or any public structure throughout the entire year. The
term "public structure" shall, in addition to its ordinary meaning,
include but not be limited to the City's benches, plaques, memorials
and steps.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former § 92-19, Lights,
required, was repealed 7-21-2008 by Ord. No. 0708-02.
No person shall ride upon the handlebars of
any bicycle or motorcycle.
A.
The word "bicycle" shall be defined as that certain
class of vehicles which are exclusively human-powered by means of
foot pedals, which the driver normally rides astride, which have not
in excess of three wheels and which may be commonly known as unicycles,
bicycles and tricycles. The term "bicycle" also includes a two- or
three-wheeled vehicle with fully operable pedals and an electric motor
of less than 750 watts (one horsepower), whose maximum speed on a
paved level surface, when powered solely by such motor while ridden
by an operator who weighs 170 pounds, is less than 20 miles per hour.
[Amended 7-21-2008 by Ord. No. 0708-02]
B.
When two or more persons in a group are operating
bicycles in a roadway, they shall ride in single file.
C.
No person operating a bicycle shall cling or attach
himself or the bicycle to any other moving vehicle.
D.
A person propelling a bicycle shall not ride other
than upon or astride a permanent and regular seat attached thereto.
E.
No bicycle shall be used to carry more persons at
one time than the number for which it is designed and equipped with
seats.
F.
The operator of a bicycle emerging from an alley,
driveway, garage or a private walkway or intersecting street shall
stop the bicycle immediately prior to driving onto or across a public
sidewalk or onto or across a public sidewalk line projecting across
a street or alley and shall exercise extreme care in making such movements.
G.
No person shall operate a bicycle while under the
influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs or while physically or mentally
unfit to operate safely the same.
H.
Every bicycle shall be equipped as follows:
[Amended 7-21-2008 by Ord. No. 0708-02; 9-20-2013 by Ord. No. 0913-02]
(1)
When
operated within the period from sunset to sunrise, with a lamp attached
to the front which shall emit a white light visible from a distance
of no less than 500 feet to the front.
(2)
With
a red reflector attached to the rear which shall be visible for 600
feet to the rear when directly in front of lawful lower beams of headlamps
on a motor vehicle.
(3)
When
operated within the period from sunset to sunrise, with reflective
material of sufficient size and reflectivity to be visible from both
sides for 600 feet when directly in front of lawful lower beams of
headlamps on a motor vehicle or, in lieu of such reflective material,
with a lighted lamp visible from both sides from a distance of at
least 500 feet.
(5)
With
a brake or brakes which will enable its driver to stop the bicycle
within 25 feet from a speed of 10 miles per hour on dry, level, clean
pavement.
I.
No person shall operate a bicycle which is not in
such mechanical condition that it can be operated safely.
J.
All bicycles, when operated on roadways, streets,
thoroughfares or other public ways within the corporate limits of
the City of Rehoboth Beach, shall be kept to the right and shall be
operated as near as practicable to the right-hand edge of the public
way.
K.
A bicycle may be equipped with a bell or other signaling
device; however, no bicycle shall be equipped with a siren or whistle.
No person may use a siren or whistle when operating a bicycle.
[Amended 9-20-2013 by Ord. No. 0913-02]
L.
No bicycle shall be operated in the City faster than
is reasonable or proper, and every bicycle shall be operated with
reasonable regard to the safety of the rider and of other persons
and property on the public way and the sidewalks adjoining the same.
M.
Every person operating a bicycle shall observe strictly
all traffic signs and signals and all other traffic rules and regulations
applicable thereto and shall obey the orders and directions of every
officer of the City of Rehoboth Beach authorized to regulate traffic.
N.
No person shall, while operating a bicycle, indulge
or engage in any kind of trickery or unsafe riding.
O.
The operator of a bicycle on a public way, when making
a right turn, shall follow the right-hand edge of the public way,
and the operator of a bicycle on a public way, when making a left
turn, shall approach the point of turning in the traffic lane nearest
the center of the roadway or, in the case of a one-way street, shall
approach the point of turning nearest the side of the public way in
which the turn is to be made.
P.
No operator of a bicycle shall start, slow down, stop
or attempt to turn without first indicating such movement.
Q.
No bicycle shall be attached to a parking meter, post,
tree or bench located on any sidewalk, boardwalk, street or public
place within the corporate limits of the City.
[Amended 4-21-2003 by Ord. No. 0503-8]
R.
Any person violating any of the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof before a court of common jurisdiction, shall be fined not less than $5 nor more than $100 and shall pay the cost of prosecution. Owners or operators of bicycles in violation of Subsection Q of this section shall, in addition to being subject to fines and costs, be subject to having their bicycle removed and impounded by the City's Police Department and stored at a storage facility designated by the City's Chief of Police. In cases where the impoundment of a bicycle results in the removal of a chain, lock, or other securing device, the City and/or the City's Police Department shall not be liable to the owner or operator of the bicycle for damage and/or the cost of repair or replacement of any securing device.
[Added 4-21-2003 by Ord. No. 0503-8]
S.
No person operating a bicycle shall carry any package,
bundle or article which prevents the use of both hands in the control
and operation of the bicycle. A person operating a bicycle shall keep
at least one hand on the handlebars at all times.
[Added 7-21-2008 by Ord. No. 0708-02]
T.
A person operating a bicycle shall give hand and arm
signals as follows:
[Added 7-21-2008 by Ord. No. 0708-02]
(1)
Left turn: left hand and arm extended horizontally
and to the left side of the bicycle.
(2)
Right turn: right hand and arm extended horizontally
and to the right side of the bicycle or the left hand and arm extended
upward.
(3)
Stop or decrease speed: left hand and arm extended
downward from the left side of the bicycle.
(4)
A signal of intention to turn right or left when required
shall be given continuously during not less than the last 100 feet
traveled by the bicycle before turning, and shall be given while the
bicycle is stopped waiting to turn. A signal by hand and arm need
not be given continuously if the hand is needed in the control or
operation of the bicycle.
U.
A person shall not drive a bicycle with earplugs in
both ears or while wearing a headset covering both ears. A prosthetic
device which aids the hard-of-hearing is not an earplug or a headset
under this subsection.
[Added 7-21-2008 by Ord. No. 0708-02]
V.
Bicycle-mounted police officers, while responding
to an emergency or during the pursuit of an actual or suspected violator
of the law, are exempt from the obligations under this article.
[Added 7-21-2008 by Ord. No. 0708-02]
[Added 4-12-1996 by Ord. No. 496-1]
A.
A person under 18 years of age shall not operate or
ride as a passenger upon any bicycle unless that person is wearing
an approved, properly fitted and fastened bicycle helmet. This requirement
shall apply to a person who rides upon a bicycle while in a restraining
seat which is attached to the bicycle or in a trailer towed by the
bicycle. For purposes of this section, an "approved helmet" means
a bicycle helmet which conforms to the following standards:
[Amended 9-20-2013 by Ord. No. 0913-03]
(1)
A bicycle
helmet that was manufactured prior to March 11, 1999, shall meet or
exceed the minimum bicycle helmet safety standards set by the American
National Standards Institute (ANSI), the American Society for Testing
and Materials (ASTM), or the Snell Memorial Foundation.
(2)
A bicycle
helmet that was manufactured on or after March 11, 1999, shall meet
or exceed the minimum bicycle helmet safety standards set by the Consumer
Products Safety Commission.
B.
Any parent or guardian who fails to cause the parent's
or guardian's child to wear a bicycle helmet, as provided herein,
shall be fined for the first offense $25, and for each subsequent
offense, $50.
[Amended 9-20-2013 by Ord. No. 0913-03]
C.
The City's Alderman's Court or any other court may
dismiss all charges pursuant to this section upon presentation of
evidence that a violator hereof has purchased or obtained a bicycle
helmet which meets or exceeds the standards set forth herein subsequent
to the violation.
D.
The requirements of this section shall apply at all
times while a bicycle is being operated on any property open to the
public or used by the public for pedestrian and vehicular purposes
within the City.
E.
Failure to wear a bicycle helmet as herein described
shall not be considered evidence of either comparative or contributory
negligence in any civil suit arising out of any accident in which
a person under 18 years of age is injured, nor shall failure to wear
a bicycle helmet be admissible as evidence in the trial of any civil
action.
[Amended 9-20-2013 by Ord. No. 0913-03]
F.
It is an affirmative defense to a violation of the helmet requirements
of this section that the violator is a member of a recognized church
or religious denomination and whose religious convictions, in accordance
with the tenets and practices of the violator's church or religious
denomination, are against the wearing of a helmet.
[Added 9-20-2013 by Ord. No. 0913-03]
