Bicycle/Walking Policy and Legislation
Missouri and Illinois policies and legislation are presented below. Also check you local municipal ordinances for additional regulations, such as helmet laws.
Missouri
By law bicyclists are to ride on the right with the flow of other traffic. By law pedestrians are required to walk on the left, facing traffic. Bicycles are classified as vehicles in all 50 states and their operators are subject to all the rights and responsibilities of other vehicle operators. By state law, motorists are required to yield to all pedestrians in marked or unmarked crosswalks.
- For more information on Missouri Bicycle and Pedestrian Policy and Legislation from the Missouri Department of Transportation
- Missouri Bicycle Statutes (9 kb, 2 pages)
- Missouri Pedestrian Statutes (11 kb, 2 pages)
In Missouri, bicycles have the same rights and duties of a motor vehicle (Missouri Revised Statute 307.188). Motor vehicles must leave a safe distance when overtaking a bicycle on a roadway. Therefore, if it is a single lane road with no shoulder or bike lane and this is violated, the driver is guilty of an infraction (Missouri Revised Statute 304.678). Just as a car cannot drive on the sidewalk, neither can a bicycle within a business district (Missouri Revised Statute 300.347). While bicyclists should ride in their defined bicycle lanes or to the right side of the road, the bicycle must take the lane when turning, riding through an intersection, avoiding parked cars or roadside debris, when the bicycle lane is obstructed, or when the road is too narrow (Missouri Revised Statute 307.190). You may want to print out and laminate these statutes so you are prepared if you ever encounter an uninformed motorist.
In response to the proposed bicycle ban, Melissa Anderson, P.E., Non-Motorized Transportation Engineer for MoDOT, explained that counties do not have the authority to ban bicycling on MoDOT highways, and MoDOT has no intention of banning bicycles on any of their roadways.
As always, remember to bike defensively, be aware of motorists and other cyclists, use your hand signals to indicate the direction you are turning and, most importantly, wear a helmet. Your safety always comes first.
Missouri Revised Statutes Involving Bicyclists Defined:
Distance to be maintained when overtaking a bicycle--violation, penalty.
304.678. 1. The operator of a motor vehicle overtaking a bicycle proceeding in the same direction on the roadway, as defined in section 300.010, RSMo, shall leave a safe distance, when passing the bicycle, and shall maintain clearance until safely past the overtaken bicycle.
2. Any person who violates the provisions of this section is guilty of an infraction unless an accident is involved in which case it shall be a class C misdemeanor.
Vehicle shall not be driven on a sidewalk--prohibition on obstruction of bicycle lanes--drivers to yield to bicycles in designated bicycle lanes.
300.330. The driver of a motor vehicle shall not drive within any sidewalk area except as a permanent or temporary driveway. A designated bicycle lane shall not be obstructed by a parked or standing motor vehicle or other stationary object. A motor vehicle may be driven in a designated bicycle lane only for the purpose of a lawful maneuver to cross the lane or to provide for safe travel. In making an otherwise lawful maneuver that requires traveling in or crossing a designated bicycle lane, the driver of a motor vehicle shall yield to any bicycle in the lane. As used in this section, the term "designated bicycle lane" shall mean a portion of the roadway or highway that* has been designated by the governing body having jurisdiction over such roadway or highway by striping with signing or striping with pavement markings for the preferential or exclusive use of bicycles.
Riding bicycle on sidewalks, limitations--motorized bicycles prohibited.
300.347. 1. No person shall ride a bicycle upon a sidewalk within a business district.
Rights and duties of bicycle and motorized bicycle riders.
307.188. Every person riding a bicycle or motorized bicycle upon a street or highway shall be granted all of the rights and shall be subject to all of the duties applicable to the driver of a vehicle as provided by chapter 304, RSMo, except as to special regulations in sections 307.180 to 307.193 and except as to those provisions of chapter 304, RSMo, which by their nature can have no application.
Bicycle required to give hand or mechanical signals.
307.192. The operator of a bicycle shall signal as required in section 304.019, RSMo, except that a signal by the hand and arm need not be given continuously if the hand is needed in the control or operation of or to control or operate the bicycle. An operator of a bicycle intending to turn the bicycle to the right shall signal as indicated in section 304.019, RSMo, or by extending such operator's right arm in a horizontal position so that the same may be seen in front of and in the rear of the bicycle.
Riding to right, required for bicycles and motorized bicycles.
307.190. Every person operating a bicycle or motorized bicycle at less than the posted speed or slower than the flow of traffic upon a street or highway shall ride as near to the right side of the roadway as safe, exercising due care when passing a standing vehicle or one proceeding in the same direction, except when making a left turn, when avoiding hazardous conditions, when the lane is too narrow to share with another vehicle, or when on a one-way street. Bicyclists may ride abreast when not impeding other vehicles.
Illinois
On most roadways, bicyclists have the same rights and responsibilities as other roadway users. Bicyclists are prohibited on limited-access highways, expressways and certain other marked roadways. Without a vehicle or protective equipment, pedestrians are the roadway users most at risk in traffic. Drivers and pedestrians are both responsible for traffic safety. A simple rule is that drivers should always be prepared to yield the right-of-way to pedestrians.
For more information, visit the Illinois Department of Transportation website.