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Laws

Education, Awareness, Understanding

Operating in traffic is a cooperative activity, governed by rules. Traffic rules incorporate practices found, through collective experience, to facilitate safe and efficient travel. Since not everyone has enough experience to appreciate the rationale of the rules, seasoned and informed enforcement is necessary to help instill safe habits. Officers exercise discretion in enforcement actions; an effective officer is prepared to explain the principles involved when a cyclist or motorist uses poor judgment.

  • Key traffic principles for cyclists include:

    • A cyclist is safer riding with traffic than facing it. A cyclist who rides facing oncoming traffic increases his risk of being hit by a motorist by two to four times. Drivers entering and exiting the roadway at side streets and driveways do not expect bicycle traffic to approach from this direction.
    • Lamps must be used on a bicycle after sunset to alert other drivers. A rear reflector may not be recognized as attached to a moving vehicle, and frontward illumination is needed to alert drivers not approaching from the rear. Nighttime collisions are much more likely to result in incapacitating injury or death.
    • A cyclist traveling more slowly than other traffic should ride to the right, except to pass, to make a left turn, when necessary to avoid hazards, or when a lane is too narrow to share. A cyclist should ride to the right to facilitate passing by faster vehicles, but should follow a predictable line that accommodates visible hazards. Suddenly swerving left to avoid a parked car, broken pavement edge, a drain cover, pooled water, gutter debris, etc., may surprise an overtaking motorist. A cyclist who stays too far right is less visible to drivers emerging from driveways and side streets and to oncoming drivers making left turns. A cyclist may leave the right-most side of the roadway when (1) moving as fast as other traffic, (2) passing another vehicle, (3) making a left turn, (4) avoiding roadside hazards, (5) where a lane is too narrow for a bicycle and another vehicle to travel safely side by side. (Moving left in such a lane helps cue an overtaking driver who might otherwise misjudge passing space.)
    • Cyclists on roadways fare best when they act and are treated as drivers of vehicles. Nationally, only about 30 percent of bicycle injuries treated in emergency rooms involve collisions with motor vehicles and fewer than one in 700 bicycle injuries is fatal. Crashes in traffic are caused by avoidable errors. In 70 percent of police-reported bicycle-motor vehicle crashes, the cyclists involved had violated traffic rules; in about 45 percent, motorists had violated the rules. Cyclists riding on a sidewalk or other multi-use path increases risk for the cyclists and motorist who often do not expect to encounter bicycles entering the roadway at an intersection with a sidewalk or path. Studies validate that cyclists are 2.8 times safer on the road than on a multi-use path.

What to Enforce

In a national study*, the following violations were identified as common contributing factors in bicycle- motor vehicle crashes.

  • Cyclist

    • Riding against traffic on roadway 15%
    • Failure to yield, entering roadway midblock 12%
    • Failure to yield at stop or yield sign 10%
    • Cycling at night without lights 10%
    • Failure to yield, signalized or uncontrolled intersection 7%

  • Motorist

    • Failure to yield at stop or yield sign 10%
    • Failure to yield, entering roadway from driveway 7%
    • Failure to yield, turning left in front of oncoming cyclist 6%
    • Failure to yield, signalized or uncontrolled intersection 4%
    • Right turn in front of cyclist (improper turning) 4%

*W.W. Hunter, W.E. Pein, and J.C. Stutts, Bicycle Crash Types: A 1990's Informational Guide, Report No. FHWA- RD-96-104, Federal Highway Administration, 1997.

Uniform traffic control synopsis

For purposes of reducing high-crash-risk behaviors, the most important sections of the South Carolina Code of Laws concerning bicycles are listed below:

  • Legal status of cyclist

    • SECTION 56-5-160. Bicycle. Every device propelled by human power upon which any person may ride, having two tandem wheels, is a "bicycle".
    • SECTION 56-5-3410. Applicability of regulations to bicycles. These regulations applicable to bicycles shall apply whenever a bicycle is operated upon any highway or upon any path set aside for the exclusive use of bicycles, subject to those exceptions stated herein.
    • SECTION 56-5-3420. Rights and duties of bicyclists generally. Every person riding a bicycle upon a roadway shall be granted all of the rights and shall be subject to all of the duties applicable to the driver of a vehicle by this chapter, except as to special regulations in this article and except as to those provisions of this chapter which by their nature can have no application.
    • SECTION 56-5-3430. Riding on roadways and bicycle paths. Every person operating a bicycle upon a roadway shall ride as near to the right side of the roadway as practicable, exercising due care when passing a standing vehicle or one proceeding in the same direction. Persons riding bicycles upon a roadway shall not ride more than two abreast except on paths or parts of roadways set aside for the exclusive use of bicycles.
    • SECTION 56-5-3500. Violation of article is a misdemeanor. It is a misdemeanor for any person to do any act forbidden or fail to perform any act required in this article. Equipment and passengers
    • SECTION 56-5-3440. Manner of riding bicycles; number of persons, which may be carried. A person propelling a bicycle shall not ride other than upon or astride a permanent and regular seat attached thereto. No bicycle shall be used to carry more persons at one time than the number for which it is designed and equipped.
    • SECTION 56-5-3450. Clinging to vehicles prohibited. No person riding upon any bicycle, coaster, roller skates, sled or toy vehicle shall attach it or them or himself to any vehicle upon a roadway.
    • SECTION 56-5-3460. Carrying articles. No person operating a bicycle shall carry any package, bundle or article which prevents the rider from keeping at least one hand upon the handle bars.
    • SECTION 56-5-3470. Lamps and reflectors on bicycle. Every bicycle when in use at nighttime shall be equipped with a lamp on the front which shall emit a white light visible from a distance of at least five hundred feet to the front and with a red reflector on the rear which shall be visible from all distances from fifty feet to three hundred feet to the rear when directly in front of the lawful upper beams of head lamps on a motor vehicle. A lamp emitting a red light visible from a distance of five hundred feet to the rear may be used in addition to the red reflector.
    • SECTION 56-5-3490. Brake on bicycle. Every bicycle shall be equipped with a brake which will enable the operator to make the braked wheels skid on dry, level, clean pavement.
    • SECTION 56-5-3500. Violation of article is a misdemeanor. It is a misdemeanor for any person to do any act forbidden or fail to perform any act required in this article. Cyclists as drivers
    • SECTION 56-5-3410. Applicability of regulations to bicycles. These regulations applicable to bicycles shall apply whenever a bicycle is operated upon any highway or upon any path set aside for the exclusive use of bicycles, subject to those exceptions stated herein.
    • SECTION 56-5-3420. Rights and duties of bicyclists generally. Every person riding a bicycle upon a roadway shall be granted all of the rights and shall be subject to all of the duties applicable to the driver of a vehicle by this chapter, except as to special regulations in this article and except as to those provisions of this chapter which by their nature can have no application.
    • SECTION 56-5-400. Driver. Every person who drives or is in actual physical control of a vehicle is a "driver."
    • SECTION 56-5-950. Obedience to and required traffic-control devices.
      • (a) The driver of any vehicle shall obey the instructions of any official traffic-control device, applicable thereto placed or held in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, unless otherwise directed by a police officer, subject to the exceptions granted the driver of an authorized emergency vehicle in this chapter.
      • (b) No provision of this chapter for which official traffic-control devices are required shall be enforced against an alleged violator if at the time and place of the alleged violation an official device is not in proper position and sufficiently legible to be seen by an ordinarily observant person. Whenever a particular section does not state that official traffic-control devices are required, such section shall be effective even though no devices are erected or in place.
      • (c) Whenever official traffic-control devices are placed or held in position approximately conforming to the requirements of this chapter, such devices shall be presumed to have been so placed or held by the official act or direction of lawful authority unless the contrary shall be established by competent evidence.
      • (d) Any official traffic-control device placed or held pursuant to the provisions of this chapter and purporting to conform to the lawful requirements pertaining to such devices shall be presumed to comply with the requirement of this chapter, unless the contrary shall be established by competent evidence.
    • SECTION 56-5-2120. Required position and method of turning. The driver of a vehicle intending to turn shall do so as follows:
      • (a) Right turns. Both the approach for a right turn and a right turn shall be made as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway.
      • (b) Left turns. The driver of a vehicle intending to turn left shall approach the turn in the extreme left-hand lane lawfully available to traffic moving in the direction of travel of such vehicle. Whenever practicable the left turn shall be made to the left of the center of the intersection so as to leave the intersection or other location in the extreme left-hand lane lawfully available to traffic moving in the same direction as the vehicle on the roadway being entered.
    • SECTION 56-5-2150. Turning movements and required signals.
      • (a) No person shall turn a vehicle or move right or left upon a roadway unless and until such movement can be made with reasonable safety nor without giving an appropriate signal as provided for in this section.
      • (b) A signal of intention to turn or move right or left when required shall be given continuously during not less than the last one hundred feet traveled by the vehicle before turning.
      • (c) No person shall stop or suddenly decrease the speed of a vehicle without first giving an appropriate signal in the manner provided herein to the driver of any vehicle immediately to the rear when there is opportunity to give such signal.
    • SECTION 56-5-2310. Vehicles approaching or entering intersection.
      • (a) When two vehicles approach or enter an intersection from different highways at approximately the same time, the driver of the vehicle on the left shall yield the right-of-way to the vehicle on the right.
      • (b) The right-of-way rule in subsection (a) is modified at through highways and as otherwise provided in this chapter.
    • SECTION 56-5-2320. Vehicle turning left. The driver of a vehicle intending to turn to the left within an intersection or into an alley, private road or driveway shall yield the right-of-way to any vehicle approaching from the opposite direction which is within the intersection or so close thereto as to constitute an immediate hazard.
    • SECTION 56-5-2330. Stop signs and yield signs.
      • (a) Preferential right-of-way may be indicated by stop signs or yield signs as authorized by the Department of Transportation or local authorities.
      • (b) Except when directed to proceed by a police officer, every driver of a vehicle approaching a stop sign shall stop at a clearly marked stop line but, if none, before entering the crosswalk on the near side of the intersection or, if none, then at the point nearest the intersecting roadway where the driver has a view of approaching traffic on the intersecting roadway before entering it. After having stopped, the driver shall yield the right-of-way to any vehicle in the intersection or approaching on another roadway so closely as to constitute an immediate hazard during the time when such driver is moving across or within the intersection or junction of roadways.
    • BICYCLE HELMET [§316.2065(3)(d,e)]
      • A bicycle rider or passenger under 16 years of age must wear a bicycle helmet that:
        • -is properly fitted;
        • -is fastened securely;
        • -meets a nationally recognized standard.
      • Under federal law, bicycle helmets are required to meet the standards of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Bicycle helmets, properly fitted and secured, have been found effective at reducing the incidence and severity of head, brain and upper facial injury. (Head injuries account for about one third of the hospital emergency room visits of injured cyclists.)
      • Use of helmets by adult role models promotes use among youth. Agencies should consider rewarding children who comply with this section, as well as warning those who don't.
    • HEADSET NOT TO BE WORN [§316.304] A cyclist may not wear a headset, headphone or listening device, other than a hearing aid, while riding. (Loud headphones can damage hearing and shut out the outside world. However, no cyclist should rely on hearing before turning or changing lane position.)
    • POSITION ON ROADWAY [§316.2065(5)] A cyclist on a roadway who is not traveling as fast as the "normal speed of traffic" must ride as close as practicable to the right hand curb or edge of the roadway, except in the following situations:
      • -when passing another vehicle;
      • -when making a left turn (see "Method of turning at intersections" below);
      • -when reasonably necessary to avoid conditions including, but not limited to, a fixed or moving object, parked or moving vehicle, pedestrian, animal, or surface hazard;
      • -when a lane is too narrow for a bicycle and another vehicle to travel safely side by side.

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