Top 10 Cycling Prohibitions
Cycling is good for the environment as well as for the body. As a result, one would assume that the relaxed pastime of cycling would be allowed anywhere and at any time. Not quite, because around the world, there are a few curious – and hard to imagine – restrictions.
#10 Direct Left Turns Not Allowed
A quick turn to the left – that’s not allowed in Denmark. Direct left turns by bicycle at intersections are prohibited. If you still don’t want to always take a detour at the right first, drive straight over the crossroads, keep right and take the first left, if traffic allows. Even with traffic lights. To make road users aware of your approaching stop, raise one arm.
#9 One- and Two-Digit National Roads
Motorways and trunk roads are biker free. This is understandable, due to the high differences in speed. In Hungary, however, a bicycle ban often applies to national roads. The places where prohibition signs are put seems to be arbitrary. This is a huge problem for cyclists, since there are often no alternatives. The Allgemeine Deutsche Fahrrad Club [General German Bicycle Club] has recommended that one- and two-digit trunk roads (such as M1 and M10) generally be avoided.
#8 No Women on Bicycles
Until 2013, a woman didn’t have it easy in Saudi Arabia if she was a velophile. It was simply prohibited for females to ride bicycles. That has since changed: now, women are allowed to ride bicycles. Only in recreational areas, though, unless accompanied by a male relative and in compliance with the dress code. This clothing is not exactly functional: a headscarf and abaya – a coat-like garment that goes down to the feet. In North Korea, the ban on women’s cycling was lifted in 2012.
Image © Otto Kristensen (CC BY-SA 2.0) / Flickr
#7 to School, but Not by Bicycle
Actually, a person should be happy if children can go to school by bike. A number of schools in the UK and the USA saw this differently in 2009. They prohibited their students from even appearing with their bicycles. Particularly well-known cases are those of Adam Marino in Saratoga Springs, USA and Sam O’Shea in Portsmouth, Great Britain. Adam’s mother didn’t give up, though, and accompanied her son to school by bike. And at 14 years of age, Sam was the youngest competitor at the Abu Dhabi Triathlon.
#6 “Right Before Left” Rule Not for Bicyclists
Right of way is a common regulation instrument for transportation in many countries. We have been indoctrinated in school with the “right before left” rule. It’s the same in Portugal. But not for bicyclists. The motorised traffic always has priority, whether from the right or left. Bicyclists can only resort to movement according to the “stop-and-go” principle.
#5 Riding Freehand Prohibited
Section 68 paragraph 3 of the Austrian road traffic regulations: “It is forbidden to ride a bicycle freehand or to remove one’s feet from the pedals during the trip”. The police write up a fine of 14 Euro if a cyclist’s hands are not on his handlebars. Freestyle at the price of a lunch. The law is not considered fair among Austrian cyclists. The reason: most say it’s common sense to distinguish between the situations in which they can let go of their handlebars safely and when they can’t.
#4 Bicycle-Free Island
“On the island of Helgoland, motor traffic and cycling are forbidden,” says Section 50 of the German Road Traffic Regulations. In fact, bicycles are taboo for adults on the 1.7-square-kilometre island. Children under 6 years of age are allowed to ride their bikes all year, in order to learn how. Children up to 14 years of age, however, may only ride their bikes from 1 October to 1 April outside the tourist crowds in order to get to school. Exemptions only exist for rescue workers, police, fire and customs officers. The prohibition is justified by streets which are said to be too narrow and the flood of prohibition signs which otherwise have to be posted. A popular alternative on the North Sea island: scooters.
#3 Bicyclist-Unfriendly City
The mini-city Black Hawk in Colorado/USA took a radical step in 2010: a bicycle ban on almost every street in the city. The reason for this was said to be the increased betting limit at the local casino (from 5 to 100 dollars), which caused a sharp increase in coaches. The mayor and the government of the city, which has approximately 100 residents, no longer saw any room for bicyclists, according to a report by the Los Angeles Times. Since the roads are well-known cycling routes through the Rocky Mountains, the prohibition has been challenged by cycling clubs and removed by the Colorado Supreme Court in 2013.
#2 Cycling Prohibition in the City Centre
What should you do when traffic is out of control? Exactly: prohibit bicycling. The city government in Kolkata, India thought that was a clever solution. In 2008, 36 streets were included in the cycling prohibition, a number which grew to 174 in the summer of 2014 (nearly all of downtown). From then on, rickshaw and bicycle riders could only ride outside of business hours. The climate has thanked Calcutta with one of the highest fine dust pollution levels worldwide, which is slowly turning the famous Victoria Memorial yellow.
#1 No Bicycles in the Swimming Pool
Baldwin Park, a city in California/USA with 75,000-residents, prohibits riding a bicycle in swimming pools. Rich Smith failed in his attempt to break this law and peeled three oranges in his hotel room instead – also illegal under California law.
Featured image© rand22 via Stockphoto
