Summer holidays have begun, and children and adults alike will be heading outside to enjoy the great outdoors to take part in activities such as riding their bikes.
Everyone should be aware of the rules whether they’re cycling, driving a car, walking, or jogging.
Unlike Calgary and Edmonton which have bylaws in place to prohibit cyclists from using sidewalks, Fort McMurray’s Roads and Transportation Bylaw (Section 15.07) allows cyclists to use sidewalks, footpaths, and walkways.
Cyclists may not interfere with a pedestrian lawfully using the sidewalk, footpath, or walkway and shall at all times obey all Traffic Control Devices.
Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo’s (RMWB) Parks and Recreation Bylaw states that anyone riding a Self Propelled Vehicle (propelled by human power) on any trail must always be in control of their movement, yield the right-of-way to all other users, ride to the right-hand side of the trail, equip brakes a bell or horn, and a head lamp and tail lamp.
The Bylaw also states that no person operating a self-propelled vehicle ride to the side of another self-propelled vehicle while traveling in the same direction unless passing and must not carry more persons than what it was designed for.
All riders and passengers must wear a properly secured safety helmet.
Wood Buffalo RCMP state that a cyclist may use crosswalks like a pedestrian, however, they must get off their bike and walk it across. Otherwise, they are treated like a vehicle.
According to the provincial website, the penalty for a cyclist failing to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk is an $810 fine.
