Regulations for Bicycle Riding on Campus

Bicycle Parking Rules | Fines

Oregon Administrative Rules 571-010-0075

Bicycle Use on Campus

Bicycle riders on the University of Oregon campus are subject to the applicable provisions of Oregon Revised Statutes, Oregon Vehicle Code, which include but are not limited to the following:

(1) Bicycle riders shall proceed cautiously at all times, even on designated bicycle lanes and on designated bicycle routes.

(2) Bicycle lanes and routes are marked on the University campus, and bicycle riders shall use such lanes when classes are in session, e.g., Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. during each academic term. Sidewalks are not bicycle lanes or routes unless so designated by signage or markings when classes are in session. Bicycle riders who fail to use designated bicycle lanes or routes during these hours are subject to citation and fine.

(3) Bicycle riders shall yield the right-of-way to pedestrians and disabled persons at all times and in all places and shall give an audible warning when overtaking a pedestrian from behind. Bicycle riders who fail to observe this section of the rule are subject to citation and fine.

(4) All bicycles shall be equipped with brakes good enough to skid on clean, dry pavement. Riders on bicycles not equipped with such brakes are subject to citation and fine.

(5) Starting one-half hour after sunset and until 1/2 hour before sunrise, all bicycles (or their riders) while in motion shall be equipped with a white light operating and visible 500 feet ahead and a red reflector visible 600 feet to the rear while on University property. Failure to display the light and reflector makes the rider subject to citation and fine.

(6) In cases of bicycle collision involving pedestrian(s), other bicycles or other vehicles, the individuals involved shall render aid as appropriate and call the Department of Public Safety for assistance. Individuals involved in such collisions shall remain at the site of the accident until released by the attending Public Safety Officer. When collisions result in injury, the filing of a written accident report by the appropriate parties is required. Failure to render aid or to file an accident report when applicable may subject the person(s) involved to citation and fine.

(7) Bicycle riders who fail to obey signs instructing them to dismount and to walk their bicycles on posted walks, lanes, or in other posted areas are subject to citation and fine. For the purposes of this rule, dismount and walk shall mean that the bicycle rider shall completely get off of the bicycle and walk along side the bicycle.

(8) Any bicycle impounded pursuant to any section of the bicycle regulations shall be stored in a secure facility designed for such purposes by the Department of Public Safety. A fee shall be charged to the owner prior to the release of any impounded bicycle. Any University official authorized to remove or impound a bicycle, and the University, shall not be liable to the owner of the bicycle for the cost of repair or replacement of any securing device. Impounded bicycles shall be held in the custody of Public Safety until all citations and fees have been paid, and, if the rightful owner is a University student or employee, the bicycle is properly registered. All bicycles that have been impounded may be claimed at the Department of Public Safety during normal business hours Monday through Friday. All bicycles held in custody for more than 90 days may be sold or otherwise disposed of by the University.

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Oregon Administrative Rules 571-010-0080

Bike Parking Rules

Bicycles shall be parked, stored or left outdoors on the University campus only in areas specifically designated by the presence of racks or other devices for the parking of bicycles or by the posting of signs designating the space or area as a "Bicycle Parking Area":

(1) Bicycles may be parked, stored or left inside University buildings only in areas specifically designed and posted for bicycle parking.

(2) Bicycles may be stored, parked or left in any area or room which has been assigned to the registered bicycle owner, e.g., office, residence hall room or student family living quarters.

(3) Parked, stored or left bicycles which create a safety hazard will be removed and impounded. All other bicycles parked, stored or left in unauthorized locations will be cited and/or secured by a chain or other restraining device. If so secured, the citation tag will describe procedure to be followed by owner to reclaim use of the bicycle. See also OAR 571-010-0090:

(a) University security officers or other personnel authorized to remove and impound bicycles shall not be liable to the owner of the securing device or the bicycle for the cost of repair or replacement of such securing device;

(b) Owners of securing devices which have been damaged during the impounding process may appeal the impound fee to the Traffic Petitions Office, c/o Department of Public Safety. See OAR 571-010-0020;

(c) Bicycles left abandoned for one month shall be subject to impoundment.

Stat. Auth.: ORS 351, ORS 352, ORS 483 & ORS 487

Stats. Implemented: ORS 814.400 et seq

Hist.: UOO 1-1983, f. & ef. 1-10-83; UOO 8-1990, f. & cert. ef. 11-6-90

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Fines

Contents

Application of vehicle laws to bicycles
Unsafe operation of bicycle on sidewalk
Failure to use bicycle lane or path; exceptions
Improper use of lanes; exceptions
Failure to signal turn; exceptions
Unlawful load on bicycle
Unlawful passengers on bicycle
Failure to use bicycle seat
Nonmotorized vehicle clinging to another vehicle
Meaning of “bicycle” and “operating or riding on a highway."
Failure to wear protective headgear
Endangering bicycle operator or passenger
Appropriate driver responses to traffic control devices
Failure to obey traffic control device
Failure to obey one-way designation  

In the State of Oregon, a person riding a bicycle has the same rights and responsibilities as a person driving a car.  

Try to apply the concept in the following quote when riding your bike on or off campus:

Cyclists fare best when they act and are treated as drivers of vehicles. -John Forester 

814.400 Application of vehicle laws to bicycles. (1) Every person riding a bicycle upon a public way is subject to the provisions applicable to and has the same rights and duties as the driver of any other vehicle concerning operating on highways, vehicle equipment and abandoned vehicles, except:

(a) Those provisions which by their very nature can have no application.

(b) When otherwise specifically provided under the vehicle code.

(2) Subject to the provisions of subsection (1) of this section:

(a) A bicycle is a vehicle for purposes of the vehicle code; and

(b) When the term “vehicle” is used the term shall be deemed to be applicable to bicycles.

(3) The provisions of the vehicle code relating to the operation of bicycles do not relieve a bicyclist or motorist from the duty to exercise due care. [1983 c.338 s.697; 1985 c.16 s.335]

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814.410 Unsafe operation of bicycle on sidewalk; $89. 
 
(1) A person commits the offense of unsafe operation of a bicycle on a sidewalk if the person does any of the following:

(a) Operates the bicycle so as to suddenly leave a curb or other place of safety and move into the path of a vehicle that is so close as to constitute an immediate hazard.

(b) Operates a bicycle upon a sidewalk and does not give an audible warning before overtaking and passing a pedestrian and does not yield the right of way to all pedestrians on the sidewalk.

(c) Operates a bicycle on a sidewalk in a careless manner that endangers or would be likely to endanger any person or property.

(d) Operates the bicycle at a speed greater than an ordinary walk when approaching or entering a crosswalk, approaching or crossing a driveway or crossing a curb cut or pedestrian ramp and a motor vehicle is approaching the crosswalk, driveway, curb cut or pedestrian ramp. 

This paragraph does not require reduced speeds for bicycles either:

(A) At places on sidewalks or other pedestrian ways other than places where the path for pedestrians or bicycle traffic approaches or crosses that for motor vehicle traffic; or

(B) When motor vehicles are not present.

(e) Operates an electric assisted bicycle on a sidewalk.

(2) Except as otherwise specifically provided by law, a bicyclist on a sidewalk or in a crosswalk has the same rights and duties as a pedestrian on a sidewalk or in a crosswalk.

(3) The offense described in this section, unsafe operation of a bicycle on a sidewalk, is a Class D traffic violation. [1983 c.338 s.699; 1985 c.16 s.337; 1997 c.400 s.7]

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814.420 Failure to use bicycle lane or path; exceptions; $89. (1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, a person commits the offense of failure to use a bicycle lane or path if the person operates a bicycle on any portion of a roadway that is not a bicycle lane or bicycle path when a bicycle lane or bicycle path is adjacent to or near the roadway.

(2) A person is not required to comply with this section unless the state or local authority with jurisdiction over the roadway finds, after public hearing, that the bicycle lane or bicycle path is suitable for safe bicycle use at reasonable rates of speed.

(3) The offense described in this section, failure to use a bicycle lane or path, is a Class D traffic violation. [1983 c.338 s.700; 1985 c.16 s.338]

814.430 Improper use of lanes; exceptions; $89. (1) A person commits the offense of improper use of lanes by a bicycle if the person is operating a bicycle on a roadway at less than the normal speed of traffic using the roadway at that time and place under the existing conditions and the person does not ride as close as practicable to the right curb or edge of the roadway.

(2) A person is not in violation of the offense under this section if the person is not operating a bicycle as close as practicable to the right curb or edge of the roadway under any of the following circumstances:

(a) When overtaking and passing another bicycle or vehicle that is proceeding in the same direction.

(b) When preparing to execute a left turn.

(c) When reasonably necessary to avoid hazardous conditions including, but not limited to, fixed or moving objects, parked or moving vehicles, bicycles, pedestrians, animals, surface hazards or other conditions that make continued operation along the right curb or edge unsafe or to avoid unsafe operation in a lane on the roadway that is too narrow for a bicycle and vehicle to travel safely side by side. Nothing in this paragraph excuses the operator of a bicycle from the requirements under ORS 811.425 or from the penalties for failure to comply with those requirements.

(d) When operating within a city as near as practicable to the left curb or edge of a roadway that is designated to allow traffic to move in only one direction along the roadway. A bicycle that is operated under this paragraph is subject to the same requirements and exceptions when operating along the left curb or edge as are applicable when a bicycle is operating along the right curb or edge of the roadway.

(e) When operating a bicycle alongside not more than one other bicycle as long as the bicycles are both being operated within a single lane and in a manner that does not impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic.

(f) When operating on a bicycle lane or bicycle path.

(3) The offense described in this section, improper use of lanes by a bicycle, is a Class D traffic violation. [1983 c.338 s.701; 1985 c.16 s.339]

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814.440 Failure to signal turn; exceptions; $89. (1) A person commits the offense of failure to signal for a bicycle turn if the person does any of the following:

(a) Stops a bicycle the person is operating without giving the appropriate hand and arm signal continuously for at least 100 feet before executing the stop.

(b) Executes a turn on a bicycle the person is operating without giving the appropriate hand and arm signal for the turn for at least 100 feet before executing the turn.

(c) Executes a turn on a bicycle the person is operating after having been stopped without giving, while stopped, the appropriate hand and arm signal for the turn.

(2) A person is not in violation of the offense under this section if the person is operating a bicycle and does not give the appropriate signal continuously for a stop or turn because circumstances require that both hands be used to safely control or operate the bicycle.

(3) The appropriate hand and arm signals for indicating turns and stops under this section are those provided for other vehicles under ORS 811.395 and 811.400.

(4) The offense described under this section, failure to signal for a bicycle turn, is a Class D traffic violation. [1983 c.338 s.703; 1985 c.16 s.341]

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814.450 Unlawful load on bicycle; $89. (1) A person commits the offense of having an unlawful load on a bicycle if the person is operating a bicycle and the person carries a package, bundle or article which prevents the person from keeping at least one hand upon the handlebar and having full control at all times.

(2) The offense described in this section, unlawful load on a bicycle, is a Class D traffic violation. [1983 c.338 s.704]

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814.460 Unlawful passengers on bicycle; $89. (1) A person commits the offense of unlawful passengers on a bicycle if the person operates a bicycle and carries more persons on the bicycle than the number for which it is designed or safely equipped.

(2) The offense described in this section, unlawful passengers on a bicycle, is a Class D traffic violation. [1983 c.338 s.705]

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814.470 Failure to use bicycle seat; $89. (1) A person commits the offense of failure to use a bicycle seat if the person is operating a bicycle and the person rides other than upon or astride a permanent and regular seat attached to the bicycle.

(2) The offense described in this section, failure to use bicycle seat, is a Class D traffic violation. [1983 c.338 s.706]

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814.480 Nonmotorized vehicle clinging to another vehicle; $89. (1) A person commits the offense of nonmotorized vehicle clinging to another vehicle if the person is riding upon or operating a bicycle, coaster, roller skates, sled or toy vehicle and the person clings to another vehicle upon a roadway or attaches that which the person is riding or operating to any other vehicle upon a roadway.

(2) The offense described in this section, nonmotorized vehicle clinging to another vehicle, is a Class D traffic violation. [1983 c.338 s.707]

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814.484 Meaning of “bicycle” and “operating or riding on a highway.” (1) For purposes of ORS 814.485, 814.486, 815.052 and 815.281, “bicycle” has the meaning given in ORS 801.150 except that:

(a) It also includes vehicles that meet the criteria specified in ORS 801.150 (1) to (4) but that have wheels less than 14 inches in diameter.

(b) It does not include tricycles designed to be ridden by children.

(2) For purposes of the offenses defined in ORS 814.485, 814.486 and 815.281 (2), a person shall not be considered to be operating or riding on a bicycle on a highway or on premises open to the public if the person is operating or riding on a three-wheeled nonmotorized vehicle on a beach while it is closed to motor vehicle traffic. [1993 c.408 ss.3a,3b]

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814.485 Failure to wear protective headgear; $25.  (1) A person commits the offense of failure of a bicycle operator or rider to wear protective headgear if the person is under 16 years of age, operates or rides on a bicycle on a highway or on premises open to the public and is not wearing protective headgear of a type approved under ORS 815.052.

(2) Exemptions from this section are as provided in ORS 814.487.

(3) The offense described in this section, failure of a bicycle operator or rider to wear protective headgear, is a traffic violation punishable by a maximum fine of $25. [1993 c.408 s.2; 1995 c.581 s.1]

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814.486 Endangering bicycle operator or passenger; $25. (1) A person commits the offense of endangering a bicycle operator or passenger if:

(a) The person is operating a bicycle on a highway or on premises open to the public and the person carries another person on the bicycle who is under 16 years of age and is not wearing protective headgear of a type approved under ORS 815.052; or

(b) The person is the parent, legal guardian or person with legal responsibility for the safety and welfare of a child under 16 years of age and the child operates or rides on a bicycle on a highway or on premises open to the public without wearing protective headgear of a type approved under ORS 815.052.

(2) Exemptions from this section are as provided in ORS 814.487.

(3) The offense described in this section, endangering a bicycle operator or passenger, is a traffic violation punishable by a maximum fine of $25. [1993 c.408 s.3; 1995 c.581 s.2]

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811.260 Appropriate driver responses to traffic control devices. This section establishes appropriate driver responses to specific traffic control devices for purposes of ORS 811.265. Authority to place traffic control devices is established under ORS 810.210. Except when acting under the direction of a police officer that contradicts this section, a driver is in violation of ORS 811.265 if the driver makes a response to traffic control devices that is not permitted under the following:

(1) Green signal. A driver facing a green light may proceed straight through or turn right or left unless a sign at that place prohibits either turn. A driver shall yield the right of way to other vehicles within the intersection at the time the green light is shown.

(2) Green arrow. A driver facing a green arrow signal light, shown alone or in combination with another signal, may cautiously enter the intersection only to make the movement indicated by such arrow or such other movement as is permitted by other signals shown at the same time.

(3) Steady circular yellow signal. A driver facing a steady circular yellow signal light is thereby warned that the related right of way is being terminated and that a red or flashing red light will be shown immediately. A driver facing the light shall stop at a clearly marked stop line, but if none, shall stop before entering the crosswalk on the near side of the intersection, or if none, then before entering the intersection. If a driver cannot stop in safety, the driver may drive cautiously through the intersection.

(4) Steady yellow arrow signal. A driver facing a steady yellow arrow signal, alone or in combination with other signal indications, is thereby warned that the related right of way is being terminated. Unless entering the intersection to make a movement permitted by another signal, a driver facing a steady yellow arrow signal shall stop at a clearly marked stop line, but if none, shall stop before entering the crosswalk on the near side of the intersection, or if none, then before entering the intersection. If a driver cannot stop in safety, the driver may drive cautiously through the intersection.

(5) Steady circular red signal. A driver facing a steady circular red signal light alone 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 before entering the intersection. The driver shall remain standing until a green light is shown except when the driver is permitted to make a turn under ORS 811.360.

(6) Steady red arrow signal. A driver facing a steady red arrow signal, alone or in combination with other signal indications, shall not enter the intersection to make the movement indicated by the red arrow signal. Unless entering the intersection to make some other movement which is permitted by another signal, a driver facing a steady red arrow signal 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 before entering the intersection. The vehicle shall remain standing until a green light is shown except when the driver is permitted to make a turn under ORS 811.360.

(7) Traffic control devices at places other than intersections. If a traffic control device that is a signal is erected and maintained at a place other than an intersection, the provisions of this section relating to signals shall be applicable. A required stop shall be made at a sign or marking on the roadway indicating where the stop shall be made, but in the absence of such sign or marking the stop shall be made at the signal.

(8) Flashing red signal. When a driver approaches a flashing red light used in a traffic control device or with a traffic sign, the driver 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. The right to proceed shall be subject to the rules applicable after making a stop at a stop sign. This subsection does not apply at railroad grade crossings. Conduct of a driver approaching a railroad grade crossing is governed by ORS 811.455.

(9) Flashing yellow signal. When a driver approaches a flashing yellow light used as a signal in a traffic control device or with a traffic sign, the driver may proceed through the intersection or past the signal only with caution. This subsection does not apply at railroad grade crossings. Conduct of a driver approaching a railroad grade crossing is governed by ORS 811.455.

(10) Lane direction control signals. When lane direction control signals are placed over the individual lanes of a highway, a person may drive a vehicle in any lane over which a green signal light is shown, but shall not enter or travel in any lane over which a red signal light is shown.

(11) Stop signs. A driver 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 stopping, the driver shall yield the right of way to any vehicle in the intersection or approaching so closely as to constitute an immediate hazard during the time when the driver is moving across or within the intersection.

(12) Yield signs. A driver approaching a yield sign shall slow the driver's vehicle to a speed reasonable for the existing conditions and if necessary for safety, shall stop at a line as required for stop signs under this section, and shall yield the right of way to any vehicles in the intersection or approaching so closely as to constitute an immediate hazard. [1983 c.338 s.609; 1989 c.539 s.1; 1997 c.507 s.6]

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811.265 Failure to obey traffic control device; $115. (1) A person commits the offense of driver failure to obey traffic control device if the person drives a vehicle and the person does any of the following:

(a) Fails to obey the directions of any traffic control device.

(b) Fails to obey any specific traffic control device described in ORS 811.260 in the manner required by that section.

(2) A person is not subject to this section if the person is doing any of the following:

(a) Following the directions of a police officer.

(b) Driving an emergency vehicle or ambulance in accordance with the privileges granted those vehicles under ORS 820.300.

(c) Properly executing a turn on a red light as authorized under ORS 811.360.

(d) Driving in a funeral procession led by a funeral lead vehicle or under the direction of the driver of a funeral escort vehicle.

(3) The offense described in this section, driver failure to obey a traffic control device, is a Class B traffic violation. [1983 c.338 s.608; 1991 c.482 s.13]

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811.270 Failure to obey one-way designation; $115. (1) A person commits the offense of failure to obey a one-way designation if the person is operating a vehicle and the person proceeds upon a roadway designated for one-way traffic in a direction other than that indicated by a traffic control device.

(2) The offense described in this section, failure to obey a one-way designation, is a Class B traffic violation. [1983 c.338 s.610]

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