MANITOBA HIGHWAY SAFETY ACT

DIVISION IV

BICYCLES, POWER-ASSISTED BICYCLES AND RECREATIONAL EQUIPMENT

(cliquez sur un nombre ci-dessous pour la version française)

General rules: bicycles and power-assisted bicycles

145(1)      Except as otherwise provided in subsections (5) and (6), a person operating a bicycle or power-assisted bicycle on a highway or bicycle facility has the same rights and duties as a person driving a motor vehicle on a highway and shall obey all signs and traffic control devices, and all directions of a peace officer.

Minimum operator age: power-assisted bicycles

145(2)      No person shall operate a power-assisted bicycle on a highway or bicycle facility unless he or she is 14 years of age or older.

Owner must not allow underage operator

145(3)      The owner of a power-assisted bicycle shall not allow a person under the age of 14 years to operate it.

Helmet required: power-assisted bicycles

145(4)      No person shall ride on or operate a power-assisted bicycle on a highway or bicycle facility unless he or she is wearing a properly fitted and fastened protective helmet.

Operation next to curb

145(5)      A person operating a bicycle or power-assisted bicycle on a highway shall operate it

(a) as closely as practicable to the right-hand edge or curb of the roadway, unless the highway is designated for traffic in one direction and has three or more traffic lanes; or

(b) as closely as practicable to the right- or left-hand edge or curb of the roadway, if the highway is designated for traffic in one direction and has three or more traffic lanes.

Operation in single file

145(6)      No person shall operate a bicycle or power-assisted bicycle on a highway beside a moped, mobility vehicle, bicycle or power-assisted bicycle that is operating in the same traffic lane.

Exception to subsections (5) and (6)

145(7)      Subsections (5) and (6) do not apply when the person is

(a) making or attempting to make a turn on the highway; or

(b) overtaking or passing a moped, mobility vehicle, bicycle or power-assisted bicycle.

Bicycles on sidewalks

145(8)       Subject to subsection (9), no person shall operate on a sidewalk a bicycle with a rear wheel the diameter of which exceeds 410 mm.

Exception to subsection (8)

145(9)      Subsection (8) does not apply to a sidewalk that is marked by a traffic control device permitting the operation of a bicycle on the sidewalk.

S.M. 1989-90, c. 56, s. 14 to 16; S.M. 1996, c. 26, s. 15; S.M. 2004, c. 30, s. 19.

Attachment to moving vehicles prohibited

145.1(1)    No person operating, using or riding on recreational equipment or a motorcycle, moped, bicycle or power-assisted bicycle on a highway shall

(a) take hold or keep hold of a moving vehicle;

(b) attach himself or herself to a moving vehicle;

(c) cause or permit any other person to attach him or her to a moving vehicle; or

(d) cause or permit the recreational equipment, motorcycle, moped, bicycle or power-assisted bicycle to be attached to or towed by a moving vehicle.

Attaching persons to moving vehicles prohibited

145.1(2)    No person shall

(a) take hold or keep hold of, or attach himself or herself to, the exterior of a moving vehicle on a highway; or

(b) permit himself or herself to be towed by a moving vehicle on a highway.

Illegal towing by vehicles

145.1(3)    The driver or operator of a moving vehicle on a highway shall not

(a) cause or permit a person to take hold or keep hold of, or to attach himself or herself to, the exterior of the vehicle;

(b) attach a person to, or cause a person to be attached to, the exterior of the vehicle;

(c) cause or permit a person to be towed by the vehicle; or

(d) cause or permit recreational equipment or a motorcycle, moped, bicycle or power-assisted bicycle, or any other thing that is not designed, intended, and equipped for the purpose, to be attached to, or towed by, the vehicle.

S.M. 2004, c. 30, s. 19.

Riding improperly on vehicles

146(1)      No person while riding on a vehicle on a highway shall ride upon any portion thereof not designed or intended for the use of passengers.

Where subsec. (1) not applicable

146(2)       Subsection (1) does not apply to a person necessarily engaged in the discharge of a duty or to a person lawfully riding

(a) on a truck; or

(b) on a horse-drawn vehicle, in a space intended for the carriage of goods.

Prohibition: too many riders

147(1)      No person shall do the following on a highway:

(a) operate a bicycle or power-assisted bicycle with more persons on it than it was designed or constructed by its manufacturer to carry; or

(b) ride, or permit himself or herself to be carried, on a bicycle or power-assisted bicycle being operated by another person, if he or she is riding or being carried on a part of it that

(i) was designed and intended by its manufacturer to carry only its operator, or

(ii) was not designed or intended by its manufacturer to carry a person.

Exception to application of subsection (1)

147(2)      When a bicycle or power-assisted bicycle carries its operator and a child, subsection (1) does not apply to the operator or the child if

(a) the child is

(i) under the age of six years,

(ii) on a seat designed for carrying infants on bicycles or power-assisted bicycles, and

(iii) wearing a properly fitted and fastened protective helmet;

(b) the operator is 16 years of age or older;

(c) the seat is

(i) firmly attached to the vehicle behind the regular seat, as far forward and in as low a position as is practicable, and

(ii) equipped with a seat belt which is fastened around the child at all times when the vehicle is in motion; and

(d) the seat or vehicle is equipped with a shield to prevent any part of the child's body or clothing from coming into contact with any of the vehicle's moving parts.

Carrying large objects forbidden

147(3)      No person shall carry on a bicycle or power-assisted bicycle, or on his or her person while operating or riding on a bicycle or power-assisted bicycle, any object that is of such a size, weight or shape, or is so placed, that it may interfere with the proper operation and control of the vehicle by its operator.

S.M. 1989-90, c. 56, s. 17 and 18; S.M. 2004, c. 30, s.20.

148         Repealed.

S.M. 1987-88, c. 44, s. 11.

Lamps and reflectors on bicycles and power-assisted bicycles

149(1)      Subject to subsection (3), a bicycle or power-assisted bicycle shall be equipped with

(a) a headlamp at the front that casts a white light; and

(b) a lamp or reflector at the back that casts a red or amber light or reflection and has a surface area of not less than 25 cm².

Type of lamps and reflectors required

149(2)      The lamps and reflectors required by subsection (1) shall be of such a kind and so constructed that, in normal weather conditions,

(a) the headlamp casts a light that is visible from a distance of 90 m in front of the vehicle; and

(b) the rear lamp casts or the reflector reflects a light that is visible from a distance of 60 m behind the vehicle.

Limitation on application of subsection (1)

149(3)      Subsection (1) applies only if the bicycle or power-assisted bicycle is on a highway or bicycle facility at a time when subsection 35(11) or a regulation under this Act requires lamps on vehicles to be lighted.

S.M. 1989-90, c. 56, s. 19 and 20; S.M. 2004, c. 30, s. 21.

Other required equipment

150(1)      No person shall operate a bicycle or power-assisted bicycle on a highway or bicycle facility, or cause or permit one to be operated there, unless it is equipped as required by this Act and the regulations.

Inspection

150(2)      A peace officer may

(a) at any time stop and inspect, or cause to be inspected, any equipment on a bicycle or power-assisted bicycle on a highway or bicycle facility; and

(b) if the equipment does not comply with this Act or the regulations, require the operator to have the equipment made to comply.

Operator must comply

150(3)      The operator shall not operate the bicycle or power-assisted bicycle again until he or she has complied with the peace officer's requirements.

Duty of operator to provide assistance

150(4)      The operator of a bicycle or power-assisted bicycle that is being inspected shall provide any reasonable assistance and information that the peace officer requests.

Prohibited highways and bicycle facilities

150(5)      No person shall operate a bicycle or power-assisted bicycle, or cause or permit one to be operated,

(a) on any part of a highway or bicycle facility at a time when the operation is prohibited by the regulations; or

(b) on any part of a highway or bicycle facility on which the operation is prohibited by the regulations.

S.M. 1989-90, c. 56, s. 21; S.M. 2004, c. 30, s. 21.

Defacing identification marks on bicycles prohibited

151(1)      No person shall deface, obliterate, alter, or render illegible the manufacturer's serial identification number or a municipality's identification mark or number on any bicycle.

Prohibition of sale of bicycles bearing identification defaced

151(2)      No person shall buy or sell a bicycle on which any such mark or number has been defaced, obliterated, altered or rendered illegible, or which has not clearly and legibly stamped thereon at least the manufacturer's number or a municipality's mark and number.

Impoundment of bicycles having defaced identification marks

151(3)      Any peace officer who, anywhere in the province, finds a bicycle without either the manufacturer's number or a municipality's identification mark and number plainly stamped thereon, or on which any such mark or number has been defaced, obliterated, altered, or rendered illegible, shall seize the bicycle and bring it before a magistrate who shall thereupon issue a summons addressed to the person in whose apparent possession the bicycle was at the time of seizure commanding him, at the time and place therein named, to show cause why it should not be confiscated.

Confiscation of bicycle

151(4)      Upon the matter being heard, the magistrate shall make an order that the bicycle be confiscated to the municipality in which it was seized unless he is satisfied

(a) that no breach of this Act has been committed in respect of the bicycle; or

(b) that the person summoned acquired the bicycle in good faith and has had possession thereof for at least three years without knowledge of any breach of this Act with respect thereto;

in either of which cases the bicycle shall be restored to the person in whose apparent possession it was at the time of the seizure.

Order for payment of cost to owner of confiscated bicycle

151(5)      Where a bicycle is confiscated under subsection (4), and the magistrate is satisfied that the person in whose apparent possession it was at the time of seizure acquired it in good faith and without knowledge of any breach of this Act in respect thereto, he may, on application by that person, issue a summons addressed to the person from whom the applicant alleges that he purchased it, commanding him, at the time and place named in the summons, to show cause, why an order should not be made requiring him to repay to the applicant the purchase price of the bicycle or such smaller amount as the magistrate may fix, having regard to the amount of use of the bicycle which the applicant has had and the age and condition thereof.

Order for payment

151(6)       Upon the hearing of a matter arising under subsection (5), the magistrate may by an order, separate from, and subsequent to, any conviction or order of confiscation, adjudge that the person who sold the bicycle to the applicant shall repay to the applicant the purchase price thereof or such smaller amount as the magistrate may fix, having regard to the amount of use of the bicycle which the applicant has had and the age and condition thereof.