
Top 6 Road Fines for Cyclists in Ontario
When you ride your bike, you are considered to be a “vehicle” and, like all vehicles, you are governed by the Highway Traffic Act (“HTA”). However, you may not know that there are a few laws in the HTA that only apply to cyclists. Some of these laws carry significant fines for cyclists. Below is a quick breakdown of the laws and the fines they carry.
- Lights and Reflective material (Section 62)
- Required to have lights on when it is dark or where there is poor visibility.
- The front-facing light must be white, and the rear-facing light must be red.
- Also required to have white reflective material on the front and red reflective material on the back (i.e. on your person).
- Failure to have working lights carries an $85.00
- Working breaks (Section 64)
- Brakes must be in good working order.
- If your brakes don’t work, you could be facing an $85.00
- Horn/Alarm (Section 75)
- Every bike must be equipped with an “alarm bell, gong or horn” that is in good working order.
- The horn must be sounded to notify pedestrians of your approach.
- If your bike does not have a horn, you could be hit with an $85.00
- Pedestrian crossovers (overhead signs and pavement markings) (Section 140)
- When a pedestrian is crossing the road in a crossover, cyclists must stop and allow pedestrians to completely cross the road before proceeding.
- Failure to do so can lead to a $300.00 fine, which increases to $600.00 if the crossover is in a community safety zone.
- Cyclists are not permitted to ride their bikes across the road within the crossover, which can lead to an $85.00
- Turn Signals (Section 142)
- Cyclists must signal their turns. Cyclists are permitted to signal a right turn by extending their left arm up or by extending their right arm out horizontally.
- If you don’t signal, you could be looking at an $85.00
- Walking your bike along a road (Section 179)
- Cyclists must walk on the left side of the road facing oncoming traffic (unless it would be unsafe to cross the road).
- Walking on the wrong side could cost you $35.00.
There are lots of other provisions of the HTA that apply to cyclists, and these rules can often be confusing. If you are a cyclist who was injured in a collision, but was charged with one of these offences, you might be wondering if you still have a case. Consider speaking with a cyclist lawyer to see what your options are.
My next blog will focus on the rules of law when it comes to helmet wearing in Ontario