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.

1. 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

2. Working breaks (Section 64)
   • Brakes must be in good working order.
   • If your brakes don’t work, you could be facing an $85.00

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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