{"id":18,"date":"2012-09-19T08:10:01","date_gmt":"2012-09-19T08:10:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wabikes.org\/?page_id=18"},"modified":"2023-02-07T16:05:52","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T00:05:52","slug":"washington-bike-laws","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/index.php\/growing-bicycling\/washington-bike-laws\/","title":{"rendered":"Washington Bike Laws"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Looking for information on Legislation? Check out our\u00a0<a title=\"Legislation &amp; Statewide Issues\" href=\"\/index.php\/growing-bicycling\/legislation-statewide-issues\/\">Legislative Issues<\/a>\u00a0page.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/wabikes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/I-Bike-WA-pocket-reference.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1633 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/wabikes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/I-Bike-WA-pocket-reference-222x300.jpg\" alt=\"Washington state bike laws -- request your pocket guide from Washington Bikes\" width=\"222\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/I-Bike-WA-pocket-reference-222x300.jpg 222w, https:\/\/wabikes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/I-Bike-WA-pocket-reference.jpg 333w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 222px) 100vw, 222px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Laws<\/h2>\n<p>Everyone biking, driving, or walking needs to understand and follow the current laws and rules of the road.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Summary listing of\u00a0<a title=\"Bicycle Laws &amp; Safety Revised Code of Washington State \u2013 Bicycle-related\" href=\"\/index.php\/growing-bicycling\/washington-bike-laws\/bicycle-laws-safety-revised-code-of-washington-state-bicycle-related\/\">Washington State Bike Laws<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/2020\/09\/29\/washington-safety-stop-law-for-people-riding-bikes-goes-into-effect-oct-1\/\">The Safety Stop<\/a>: How Bikes Can Legally Treat Stop Signs as Yields when there is no traffic<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/2019\/04\/08\/break-whats-included-washington-bikes-2019-priority-legislation-vulnerable-roadway-user-vru-safe-passing-bill\/\">Vulnerable User\/Safe Passing Law<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.wsdot.wa.gov\/Bike\/Laws.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">WSDOT: Washington State Bicycling Laws<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.wsdot.wa.gov\/bike\/closed.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">State Highways Sections Closed to Bicycles<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/wabikes.org\/2018\/06\/06\/heres-need-know-washingtons-new-e-bike-law\/\">Electric Bicycles<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a style=\"line-height: 1.5em;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.wsdot.wa.gov\/Walk\/Laws.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">WSDOT: Washington State Pedestrian Laws<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.wtsc.wa.gov\/research\/laws.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Washington State Traffic Laws<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.wabikes.org\/safety\/uscode.html\">US Law on Bicycles<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bicyclinginfo.org\/enforcement\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Law Enforcement and Bicycle Safety<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Download the 2021 updated <a href=\"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/New-Bike-Law-Card-With-Ebikes.pdf\">Bike Law Pocket Guide<\/a> (pictured right).<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"helmts\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>How Do Bike Laws Get Passed?<\/h2>\n<p>Washington Bikes leads the efforts in Washington state to pass better laws for bicycling. Our <a title=\"Advocacy\" href=\"http:\/\/wabikes.org\/advocacy\/\">Advocacy page<\/a> will tell you whether we have a current Action Alert for you to contact state legislators.<\/p>\n<p>If you want to work for local ordinances such as Complete Streets or the <a title=\"Coming to a neighborhood near you: safe streets\" href=\"http:\/\/wabikes.org\/2013\/05\/17\/safe-streets\/\">Neighborhood Safe Streets Law (&#8220;20 Is Plenty&#8221;) Washington Bikes helped pass<\/a>, start with the basics in our <a title=\"Bike Advocate Toolkit\" href=\"http:\/\/wabikes.org\/advocacy\/bike-advocate-toolkit\/\">Bike Advocate Toolkit<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Helmets<\/h2>\n<p>Washington state <strong>does not<\/strong> have a statewide requirement to wear a bike helmet. Check the list linked here to know the law in local jurisdictions.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/wsdot.wa.gov\/bike\/Helmets.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Helmet Laws by Jurisdiction in Washington State<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.safekids.org\/in-your-area\/coalitions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Safe Kids USA<\/a>\u00a0(choose WA under &#8220;Find Coalitions&#8221; for a list of organizations around the state that can help with low-cost helmets)<\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Seattle-King County Public Health - Bicycle safety and bike helmets\" href=\"http:\/\/www.kingcounty.gov\/healthservices\/health\/injury\/traffic\/bicycles.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Helmets in King County<\/a>\u00a0(includes list of free\/low-cost helmet providers)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.prorider.com\/org\/p70\/Economy-Bike-Helmet\/product_info.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">prorider.com<\/a>\u00a0(bulk-order low-cost helmets)<\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Helmets-R-Us\" href=\"http:\/\/helmetsrus.net\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">helmetsrus.net<\/a> (bulk-order low-cost helmets)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a name=\"other\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Articles, Other Information<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/crash-article-by-John-Duggan-for-July.pdf\">What to do after a crash<\/a>\u00a0&#8211; By Seattle Attorney John Duggan<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Mentoring-Motorists.pdf\">Mentoring Motorists<\/a>\u00a0&#8211; By Seattle Attorney John Duggan<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a name=\"crash\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>If you&#8217;ve had a crash<\/h2>\n<p>We&#8217;re building a list of attorneys who specialize in bicycle-related legal opinions. Appearance on this list does not reflect a rating of their legal abilities&#8211;we leave that to systems that are set up for it. We list them because they specialize in Washington state bike law and they&#8217;re engaged with WA Bikes in helping work for better laws.<\/p>\n<p>This list was updated on 6\/22\/22<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<ul>\n<li>John Duggan (Seattle)<br \/>\n206\/343-1888<br \/>\n<a href=\"mailto:john@dugganbikelaw.com?subject=Found you on WA Bikes website\">john@dugganbikelaw.com<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dugganbikelaw.com\">www.dugganbikelaw.com<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Catherine Fleming (Seattle)<br \/>\n206.453.2558<br \/>\n<a href=\"mailto:cf@cfleminglaw.com?subject=Found you on WA Bikes website\">cf@cfleminglaw.com<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.seattle-injuryattorney.com\/\">www.seattle-injuryattorney.com<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Sean Kuhlmeyer (Seattle)<br \/>\n206\/695-2568<br \/>\n<a href=\"mailto:Sean@EmeraldCityBikeLawyer.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sean@EmeraldCityBikeLawyer.com<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Harvey Grad (Seattle)<br \/>\n206\/275-2923<br \/>\n<a href=\"mailto:harv@lawyerseattle.com?subject=Found you on WA Bikes website\">harv@lawyerseattle.com<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.5em;\">Bob Anderton (Seattle)<br \/>\n<\/span>206\/262-9290<br \/>\n<a href=\"mailto:bob@andertonlaw.com?subject=Found you on WA Bikes website\">bob@andertonlaw.com<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Carter Hick (Olympia)<br \/>\n360-943-7744<br \/>\n<a href=\"mailto:carter@carterhick.com?subject=Found you on WA Bikes website\">carter@carterhick.com<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Looking for information on Legislation? Check out our\u00a0Legislative Issues\u00a0page. Laws Everyone biking, driving, or walking [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":5,"menu_order":15,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-18","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Washington Bike Laws - Washington Bikes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Resources on Washington bike laws\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/index.php\/growing-bicycling\/washington-bike-laws\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Washington Bike Laws - 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