Safety

Group biking downtown

Biking Safely in Boise

The best experience you can have while riding your bike will be a safe experience. The City of Boise wants to ensure that every bike rider on the road keeps themselves and others safe.

Gear

Helmet

Wearing a helmet is one of the best ways to protect yourself from head injuries when riding a bicycle. It is important that both adults and children wear a properly fitted helmet each and every time they ride a bicycle.

For a comprehensive list of helmet sizes according to manufacturers, visit Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute.

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Bike

Ensuring your bike is in proper working order, and performing routine maintenance, are important steps in being a safe cyclist. Before hitting the road or the trail, you should always perform this simple check:

  1. AIR: Check tire pressure. Look for damage to the sidewalls.
  2. BRAKES: Check pad wear and adjustment, cable and housing, brake release and brake function.
  3. CRANKS, CHAIN and CASSETTE: Check cranks, chain and cassette.
  4. QUICK RELEASE: Check quick release levers which hold the wheels to the bicycle.
  5. FINAL CHECKOUT RIDE: Take a short ride to check that brakes work and that the bicycle shifts properly and listen for rattles.
Lights and Reflective Clothing

As a bicyclist, you need to ensure that you are visible to vehicles, pedestrians and others when riding. According to Boise City Code, "When in use at nighttime, a red reflector on the rear visible from a distance of three hundred feet (300') when directly in front of lawful upper beams of a motor vehicle, and a forward-facing white light attached either to the bicycle, E-bike or the operator that is visible from a distance of at least five hundred feet (500') in front of the bicycle or an E-bike. A bicycle or E-bike shall be equipped with a front-facing white or yellow reflector when the operator uses a generator powered light that is unlit when the bicycle or the E-bike is stopped." 

Lock

It is important to remember to lock your bike. We suggest using a U-Lock instead of a cable lock.

Methods

  1. Use the U-lock to lock the frame and tire to the bike rack.
  2. Secure the quick release front wheel alongside the frame and rear wheel.

Tips for Riding

As a cyclist, you need to be informed of the rules of the road and take steps to ensure your safety. Here are some things to be aware of when you take off on two wheels.

Predictability

  • Use hand signals, use bike lights, obey traffic laws
  • Never assume other people’s actions or reactions, expect the unexpected
  • Communicate your intentions
  • Expect varied road conditions

Where to Ride

  • Ride as far right as practicable. Cyclists should ride with the flow of traffic, not against it.
  • Ride in a place where you can see and be seen (not in a driver’s blind spot).
  • Ride at least 3 feet away from parked cars.

Other Rules to Remember

  • When on the road, cyclist should act as a car. When on the sidewalk, cyclist should act as a pedestrian.
  • Pedestrians have the right of way on the Greenbelt
  • On the Greenbelt, cyclist have to communicate their intent to pass either verbally or with a bell.
  • The rules for E-bikes are the same as the rules for cyclists.
  • Bike riders should look for driver turn signals and avoid driver's blind spots. Bike rider should pass on the left to allow the driver to merge into the bike lane to make the turn.
  • Always position yourself in the right side of the lane in which you wish to travel.

E-Bikes

According to city code, E-bikes with a motor that has a power output of no more than 750 watts and a top speed of 20 miles per hour (typically Class 1 and Class 2 E-bikes) are allowed:

  • On streets in the City of Boise
  • On sidewalks and crosswalks in the City of Boise
  • In bike lanes throughout the City of Boise
  • On the 25 miles of Greenbelt paths in the City of Boise

E-bikes that can reach or exceed speeds of 28 miles per hour (Class 3) are not allowed on the Greenbelt, on sidewalks, in crosswalks or in bike lanes throughout the city under the ordinance.

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