Grand Rapids bike laws may change if the city council approves the proposed amendments.
There may be changes ahead for Grand Rapids bike law. A number of proposals have been presented that would update a number of ordinances regulating how bicycles may operate within the 
city. On September 8, 2015, the City Council will hear public comment on the proposed changes, addressing issues ranging from how much distance motorists must give cyclists when passing them on the road, to the type of lighting bicyclists must have on their bikes and the speeds at which bicyclists must travel on off-road trails and sidewalks.
Grand Rapids’ Commitment to Bike Safety
These proposals to amend Grand Rapids bike law were drafted in keeping with the city’s general push to become an even more bicycle-friendly city, ensuring that everyone who wants to ride a bike can do so safely. As we’ve mentioned in a previous blog post, bike safety is taken very seriously in Grand Rapids. A bicycle safety project is currently underway that will culminate in a campaign geared towards making sure cyclists and motorists alike know and understand their legal rights and obligations as they use the road.
Proposed Changes to Bike Ordinances
Some of the ordinance amendments that have been proposed concern the following issues:
- Electric bicycles: The definition of “bicycle” within the Grand Rapids ordinances would include bicycles with an “assistive electric motor of less than 750 watts.”
- Bicyclist obedience to traffic control signals: “Operators of bicycles on a public highway shall be granted all of the rights and shall conform to all of the rules herein established for the operation of motor vehicles including the direction and instructions of police officers, traffic control signals and devices applicable to vehicles.”
- Bike lighting requirements: Cyclists would be required to have adequate lighting on the bicycles – a white light that can be seen from at least 500 feet must be on the front of the bike, with a red reflector at the back that can be seen at distances ranging from 100 feet to 600 feet.
- Bicycle registration: Bicycles would no longer have to be registered in the City of Grand Rapids.
- Safe passing requirement: The proposed ordinance would require that motorists provide at least three feet of separation between their vehicle (including mirrors and other projections) and a bicyclist at all times. (We’ve advocated for a safe passing law on the state level, and the Greater Grand Rapids Bicycle Coalition and League of Michigan Bicyclists believe in providing a five foot buffer as opposed to the three foot one. Regardless, the passage of any safe passing ordinance would go a long way in protecting bicyclists in Grand Rapids.)
- Opening vehicle doors and impeding traffic: Grand Rapids motorists must ensure that they do not block or otherwise impede traffic when opening their vehicle doors: “No person shall open a door of a motor vehicle on the side facing the traveled portion of the roadway in such a manner as to interfere with vehicles, bicycles, or pedestrians lawfully proceeding on such public roadway.”
Here is a link to the proposed additions and updates of the Grand Rapids bicycle ordinances, as presented at the most recent City Council meeting. The proposals are on pages 186-198.
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