NYC Bike Rules for Drivers

NYC Bike Rules for Drivers is a mini-zine that demystifies the behavior of law-abiding bicyclists and helps drivers better understand what to expect when sharing the road. Hand a copy to a driver who complains about people biking through red lights even though they're legally crossing with the walk signal!

A handful of NYC Bike Rules for Drivers mini-zines

All text and illustrations in the mini-zine are my own. Thank you to Matt Denys for help proofreading.

Anything out of date? Suggestions for additional content to include? Email me at nycdrivers@lizdenys.com.

License

This zine is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. You may print, copy, and distribute this zine for noncommercial purposes in its unadapted form that maintains credit to me. Gas stations, car dealerships, auto repair shops, rental car offices, parking lots, book shops, restaurants, coffee shops, and other commercial establishments are welcome to give out these zines, too - as long as the zine itself is free!

Download NYC Bike Rules for Drivers

Once you print this mini-zine, you'll need to fold it.

Below is the web version of the zine:

NYC Bike Rules for Drivers has a cover that parodies the style of the "for Dummies" series. The angular cartoon character says, "Essential knowledge for both in-state and out-of-state drivers!" by Liz Denys

This zine was last updated on October 21, 2025. While I hope to keep this zine up-to-date over time, it's important to note that this release reflects a specific snapshot in time of bike laws in NYC.

Streets aren't just for cars; they're for bicyclists, too.

People over 12 can't bike on the sidewalk. You should expect to share the road with people biking and learn to do so safely - don't scream "get off the road!" or hurl threats at people biking.

If you want to think less about how to safely share the road with people on bikes, seek out streets with bike lanes - especially streets with protected bike lanes that physically separate bicyclists from cars and trucks.

Bicyclists must use bike lanes when they aren't blocked and they're not turning; this makes bicyclists more predictable. Remember: don't block bike lanes, not even for "just a minute!"

NYC DOT's bike map: https://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/bicyclists/bikemaps.shtml

You'll notice there still are lots of areas without protected bike lanes. Advocate for a dense network of protected bike lanes to better organize the road for everyone!

Bicyclists must ride in the same direction as traffic. On a multi-lane street without bike lanes, people biking must ride in the right lane. On narrow, single-lane one-way streets, people can bike on either side of the street.

Two people bicycling side by side in the rightmost lane of traffic on a street without bike lanes

Two people can bike side by side.

Remember: when bicyclists are turning, they'll need to use other parts of the street.

If someone bikes too close to parked cars, someone opening one of those parked car doors could hit them. A bicyclist keeping at least a car door width of distance from parked cars is positioning themself more safely.

Also note that bicyclists position themselves a few feet from parked cars to avoid getting hit by a car door opening suddenly.

If you can't pass a bicyclist safely, don't. If you can't turn without cutting off a bicyclist, wait.

Don't want to "get stuck" behind someone biking? Advocate for more protected bike lanes.

Bicyclists follow different rules at intersections.

People riding bikes must follow bike signals. If there aren't bike signals, they must follow pedestrian signals. Often, bicyclists may go when your light is red!

When there's no bike signal present, the traffic light is red, and the pedestrian signal indicates walk, bicyclists may proceed but cars can't go.

Giving bicyclists a headstart helps drivers see them.

Bike lanes typically don't have stop lines to set them back - this improves visibility for everyone!

The road is designed without a stop line in the bike lane, so bicyclists can stop all the way up to the crosswalk. There's also a turn box in front of the stop line for bicyclists to make turns across the vehicular travel lanes. Cars stopped fully behind the stop line keep the bike box open for bicyclsts waiting to turn, but cars stopped ahead of the stop line block the bike box and get in the way of turning bicyclists.

P.S. Don't block that box in front of the stop line - it gives turning cyclists a safe place to start from. Plus, traffic signals won't switch to green any faster if you inch forward, so wait in the right place and keep everyone safe!

Finally, remember, if you crash your car into a bicyclist, you could literally kill them.

"But but but they were breaking a rule" likely won't calm your conscience after a crash, and nobody should have to pay for a mistake with their life.

Always drive safely.

NYC DOT's summary of bike rules: https://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/bicyclerules-english.pdf

If you enjoyed NYC Bike Rules for Drivers, you may also want to check out my zine Bike Brooklyn! or my journal entries about biking, especially Things I've learned about biking for transportation in NYC and Some useful 311 requests regarding bike infrastructure in NYC.