Legal Resources

• The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition’s Bike Law 101 page.

• The California Driver's Handbook, which contains laws for all users of the road

• The League of American Bicyclist’s page on Bike Laws.

• The California Bicycle Coalition’s page on California Bicycle Laws.

• San Mateo County's cycling safety brochure that represents the Vehicle Code and good practice.

Crash Help and Legal Resources:

Have you been involved in a collision with a car? Got a ticket? What resources do you have? Who can help? If you have been involved in a crash with a car or on your own, you have all the same rights as a motorist would.

What to do immediately after a collision:

• Take a deep breath and regain your calm. You’ll be full of adrenaline, but check yourself for injuries & seek medical help if you have any doubts.

• If you suffered any blows to your body or head, make sure you are checked by a medical professional because internal injuries can be very are hard to detect.

• Call 911 to get the police to come.

• Tell the driver to stay. If they won’t, get a description of car and the license plate. Take pictures of car, license plate, and the driver's license if you can.

• Get the name and contact information of witnesses. Ask them to stay until the police come if they can.

• Exercise your right against self-incrimination; don’t tell anyone the collision was your fault.

• Remain at the scene until police arrive and request the officer files a report and request a copy.

• Take pictures of everything that is relevant: your bike, your injuries (if any), the location of where the crash occurred.

• Call an attorney.

Stolen Bikes

Here are some key tips to prevent theft and deal with theft if it happens.

Before your bike is stolen:

• Be very conscious of your surroundings and where you park your bike.

  • If possible bring your bike with you (very safe)

  • Secure your bike in a bicycle locker or inside a private locked area (very safe)

  • Use bike valet services like the ones that SVBC offers (very safe)

  • Lock your bike in a community or employer bicycle room or cage (somewhat safe)

  • Lock your bike with a strong lock to a strong bike rack (somewhat safe but pieces of your bike can walk away). Please note that San Francisco, San Jose, and Stanford are high bike theft areas and even strong locks can often be cut very quickly by an angle grinder.

• Learn how to lock your bike correctly by reading this article from Bike Index or watching this video from SF Bike Coalition or taking a class from SVBC.

• Take a picture of your bike and write down a description of your bike with its make, model, serial number, and other defining attributes.

• Keep a receipt for your bike for insurance purposes.

• Contact your insurance company to find out if your bike is covered.

• Register your bike with Bike Index - it is the bike registration service most used by cities in the SF Bay Area. Cities in our area no longer require or provide registration services at the city level.

• Get your friends to register their bikes with Bike Index.

After your bike is stolen:

• File a police report.

• Contact your insurance company to find out if your bike is covered.

• Let your network know what happened to help them learn and possibly aid in recovery.

• Mark it as stolen in Bike Index so that if it is found by police or others it has a chance of getting back to you.