Westhampton Beach Village Mulls Biking Restrictions On Main Street

Riding a bike on Main Street and Jobs Lane has been banned in Southampton Village for more than 30 years. The Village of Sag Harbor banned bike riding on Main Street during the 1980s.

But despite complaints from community members and a request from Police Chief Trevor Gonce, the Village of Westhampton Beach, on the advice of attorney Stephen Angel, will not enact similar restrictions, at least not for now.

Interviewed by The Press last month, the chief said that since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s been a “huge increase” in bicyclists, walkers and joggers. The new traffic pattern on Main Street narrowed the road, making it impossible to pass bicyclists riding on Main Street. “It’s definitely a problem,” he said.

Members of the Village Board took up the issue during their July 15 work session.

“The bicycles on Main Street, we are having such an issue with,” said Mayor Maria Moore, opening the discussion. The village already has a code which prohibits riding bicycles and skateboards on the sidewalks, she noted. “We wanted to know if it’s legal to prohibit them on the street itself.”

Mr. Angel said he undertook research to determine whether there was a basis for crafting a ban. He said there is a provision in the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law that “seems to give some leeway to villages and other municipalities to control bicycles in the street, but it says ‘not inconsistent with the Vehicle and Traffic Law,’” he explained.

“It does not appear that we can completely exclude bicycles from a street where other vehicles are permitted,” the attorney advised.

There are limitations on the use of streets by bicycles, the attorney noted — they have to stay to the right, they can’t ride more than two abreast.

“You could theoretically fine people for riding three abreast, four abreast,” Mr. Angel said.

“The road is narrow, just riding single file down Main Street, the vehicles behind the bicyclists, that’s just an issue in itself, “ Chief Gonce asserted.

The police department is dealing with youths riding on Main Street and has pursued different avenues to ameliorate the problem. Juveniles have to follow vehicle and traffic laws, too, and , said the chief, “that’s a whole other issue we’re dealing with.” Police are speaking with parents and with some recent enforcement, he said “it has slowed down a bit.”

A lot of people have been riding on the sidewalk because the road is narrow.

“There’s no doubt you can prohibit people from riding bikes on the sidewalks. That’s clear,” Mr. Angel said. But, he said, “It looks like it’s not really possible to prohibit bicycles where vehicles are permitted on a public road.”

“I agree with the chief,” he continued. “I was down there on Fourth of July morning when the farmers market was open and it really is not a good place to ride your bike.”

The chief said he thought Babylon Village enacted a code to limit people riding on their streets. The pair agreed to research that further. They were having a problem with youths, as well, the chief said, and had a code allowing them to confiscate bicycles from unruly juveniles.

Lawmakers could pass a law requiring people to have village bicycle licenses, Mr. Angel said. “You can do all sorts of things like that,” he said. “I just didn’t see anything that gave the village the right to have an outright prohibition of bicycles on a public, vehicle-used road.”

He said he’d reach out to Babylon Village officials. The mayor said the board would hold off on crafting any local laws until the attorney can do more research.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 857 bicyclists were killed in traffic crashes in the United States in 2018. An arm of the United States Department of Transportation, the NHTSA notes on its website, “A large percentage of crashes can be avoided if motorists and cyclists follow the rules of the road and watch out for each other.” The administration listed inadequate separation between bicyclists and motor vehicles among the contributing factors to crashes.

Bicyclist deaths most often occur between 6 and 9 p.m. In 2017, they were 8 times higher for men than women.

Bicyclists are required to follow the same rules of the road as cars. Ride with traffic, and wear a helmet.