Answer
In the case you mention, for reasons which are not clear the prosecution for dangerous driving was abandoned. But it poses the question of when It’s OK to ride a motorcycle on a pavement and, more broadly, where can a motorcycle be ridden?
Contents
1. Is it legal to ride a motorbike on a pavement?
The law on riding motorbikes on pavements is clear: It is Illegal, with one exception. You may ride (or drive) a motor vehicle on the pavement for a maximum of 15 yards to get to a place of parking. The law does not actually define "a place of lawful parking", simply that it is a place where you can park - but If you leave your motorcycle parked on the pavement you are committing another offence of obstruction of the highway. Either way, you're nicked.
The difference is that the police will take an interest in you riding your motorcycle on the pavement, whereas they will not be particularly interested in you parking your motorcycle on the pavement unless you are creating an active obstruction to the highway, and even then they are unlikely to be especially Interested. The law is contained in Section 34 of the Road Traffic Act 1984.
The same rules apply if you ride a motorbike on a bridleway, public footpath or common land - again, these are all areas upon which motorised traffic does not usually pass.
A bridleway, however, is often on private land. This means the landowner can use his or her motorbike, quadbike or tractor on it, but you cannot ride your motorbike on it. So do not take the presence of motorised vehicles on a bridleway or a footpath as your own personal right to ride.
2. Can you push your motorbike on the pavement?
Yes, but you need to be pushing it, not straddling and paddling it. If you straddle and paddle, the law has determined (in the way that only judges can) that you have 'control' of the machine and are therefore 'riding' it - but if you are to one side of it and pushing it you are not in control. So if you have to move an uninsured or otherwise non-street legal motorbike, push it but do not straddle it.
This is very old English common law, and may not be so interpreted following a European Court of Justice case which said, and I summarise, that if you are using a vehicle in any other place to which the public have access, and it causes harm, then the vehicle must be insured. However, so long as your journey is less than 15 yards or, you are pushing your motorcycle along, you will not be committing an offence.
3. If I ride on a pavement can I be prosecuted for Dangerous Driving?
Riding along the pavement with anything other than ostentatious care being displayed would carry the more serious charge of dangerous riding, because no reasonably careful driver or rider would place a motorised vehicle on a pavement, and the act is deliberate. People who would lawfully be using the pavement would be likely to be endangered merely by the presence of a motorised vehicle moving with any speed differential, as it would be wholly unexpected.
The law is clear: the more unusual your action, the higher your duty of care rises. So if you have an extraordinary reason to ride a motorbike more than 15 yards on the pavement and pushing is not a viable option, it would take very little to trip it into dangerous riding. Counter intuitively, the lesser charges of driving without due care and attention or careless and inconsiderate driving would not be alternative offences - the offence is not a momentary lapse of concentration (it cannot be with a deliberate act), and if you were riding a motorbike inconsiderately on the pavement it would be an obvious endangerment to people who might also be using it.
So unless your motorbike has training wheels, is modelled on a superhero's and you are under the age of seven, it's probably best to limit your pavement motorcycle riding to less than 15 yards - and only to park your motorbike.
Andrew Dalton
RiDE Magazine - March 2017
Hi Simon, There is a footpath serving our small enclave of 10 houses on our housing estate which runs about 50 yards at a distance of 5 yards from our front doors. A total of 10 children frequently play in the front gardens. A motorcyclist lives at the far end and rides his bike from his front door down the path past our houses. Apart from being loud through the thin walls, it looks to me like really bad form, especially as the children are frequently out playing. Based on the 15yard rule this is clearly illegal by the letter of the law. Is it reasonable to ask him to stop doing this and to push the bike to his house? He’s young enough so he should be able to manage it & the workout might do him some good, but I’m not a biker. Please advise.
I am not sure who Simon is but you certainly can ask the rider not to ride his motorcycle on pedestrian only access and it seems to me he is committing an offence, which he does with sufficient regularity for him to be observed by a police officer or photographed so doing. So undoubtedly he is committing an offence, but is he doing something which actively endangers the children playing? A rider on a motorcycle, travelling slowly and safely is actually safer than a man pushing a motorcycle. On a push, if the bike topples, especially a bigger bike, it is a job to hold it up on the handlebars whereas stabilising the bike by putting a foot down, or paddling the bike slowly under power means the bike is much less likely to fall and injure anyone. So, have a think about what you are trying to achieve here. If his riding a bike offends you because he is just doing it, and when you have a chance to think about it, on balance he is safer ridign slowly, then maybe it is best left alone. If he is riding at more than walking pace, then I think you are absolutely right to pull him up and if necessary take it up with the police, btu always ask nicely first.
Thanks Andrew ( not Simon, apologies, don’t know where that came from!) – you’ve raised some some helpful points about the lack of safety when pushing a motorbike especially. I think the pressure I’ve felt as a middle aged pedestrian from pushbikes and e-scooters on pavements in general around our town has reached a point that having a new neighbour treating our front path as a road for his motorbike to boot felt like the last straw, so thanks again & will heed your advice & play it by ear.
Happy to help, Tom. I have had very sharp words with a couple of young lads on (probably) illegal scooters where I used to live. One accepted, one got a bit stroppy but I never saw them again. A legal motorcyclist with a number plate is vulnerable to police action but now you know the physics of actually moving a motorcycle, you may well think he is better off riding slowly than pushing. it may be illegal – in fact it almost certainly is – but I am not sure you would alleviate any risk by strict application of the law.
Hi Andrew,
At one of London’s “No Motor Vehicles” signs at Effie Road/Effie Place, I got off my motorcycle and walked it through the cycle gap about 4 metres to the parking bay beyond the sign, and then parked my bike. Hammersmith & Fulham Council have sent me a PCN for failing to comply with code 52M (prohibition on certain types of vehicle) based on video evidence.
They would have seen that I parked and made a phone call (to pay for parking).
Even the RAC describe the Motorcycle over Car sign as “you must not drive any motor vehicle down a road where this is displayed” and any reasonable person would see that I did not.
Surely this type of careful, respectful road use would fit within the “riding 15m along the pavement to park” principle? (I’m 57yrs old and riding for 28yrs!)
Sadly Simon this is a story I hear all to often in London where at least some of the Parking Adjudicators seems to take a hard line on these issues. You can appeal the ticket to the adjudicator. There are a number of them, and I guess I only hear about the ones where the ticket is upheld. I suppose until someone is prepared to run an appeal (and as the Adjudicators website is silent as to appeal from the adjudicator) which I suspect would be a judicial review (JR) which is an expensive and fairly unsatisfactory remedy. The bar the ordinary citizen faces is high. If you were to run a JR look in for a lot of expense and legal submissions. It is not something I have ever done. You would have to show the arbitrator got the law wrong (which is a real possibility) or exercised their discretion very badly. I am no expert on judicial review – in fact I am no better than any other solicitor who would have looked at JR as an undergraduate and followed various JRs in the legal press, so treat my observations as exactly that.
Hi Andrew, thanks for your guidance. They have accepted my representation (that I was walking my bike, and that I could have ridden the 4 metres away from the legal roadway to park my bike) but they didn’t say why and still claim their PCN was correct!! For you and your readers, here’s their vague response:
Notice of Acceptance of Representation
Thank you for writing to us about the above Penalty Charge Notice (PCN).
This Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) was issued because the vehicle was observed and recorded by an unattended camera, ignoring a ‘No Motor Vehicle’ except buses, taxis and permit holders’ sign.
This area is restricted to residents and permit holders of Hammersmith and Fulham. The scheme was brought in to reduce the amount of traffic using the side streets in South Fulham avoiding the traffic on Wandsworth Bridge Road. These restrictions apply 24 hours a day, 7 days a week including Bank Holidays.
The signs are clearly signposted and are placed at different points prior to entering and within the restricted area.
Motorists who are visiting residents of the borough may use the side roads if given access by the resident.
Please be advised that all South Fulham remains accessible without driving through one of the control points. The aim is to stop non-H&F residents rat running through residential streets.
For more information on the scheme, please go to
https://www.lbhf.gov.uk/transport-and-roads/south-fulham-traffic-
congestion-and-pollution-reduction-scheme
Drivers have a responsibility to comply with all signs and markings relating to road traffic restrictions and directions.
Although the PCN was issued correctly, on this occasion we will cancel the PCN as a gesture of goodwill.
Please be advised that we consider all cases individually, and so other PCNs issued in similar circumstances may not be cancelled.
3 questions still arise (for our law abiding countrymen):
1) Why do they not have a real person checking the tickets, before pushing undue stress on us! They probably know it’s a % game – they just have to handle the very few challenges, but innocent people will pay!!!
2) How in earth can unelected residents curtail/allocate the use of public roads for their mates!!
3) They claim “the PCN was issued correctly”, so by inference it was illegal to walk my bike through the No Motor Vehicles sign, and illegal to take it less than 15 yards to park it up.
and finally …. “gesture of goodwill”… yeah, right!!!
I think they are wrong on 3 counts, but wanted to share with everyone.
Good luck everyone!
That was a beautiful passage of local authority gibberish. For readers of a certain age a Vicky Pollard expulsion of “yeah, but no, but yeah, but no but anyway…” I am intrigued to know how the policing of permission on an ad hoc basis by residents is controlled. I get why stopping rat runs is a good thing in congested urban areas. I also think encouraging the use of fuel efficient, low bulk, powered two wheelers might also be a good plan. The gesture of goodwill is the standard go to “We were right but we shall be magnanimous to you” – even when they are wrong. Thanks for sharing this. I do however observe the London Boroughs are usually pretty good at reviewing their own errors and will withdraw tickets where they have some doubts about them but they have this weird idea that the decision of a clerk sets some sort of precedent. It doesn’t. A Judge of the High Court, Court of Appeal or Supreme Court sets a precedent. Not a council clerk!
Hi Andrew
I have had the same Fine Simon Morley had ….and right on the same road where Simon received his PCN for!!!
But in my case when I made my Appeal on line they have rejected.
I’m now to make an Appeal to the Environment and Traffic Adjudicators on line.
I’m trying to make my case as once the engine of the scooter is switched off and I’m dismounted and pushing (not paddling or straddling), my scooter is not anymore to be considered as motor vehicle therefore is legit to be pushed (…exactly as Simon did) through that sign/gate.
I found this page on .Gov.uk :
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1984/27/section/140/2001-01-30
Please advise if that makes any sense to my argument
Regards
Alex
Hi, there are a number of streets closed off to through traffic by barriers as a result of Covid traffic restrictions. Is it legal to wheel a motorbike past the barrier e.g. on the pavement or the cycle gap? Camden are claiming it isn’t stating “….it is a contravention…push a motor vehicle through a street or pedestrian zone…”. Is Camden correct and does it apply to pushing past a barrier as well as pushing down a street or zone?
Sadly, the London Parking Adjudicator agrees with the Council. I am not sure he is right but short of a judicial review of the decision, pushing doesn’t get you round the current position taken by the Council or the Adjudicator.
I’ve just received two fines from the council for walking my scooter on the pavement around a newly erected ‘local bus only’ area. I walk it about 30 yards then get back on the road on the other side of the restricted area. Can i contest these? I think I’m going to get quite a few as it has become my commute. I didn’t think the pavement was part of the road but form reading some of these responses it looks like i’m very wrong!
The London Traffic Adjudicator does nto distinguish, it seems, between pushing and riding a motorcycle.
Hi
I am delivery driver I was just riding my motorbike on pavement so when I delivered my food police was waiting for me next to my bike.
So officer ask me why you are using pavement.
So I admit my fault so he ask my detail then after he said you get fine letter which you receive at your home address.
My question this is just fine letter of I can get points as well on my licence.
Thx
Hello,
Is it legal to get off your motorcycle and push it through /past a road/closed “no entry to motorcycles /cars “sign and if yes either with the engine on or off ? The reason I ask is that in London many roads have now been closed to vehicular access under the Mayor’s post covid cycling transport scheme to discourage vehicle use by forcing them to use main routes rather than “rat running” and thus encourage people to take up alternative commuting methods!
Andrew G – sorry – definitely illegal. A vehicle must be insured if it traverses a road or an area to which the public have access even for such a minor trip. So moving an uninsured car onto the pavement to allow another car would be, if caught a definite 6 point offence and a chunky fine.
I was wondering if it would be illegal to move an uninsured car less than 15 yards out onto the road just to allow access for a car to emerge or go in? Thanks
The alley I presume is private so road traffic law does not strictly apply, albeit if anyone was hurt this rider’s insurance would apply. In so far as the riding on a grassed area is concerned this is a police matter and it would be up to the police to decide how they would intervene. It is discretionary. Why do you say it is only a matter of time before a child gets hurt? If the riding is fast or inconsiderate then it is definitely a police matter. If however it is normal and careful riding, appropriate for the risk – so I would say walking pace, then where is the risk? This is not a council matter. If there is unreasonable use of open land not dedicated as a highway, then it goes into criminal law and it is a police matter. The police do have certain quasi civil remedies which are used against nuisance motorcyclists, but there is a threshold trigger for this. However, what you have described does not seem unreasonable to me. Getting your own vehicle onto your own property in a reasonable way does not strike me as warranting police intervention. Zipping along at speed in an area where a powered two wheeler is not expected is a serious matter, and that does warrant police involvement. You will have to decide where this riding sits and proceed as you think fit. However, usually asking the rider to ensure he stays at walking space because you are a bit worried about the kids is a better bet than getting the police involved because they can only get involved in a prosecution, at their discretion, if an offence is committed and it is in the public interest to prosecute and there is a realistic chance of a conviction.
OK so my neighbour has to ride his large scooter up an alley aprox 30 yards long then about 150 yards across a grassed children’s play area to get to his back gate. Breaking the law? I think so and it’ll only be a matter of time before a child gets hurt. Should I challenge the local council on this and get them to lay down the law or bring it to the attention of the police?
It is most definitely illegal for a motorcycle to ride on a cycle path.
Hi there
Is it legal for a motorbike to ride on a cycle path?
Many thanks
I don’t think it would be unreasonable for you to ask the motorcyclist to either get quieter pipes or paddle his bike out on his feet. If his pipes ae ear bleeding he will have his “MoT pipes” around, so may be refit them but if his pipes are marked with a BS Kitemark there is not a great deal you can do, or even ask him to do. There is an implied covenant of quiet enjoyment of your land (and therefore home) which all neighbours owe each other but this is me scraping back into a law degree I completed in 1992 so hardly cutting edge law. The truth is that even with illegal pipes, if you are moving the bike slowly, you do not have to make a great deal of noise, and the world is a much happier place if everyone is considerate to each other. But I wouldn’t go to law over it unless you want to remortgage your home in lawyers’ fees.
I think it is down to the reasonableness of it. Motorbikes are very loud and we can hear it through two houses in our living and dining room. If out in the garden he is riding it within about 6 meters of our patio and it is very noisy when it happens. It is fairly infrequent (weekly).
A person is committing no road traffic offence if they ride their motorcycle on private land. The Road Traffic Act applies to public roads or roads to which the public have access. I am unsure why a motorcyclist riding his motorcycle to get it to safe storage in a shed would create any sort of problem which would be actionable to a landowner with shared access rights. There is an implied reasonableness in restrictive covenants. I am not sure if this is just an “I’m interested in the answer” query or if you want the motorcyclist stopped. I would counsel great care about going to law on a neighbourhood dispute. Lawyers love them as they are an inexhaustible supply of fees.
I live in a terraced house. There is an alleyway that each of the 3 terraced houses can use as a right of way “by foot or barrow” (in the deeds). This alleyway is marked within the boundary of the house next to it. A person who lives in this house has decided to drive his motorbike up it and then up his garden in order to park it in his shed. I was therefore wondering whether this law means that him doing this is illegal, because it is a pathway, or that it is ok because it is over his land?
I am concerned about cyclists riding on pavements. In the – perhaps now old – Highway Code – cycling in pavements was illegal and subject to a not insignificant fine. I have seen cyclists cycling past police officers and nothing is ever done or said nowadays. I am a keen cyclist myself, cycling is good, but not where it forms a hazard to others. So to fellow cyclists – old and young, get off the saddle and walk your bike through pedestrian areas.
I had to look at this point once for a parking appeal in London. The law is really not very helpful and there is some pre war unpersuasive “precedent” which is now so old that I suspect it would be ignored or treated with caution which says that if a motorcycle has the characteristics of a motorcycle then straddling and paddling it with the ignition switched off would be an offence but pushing with the engine switched off, it is simply pushing a wheeled trolley or similar but that argument got nowhere with London’s Traffic adjudicator, but I think the adjudicator got the law wrong, as sometimes happens.
additional question: does the engine need to be switched off when pushing the motorbike on the pavement? a policeman told me this but this doesnt seem right?
Section 34 (3) gives a statutory exception so there is no case law on this point. The test is entirely factual. As to your use of the scooter on the pavement as a sort of adapted motorised wheelchair, I suspect that the council are prepared to turn a blind eye to you riding 30 yards if your doctor says it would assist you but they have no obligation to allow this. The statutory law is quite clear. 15 yards is the maximum you can ride from the road to a place of parking.
RTA 1988 s34(3) It is not an offence under this section to drive a mechanically propelled vehicle on any land within fifteen yards of a road, being a road on which a motor vehicle may lawfully be driven, for the purpose only of parking the vehicle on that land.
Does anyone know where Section 184 of the Highways Act 1980 fits into the mix? It seems to suggest that it is illegal to cross a footway. A bit confusing for an old git like me
Just re-read the Section. As there is a dropped kerb and a crossover at the entrance to a. communal car park which is between 11 and 12 yards from my property via a pavement I think that I am in the clear re this Section. If anyone could confirm this I would be most grateful. Many thanks
RTA 1988 Section 34 states:
Prohibition of driving mechanically propelled vehicles elsewhere than on roads.E+W
(1)Subject to the provisions of this section, if without lawful authority a person drives a mechanically propelled vehicle—
(a)on to or upon any common land, moorland or land of any other description, not being land forming part of a road, or
(b)on any road being a footpath, bridleway or restricted byway,he is guilty of an offence.
Surely a pavement by the side of the road IS “land forming part of a road” so surely this Law cannot be used for pavement riding? Any case law?
I believe that with chronic medical conditions you can ride further than that’s to park,i am waiting to be told what proof of illness my Lincoln city council requires i have progressive chronic lung decease i have a Yamaha 125 scooter i cannot walk any distance without getting dangerously breathless i ride up a drop curb over the width of the pavement then going under 5mphtravel about 30 yds to my front door i did find a site that told me what medical proof i would require but cannot remember which site it was