By John Allen
To be confident in safe riding, to answer questions about legality, and in establishing fault if you are unlucky enough to crash, it helps for you to know where to find the relevant local laws. Ride leaders, municipal officials, and police also need to know about this – it’s important in case of questions about routes. In this article, I will give some examples of why this isn’t necessarily easy and then show where to look.
Massachusetts Traffic Law is "Special"
Massachusetts traffic law is the most disorganized and unreadable body of traffic law of any state, and the only one not based on the Uniform Vehicle Code. Massachusetts statutes consist of a skeleton of antiquated traffic laws overlaid with a patchwork of fix-up provisions, and with huge gaps. The main body of rules for driving is elsewhere, as I found out.
Let’s start with the earliest traffic law. It is more than two centuries old! Chapter 89, section 3 of the Massachusetts General Laws, dating from 1821, requires a horse pulling a sleigh to be equipped with three or more bells. Please keep that in mind if you happen to be driving a horse-drawn sleigh on the (now plowed) roads of Massachusetts! The 1821 legislation also established that traffic should keep to the right. So far, so good with that!
Now let’s move ahead to the more modern Chapter 90, section 14, Precautions for Safety of Other Travelers. This includes a couple of lines requiring motorists to make right turns safely around bicyclists. You will find them about ¾ of the way down in a 984-word paragraph. A bit farther on is this line: “It shall not be a defense for a motorist causing an accident with a bicycle that the bicycle was to the right of vehicular traffic.” So, if you enter an intersection from concealment and get left-crossed by a motorist who couldn’t see you in time, you or your survivors will be more likely to collect. That isn’t necessarily fair, though it is to your advantage.
There are other long paragraphs. For example, check out, Chapter 90, Section 7B, but let’s stick with what is relevant here.
In the March 2025 Safety Corner, I discussed the important amendment from 2023 making it legal for motorists to cross a double yellow line to pass vulnerable users, which legal category includes bicyclists. That is in Chapter 89, Section 2. I described how that can work for you
The main body of special bicycle laws is in Chapter 85, Section 11B. The basic rule there is that bicyclists have the right to use public ways and are subject to the traffic law. Other than that, the section is mostly about equipment. There is no mandatory bike lane or sidepath law: you enjoy more freedom as a cyclist than in most other US States. Enjoy it wisely. A summary of all cycling-related traffic is on the CRW site in an article in the February 2025 Wheelpeople. Let’s go into more detail here though.
There is a provision the General Laws about right turn on red. It’s a “fix it” law which the Feds mandated to eke out a bit of energy efficiency during from the 1970s fuel crisis. There is nothing else in the General Laws about what to do at a traffic signal, or about many other complications which have arisen over the past century.
Let's take traffic signals as an example, to discover how the rules are split up between the General Laws, regulations and municipal ordinances:
There are explicit rules for drivers at traffic signals in Chapter 700 of the Code of Massachusetts Regulations, 9.06 (10), but these apply only on state highways. You’ll often see a “State Highway Ends” sign where a numbered highway enters a town. The rules change there too. It is no wonder that police and the public can’t interpret the law!
What About Other Local Laws?
Where are the rules that apply on streets and roads which are not state highways, or DCR parkways, or managed by authorities?
Basic traffic rules are established in ordinances that must be enacted separately by the governments of the 351 cities and towns. These are supposed to reflect a sample regulation, but because they have to be updated by cities and towns, there are inconsistencies.
Ordinances for Waltham, where I make my home, include wording on traffic signals similar but not identical to that in CMR 9.09 (10). You’ll have to look up the regulations for any other city or town in which you may have an issue about what is legal for a bicyclist. DCR Parkways fall under their own set of rules, in CMR 302, There are similar rules for authorities such as Massport and the National Park Service.
A cyclist, or motorist, or police officer should not have to review multiple documents for rules which apply to something as common and universal as traffic signals. Municipal traffic ordinances should address only issues which are unique to a community, Massport, the DCR, or the National Park Service, such as parking locations and path usage.
The earlier Wheelpeople articles which I have cited give you the information you need to follow the rules. This article, I hope, helps to resolve any issues about the context of those rules.
