Cycling and skating

Your responsibilities if there is an accident

If a cyclist or person using a scooter, skateboard or rollerblades is involved in an accident, they must:

• stop and help
• exchange their contact details (name, address and phone number) with other people involved in the accident
• report the matter to police.

Bicycle laws

Most of the road rules that apply to driving cars and other vehicles also apply to bicycles. There are also laws that apply specifically to cyclists, including:

• You (and any passengers, if you have them) must wear an approved helmet and it must be done up securely, unless you have a written exemption for VicRoads to say you do not have to wear a helmet.
• Bicycles must be ‘roadworthy’ – they must have at least one working brake and a working bell, horn or other ‘warning device’.
• You must not carry more passengers than the bike is designed to carry – ‘dinking’ is against the law.
• If you are riding at night or in bad weather, you must have working lights and reflectors on your bike.
• You must use bike lanes if they are available, unless it is impracticable to do so.
• If you are over 12 you must not ride on the footpath.
• On footpaths and shared paths (where there are also people walking), you must keep to the left and give way to pedestrians.
• Most drink-driving and drug-driving laws do not apply to cyclists.

For more information about road rules and bikes, see the Vic Roads website.

Skateboard, rollerblade and scooter laws

There is a section in the Victorian Road Rules specifically for skaters and other users of ‘wheeled recreational devices’, like rollerblades and collapsible scooters. Users of these devices are considered pedestrians, rather than riders or drivers.

You can't use a skateboard, scooter, rollerblades or other 'wheeled recreational device' on roads with:

• a median strip or dividing yellow or white line
• more than one marked lane
• a speed limit of more than 50 kilometres per hour.

On other types of road, you must keep as close to the left-hand side as practicable and must not travel more than two abreast with other pedestrians or vehicles, unless overtaking.

The law also says that:

• skaters do not have to wear helmets
• when travelling on a footpath or shared path, you must keep as far left as practicable and give way to any walking pedestrians
• if you are using a bicycle path or a separated footpath (a path for walkers and riders/skaters) you must not be on the side of the path for pedestrians unless you are crossing the path by the shortest safe route and do not stay on the path for longer than necessary. You must also keep out of the way of any bicycle
• you can't be towed by a moving vehicle.

Skaters also have to obey the road rules that apply to pedestrians, including:

• obeying traffic signals
• crossing a road, railway line or tram tracks by the shortest and safest route
• not causing a traffic hazard by moving into the path of a driver
• not using a bicycle path or the part of a separated footpath designated for use by bicycles
• not being towed or used in the slipstream of a moving vehicle.

Other support

Find out how you can other support for traffic offences.