Bicycle Licenses
Question
Jayne asked: I was always under the impression that registering a bicycle was to help you find it if stolen (serial number would be on this registration), but not a requirement to ride one. I was told recently that it was the law by a police officer in Daytona Beach that every bike has to be registered. Children ride bikes and parents should know this rule if it is in fact a law.
Answer
There is no Florida statutory requirement to register or license bicycles.
It is not practical to try to display all the local ordinances at this site, and our intent is to discuss Florida bicycle laws. As is possible, we will try to answer questions about local ordinances.
The City of Daytona Beach does have such a requirement.
City of Daytona Beach, Florida, Code of Ordinances
Sec. 94-281 – Required
No person shall operate or ride a bicycle upon the streets, sidewalks, alleys, or rights-of-way within the city without first obtaining a license as provided in this division.
Sec. 94-286 – Exceptions
This division shall not apply to bicycles currently licensed and/or registered in another city or state or to any bicycle operated in the city if the travel originates outside the city.
There are other sections in Chapter 94 of the code that describe the details of application, identification numbers and stickers required.
The details may be found at Daytona Codes.
It was interesting to read the local codes for Daytona, as I live in the general area. A specific point of value was that when travel originates from outside the city, a bike registration is not required. It’s discouraging to learn that one could have one’s bicycle confiscated for not having the registration. As a resident of the county, I’m happy to learn it does not apply to me.
A strange portion of the local codes defines vehicles as… excluding bicycles. The right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing, in my opinion.
The problem is…
Even though municipalities may have laws written in their ordinances pertaining to registering bicycles, I believe that the (computer) system that the County that the city resides in, may have removed that.
Example: Here in Lake Worth there is an ordinance written stating that you need to register any bicycle used within the city ( there is no stipulation regarding where travel originates ).
I went to talk with the person (West Palm Beach Sheriff) that is/was in charge of that for the town and he told me that the computer system no longer allows for inputting of bicycle registration.
So even though it says you need to register it in the town ordinance, there is no physical way of doing it.
(therefore you can’t register it and they need to either change the system back or remove that ordinance)
The best suggestion I have for anyone is to actually go to both the local police station and county sheriff’s office and ask them directly.
Just ask them for the forms to register your “bicycle” and you’ll either get a form or (more likely) wierd/confused looks.
(side note; there are at least 6 towns in Palm Beach county that require registration and every single one of them, when I called for the registration form, told me that there was no reg needed anymore)
If anyone can find me a municipality that DOES allow for registration, I would like to know it.
Daytona (beach) is also one of those “lucky” municipalities that also state that one can have a gas motor (under 50cc) added to it and keep it legally a bicycle.
It’s odd that the ordinance does not exempt tourists or other non-residents. Their bicycle travel wouldn’t necessarily originate from outside the city. I wonder if the police would actually cite tourists who bring their bikes along for the trip…or five year olds.