The Law Offices of James M. Freeman, P.C.

Deerfield has its own fairly comprehensive bicycle laws on the books. Some things to keep in mind are:

Deerfield did it right with respect to their helmet law. Excerpted below, Deerfield's village code requires persons under the age of 16 to use a helmet, it provides for standards the helmet must meet, and it allows that proof of compliance within 10 days after the violation may be used as a defense. More importantly, Deerfield built in language that prohibits a lack of helmet to be used against a cyclist in a civil suit. This means that drivers who negligently hit a cyclist who was not wearing a helmet will not be able to assert the lack of helmet as evidence of contributory negligence.

Many suburbs require cyclists to ride single file. Although Illinois Law allows that cyclists may ride two abreast, municipalities can pass their own restrictions regarding the operation of bicycles within their city limits. Accordingly, in Chicago, and many suburbs cyclists are required to ride single file.