Riding a bicycle on the sidewalk is prohibited in Nova Scotia by section 171 of the Motor Vehicle Act, with an exception for children on velocipedes and similar machines in a public square, park, city or town. A traffic authority can also designate a sidewalk as a trail and permit cycling on it. Being on the sidewalk when a car strikes you does not end a claim against the driver, and it is the fact the driver’s insurer will lead with.
The rule is often mixed up with the municipal by-law, which is a separate offence with its own fine. Both can apply on the same stretch of pavement.
Section 171 Prohibits It and Exempts Young Children
Subsection (2) says no person shall ride a bicycle, tricycle or similar machine on a sidewalk, and then preserves the use of velocipedes or similar machines by children on a sidewalk in a public square, park, city or town. That exception is why nobody tickets an eight year old riding outside their own house.
The rest of section 171 sets the other duties. A cyclist must use a bicycle lane where one runs in the same direction unless it is impracticable, must otherwise ride as far to the right as practicable or on the right shoulder, must ride with the flow of traffic, and must ride single file except when passing. The Motor Vehicle Act published by the House of Assembly carries all of it.
A Traffic Authority Can Turn a Sidewalk Into a Trail
Section 171A lets a traffic authority appointed under the Act designate a sidewalk, or part of one, as a trail, and regulate the use of bicycles on it. A sidewalk designated that way is still subject to every other provision of the Act.
The practical effect is local. Some stretches of shared pathway in Halifax and other municipalities are lawful to ride, and the ones on either side of them are not. Where the collision happened matters, so check the designation instead of assuming it applies.
Municipal by-Laws Add a Second Layer
Municipalities in Nova Scotia regulate their own streets and sidewalks, and a by-law can prohibit cycling on the sidewalk in a defined district or set a fine of its own. A cyclist can be in breach of both the Act and the by-law at once.
For a civil claim, the by-law is useful for a different reason. Breach of a statutory or municipal rule is evidence of negligence, and so is the absence of one. Where cycling was permitted on that sidewalk, the driver’s argument disappears entirely.
On the Road, a Cyclist Has the Duties of a Driver
Section 85 says a cyclist on a highway is subject to the provisions of the Act applicable to the driver of a vehicle, except those that by their nature cannot apply. Stop signs, signals, the right of way rules and the duty to signal a turn all apply to a person on a bicycle.
The obligation runs the other way too. Section 171B requires a driver overtaking a bicycle to leave at least one metre of open space and permits crossing a line to do it safely. A driver who passed too closely has breached a specific statutory duty, which is the first thing to establish after a sideswipe.
Riding a Bicycle on the Sidewalk Does Not End the Claim
The driver’s insurer will argue that a cyclist who came off the sidewalk was where they should not have been, and that the collision is therefore the cyclist’s doing. That is an argument about apportionment, not about liability.
Nova Scotia divides damages by degree of fault. A driver who pulled out of a driveway across a sidewalk without looking has breached their own duty, and the fact that the cyclist should not have been there does not excuse the failure to look. The post on a personal injury claim where you are partially at fault sets out how that split is decided.
The Driveway and Crosswalk Collisions Are Where This Argument Bites
The typical sidewalk collision is not a car mounting the pavement. It is a vehicle crossing the sidewalk to enter or leave a driveway or a parking lot, or turning across a crosswalk at an intersection where a cyclist has ridden off the sidewalk and into the crossing.
Speed is the issue in both. A cyclist moving at walking pace across a driveway is in a very different position from one riding at road speed along a sidewalk and into a driveway a driver could not see up. Camera footage, the damage pattern and the distances are what settle it.
The Helmet Requirement Applies at Every Age
Section 170A requires every person riding a bicycle to wear a helmet complying with the regulations, with the chin strap fastened, and puts a duty on the parent or guardian of a person under sixteen. There is no adult exemption in Nova Scotia.
A head injury in a helmetless collision brings a contributory negligence argument, and the defence has to prove that a helmet would have reduced the specific injury. That is a medical and engineering question, not an assumption.
Where the Sidewalk Itself Caused the Fall, the Defendant Is Different
A cyclist who goes down on a broken slab, an unmarked lip or an unsalted stretch has a claim against the property’s occupier instead of the driver. Municipal defendants carry their own notice requirements, which are short and are missed regularly.
Those claims are handled by the firm’s Nova Scotia trip and fall lawyers, and the notice question is the first one asked.
What to Do After a Collision on or Near a Sidewalk
Call the police and get a report number, because a cyclist without one faces an argument about whether the collision happened at all. Get treated the same day and describe every symptom. Photograph the bicycle, the helmet, the vehicle and the exact position on the pavement.
Do not repair or discard the bicycle or the helmet. Then read what the firm’s Nova Scotia bicycle accident lawyers do with a file, and how bicycle accident claims are run across Atlantic Canada.