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N.Y. VAT Law § 1236

This is the official text of N.Y. VAT Law § 1236, part of New York’s VAT Law — part of the compiled statutory law of New York, published by the state as "VAT Law." Browse the sections below, each linked to its official government source.

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Lamps and other equipment on bicycles

Official statutory text

§ 1236. Lamps and other equipment on bicycles. (a) Every bicycle when\nin use during the period from one-half hour after sunset to one-half\nhour before sunrise shall be equipped with a lamp on the front which\nshall emit a white light visible during hours of darkness from a\ndistance of at least five hundred feet to the front and with a red or\namber light visible to the rear for three hundred feet. Effective July\nfirst, nineteen hundred seventy-six, at least one of these lights shall\nbe visible for two hundred feet from each side.\n (b) No person shall operate a bicycle unless it is equipped with a\nbell or other device capable of giving a signal audible for a distance\nof at least one hundred feet, except that a bicycle shall not be\nequipped with nor shall any person use upon a bicycle any siren or\nwhistle.\n (c) Every bicycle shall be equipped with a brake which will enable the\noperator to make the braked wheels skid on dry, level, clean pavement.\n (d) Every new bicycle shall be equipped with reflective tires or,\nalternately, a reflex reflector mounted on the spokes of each wheel,\nsaid tires and reflectors to be of types approved by the commissioner.\nThe reflex reflector mounted on the front wheel shall be colorless or\namber, and the reflex reflector mounted on the rear wheel shall be\ncolorless or red.\n (e) Every bicycle when in use during the period from one-half hour\nafter sunset to one-half hour before sunrise shall be equipped with\nreflective devices or material meeting the standards established by\nrules and regulations promulgated by the commissioner; provided,\nhowever, that such standards shall not be inconsistent with or otherwise\nconflict with the requirements of subdivisions (a) and (d) of this\nsection.\n

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.