Randy Bergmann

As someone who has enjoyed the freedom of riding a bike since I was 5 and who spends nearly as much time on one now as I did when I was a kid, I was surprised to learn that it’s illegal to ride without a bell or “other audible device.”

I gleaned this from our story about the arrest of a Bayville man in Seaside Heights for riding without a bell.” In this case it was clearly a pretext for stopping him. But Seaside police said they do make other arrests for the offense, particularly in the summer, when bikes commonly ply the town's streets.

I confess: I don't have a bell on my bike — a stripped-down orange-and-cream Raleigh that I bought used for $50 a dozen years ago. It does have reflectors, an LED light and a temperamental speedometer/odometer. That's about it. Nothing fancy. But nothing fancy is needed for riding around my neighborhood's flat streets, the Manasquan Reservoir, Allaire State Park or the boardwalks and back streets of Asbury Park, Ocean Grove, Bradley Beach and Belmar.

Curious to find out the exact law regarding bells on bikes, I went to the state website on bike regulations. Sure enough, I was out of compliance. That was the only regulation I wasn’t compliant with. But I need to share some of the other regulations with my three children — a teen and two tweens — particularly since parents can be held liable for some of their children’s infractions.

I knew kids had to wear helmets, but I didn’t realize the age cutoff was under 17. If my 15-year-old son was aware of it, he wasn’t letting on. He will be made aware of it at dinner tonight. It should be pointed out, however — and this may be one of his rebuttal points — that most states have no helmet requirement at all. Pennsylvania only requires helmets for those under 12 and New York for those under 13.

To be sure, helmets are a good idea for riders of all ages, although I’ve yet to find one large enough to accommodate my head. If you do get into an accident, and you are under the age where a helmet is required, not only can you end up with serious head injuries — or worse — the violation of that law could render you legally negligent. That could reduce or even eliminate the compensation you could receive from an at-fault driver in a personal injury lawsuit.

I also need to bring regulation 39:4-12 to my older son’s attention: To wit: “Bicyclists should not drive the bicycle with feet removed from the pedals, or with both hands removed from the handlebars, nor practice any trick or fancy driving in a street.”

New Jersey’s bicycle laws are more stringent than most states — for good reason. We have densely populated towns, congested streets, boorish drivers, few bike lanes, narrow shoulders on most roads and too few sidewalks, which can be used legally by bicyclists.

As for the regulation regarding “audible devices,” I'm not sold on its merits. Decide for yourself. Next time you're on your bike and you want a pedestrian or other rider to move out of your way, ring the bell, then keep your fingers crossed that they aren't so startled that they jump into your path instead of out of it.

Randy Bergmann: app@opinion; rbergmann@app.com; 732-643-4034.