New Highway Code: by bike you can cross on the stripes but you will have to get off if there are pedestrians

How should cyclists cross the road? As a priority, they must use the cycle crossings dedicated to them. But, as we know, signs of this type are present to rejoin the cycle paths, which are not yet very widespread, despite appreciable efforts in this sense.

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The second choice, and also the statistically most frequent one, is the use of pedestrian crossings, with the due attention required by the regulations. But do they have to get off the bike? According to the draft new code, the model cyclist must stop before entering the road, and must get off if there are pedestrians crossing, to avoid any type of danger for the pedestrians themselves.

The rule does not differ much from the regulation currently in force, and entrusted to article 377 of Presidential Decree 495/1992, i.e. the regulation of the highway code, which establishes verbatim: In the case of crossing carriageways with particularly heavy traffic and, in general, where circumstances require it, cyclists are required to cross holding the vehicle by hand. The situation, as can be seen, appears to be entrusted to the circumstances of the case and the subjective evaluation of the cyclist.

It must be recognized that the future perspective represents a step forward compared to now, as it is clarified that the subject of greatest protection is the pedestrian, the weakest category par excellence. If the matter seems of little importance to you, keep in mind that the Court of Cassation has dealt with it several times and that, following sentences and orders, the legislative provisions have been interpreted in a way that is certainly not linear and not exactly close to the reading that each of us would make of the reported rule.

In particular, with ordinance no. 2363 of 2026, and therefore very recent, it has been established that pursuant to article 182, paragraph 4, of the highway code, and article 377, paragraph 2, of its implementing regulation, the text of which we have reported above, the cyclist who enters a pedestrian crossing is required to drive the bicycle by hand, and not on the saddle, unless said crossing is located at the end of a mixed route pedestrian and cycle path, having, however, even in this case, to drive the vehicle by hand when, due to traffic conditions, its pace is an obstacle or danger for pedestrians. So what? The systematic reconstruction of the Supreme Court appears truly rigorous and the project for the new highway code tends to rewrite the rules.