Bill
HB 375
Maryland HB 375 allows riding a bicycle, play vehicle, or unicycle on sidewalks unless banned locally, but riders must yield to pedestrians and EPAMDs, including crosswalk rules.
Note: the materials you provided contain multiple different bills all numbered “HB 375” from different states and sessions (examples include a Maryland bill about bicycles/sidewalks, a Kentucky risk‑protection order bill, Georgia/Alabama/Hawaii tax or local fee bills, and others). Your top-level Bill Information names a different measure (“Dropout Prevention and Student Re‑engagement Act”) that does not appear in the documents supplied.
Please confirm which HB 375 (state and subject) you want summarized. Meanwhile, below is a concise, self‑contained summary of the Maryland HB 375 that appears repeatedly in your package (the “Bicycles, Play Vehicles, and Unicycles — Jay’s Law” measure), using the bill text and fiscal note included.
Purpose and intent
- Change Maryland vehicle law to make riding a bicycle, play vehicle, or unicycle on sidewalks or sidewalk areas permissible by default (unless a local ordinance forbids it), and to require riders to yield to pedestrians and electric personal assistive mobility devices (EPAMDs). The stated aim is to clarify and liberalize where such devices may be ridden while protecting pedestrian right‑of‑way.
Key provisions
- Authorization: A person may ride a bicycle, play vehicle, or unicycle on a sidewalk or sidewalk area unless a local ordinance expressly prohibits it. (Current law allowed riding only where local ordinance permitted it.)
- Right‑of‑way: While riding on a sidewalk/sidewalk area or in/through a crosswalk, riders must yield the right‑of‑way to pedestrians and to persons riding EPAMDs.
- Pedestrian rules: A person lawfully operating a bicycle, play vehicle, or unicycle on a sidewalk or in a crosswalk generally has the rights and restrictions of pedestrians under the vehicle law; intersection traffic signals apply to such operators.
- Crosswalk transit: Where riding on a sidewalk is allowed, a rider may ride from curb/edge of roadway through a crosswalk to the opposite curb/edge.
Who is affected
- Bicyclists, users of play vehicles and unicycles, pedestrians, and people using EPAMDs.
- Local governments: may need to review/update ordinances to continue prohibiting sidewalk riding in particular areas.
- Law enforcement and courts: will enforce yielding and any violations under existing traffic/misdemeanor penalties.
Fiscal and procedural effects
- Fiscal note (Maryland Department of Legislative Services): potential minimal decrease in State general fund revenues if fewer sidewalk‑riding citations are issued; enforcement can be handled with existing resources. Local governments can enforce with existing resources; local revenues not materially affected.
- Legislative history items in provided documents show the bill was introduced January 16, 2025 (Delegates D. Jones et al.), fiscal note prepared, committee actions and amendments, and an effective date listed as October 1, 2025 in the bill text. (Separate materials in your packet show later enactment language—Chapter 558—approved May 13, 2025. Please confirm which status/version you want reflected.)
Other notes
- The fiscal note notes prior similar measures (SB 77/HB 111 of 2024; HB 519 of 2023; HB 1153 of 2022). SB 392 is a cross‑file in the Senate.
- Penalties for driving on sidewalks remain as in current law (violations generally treated as misdemeanors with existing fine and prepayment schedules).
If you want: I can (a) summarize a different HB 375 from your packet (please specify state/subject), (b) reconcile the differing status/version documents you provided, or (c) produce a summary tailored for a particular audience (e.g., school district, municipal staff, bicycle advocacy group). Which would you prefer?
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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