Driving

Grand Rapids has adopted a complete streets policy, automobile drivers must share the streets with all other users. The purpose of streets is transportation, not providing right-of-way for automobiles; you as a driver are just one user of a shared public space.

See Parking for information on parking facilities and the DASH parking circulator.

You need to know...

  • Drivers MUST STOP for pedestrians at all non-controlled crosswalks. Non-controlled crosswalks are those without traffic signals.
  • Parking in or blocking a bike lane is a ticketable offense in Grand Rapids.
  • Driving in a Bus Only lane during posted hours is a ticketable offence in Grand Rapids.
    • You may use the lane to facilitate right turns.
  • Texting while driving in the state of Michigan is a ticketable offense.
  • Driving while intoxicated is a ticketable offense as well as being morally reprehensible.
    • If you drink and drive you are a disgusting excuse for a human being.
  • Motorists must keep at least five feet between the right side of their vehicle and a bicycle they are passing.
    • If the street provides insufficient space for the motorist to comply with this rule they cannot pass and must wait; like any civilized user of a shared space.
  • Automobiles are very dangerous - see "The Truth" below. Merely being used to something, to having it all around us, does not change the fact that whatever that thing is, it is still dangerous. Per-passenger-mile automobiles are 8x - that's 800% - more deadly than being in a transit vehicle. Deadly as in kills people. Homicide-by-automobile is one of the leading causes of death in America. If you are worried about violent crime, shootings, etc... but yet you feel safe behind the wheel of a car - by the numbers - you are mentally ill; that is how incredibly untethered from reality such an attitude is.

Resources

News

The Truth

Automobiles kill, injure, and maim people every single day.

The construction & ceaseless expansion of the interstate system is extremely unjust and racially biased.