The other day, I heard a dangerously wrong statement about the state's bicycle riders.

The argument was that bicycles don't belong in traffic, shouldn't be on roads unless there's a bikeway, and shouldn't ever be on sidewalks. Wrong, wrong, and wrong again.

It's not surprising, given comments like that, that some folks might misunderstand the laws with regard to bikes.

Bicycles can legally be in traffic with cars (so can horses and even donkey-drawn carriages, by the way). Bikes are restricted when there is a bikeway — they need to stay in it if they can. And bicycles can sometimes legally be on sidewalks.

"Bicyclists using a roadway have all the rights and duties applicable to the driver of a motor vehicle, except as stated by special bicycle regulations and except for those provisions which by their nature cannot be applied to bicyclists," says the Honolulu city traffic law.

Adds Scott Ishikawa, public information officer for the state Department of Transportation:

"If there is a road without a bike lane, everybody is supposed to share the road. Even on highways, we allow bicyclists." The only place that's not true is on the freeway, which is for high-speed vehicles, Ishikawa said.

Furthermore, under certain circumstances bicycles are permitted to ride on sidewalks (at less than 10 miles an hour, and never in business districts, and they must always give way to pedestrians).

If a bike lane is present, cyclists are expected to be in it, unless they're passing, making turns or avoiding debris in the road. If they do leave the lane, they have to do it safely.

When you see a bicycle running a red light, running a stop sign or weaving in and out of traffic, the cyclist is misbehaving just as an automobile driver would be.

But they have the same right to be on the road as a truck, a bus, your car and, yeah, even a horse.

As the Honolulu Bicycle Master Plan says: "Bicycling is not the only way to get from one point to another. However, it is one of a variety of transportation modes that Honolulu offers."

There's lots of information on the topic available at the Hawai'i Bicycling League Web site, www.hbl.org; the city bicycling program at www.co.honolulu.hi.us/dts/bikepage.htm; and at the state Department of Transportation site, www.state.hi.us/dot/highways/bike.

"We need to quit blaming each other and share the road," said Hawai'i Bicycling League director Kristi Schulenberg.

If you have a question or concern about the Hawaiian environment, drop a note to Jan TenBruggencate at P.O. Box 524, Lihu'e, HI 96766 or jant@honoluluadvertiser.com. Or call him at (808) 245-3074.