The applicable Florida law (paraphrased):
- A bicyclist who is not traveling at the same speed of
other traffic must ride as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or
edge of the roadway. A bicyclist may leave the right-most portion of the
road in the following situations: when passing, making a left turn, to
avoid road hazards, or when a lane is
too narrow for a bicycle and a car to share safely.
- Persons riding bicycles upon a roadway shall not ride
more than two abreast except on paths or parts of roadways set aside for
the exclusive use of bicycles. Persons riding two abreast shall not impede
traffic when traveling at less than the normal speed of traffic at the
time and place and under the conditions existing, and shall ride within a
single lane.
Interpretation comes in when deciding when
we are impeding traffic and when we ARE the traffic. For most of the time
during a ride in the countryside, our ten to thirty vehicles clearly
constitutes the major traffic on the roadway. And in any case, motor
vehicles can get by very easily as there is little other traffic to prevent
them from doing so.
When we are closer to town, we need to be
careful that we don’t impede other traffic, since there is usually a lot
more of it than out in the countryside. Circumstances will vary
considerably based on the roadway. When we can fit a double line in a
bike lane, it is clearly OK to do so. When one of the lines must ride in
the traffic lane, a double line would be OK only if it is a four lane road with
light traffic. A single line should be used on a two lane road with no
shoulders and traffic, unless the lane is so narrow that we want to ensure that
no motorist attempts to share it with us.
It is not a good idea to conduct group
rides that go into highly congested areas. Taking a group down Archer
road next to Butler Plaza during rush hour is asking for a tragedy, or at the very least a
lot of unpleasantness.
Roger Pierce
Gliders Group Captain, Gainesville Cycling Club
http://gccfla.org/
-----Original Message-----
From: George McKenzie
[mailto:wonkieye@xxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Monday,
September 04, 2006 8:19 AM
To: huan_dinh@xxxxxxxxxxx;
GCCMail@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: GCCMail: Critical
Mass Rides
For those in the know....and for my own edification, I
have a question about this statement posted by Huan: ..... We
ride in double paceline just any normal GCC rides and follow all traffic laws.
Where and when are double pace lines legally riding
within the law, and when are they not?
I believe this is the crux of a lot of motorists
angst.
