[tuccillo]

The roads in The Villages are not wide enough (sub-standard width) to contain a bike and a car with the required 3 feet of clearance in a single lane. What this means is when passing a cyclist on a four lane road you need to move into the left hand lane. When passing a cyclist on a two lane road you need to wait till the oncoming lane is clear and pass in the oncoming lane (assuming a dashed center line). Since the roads are sub-standard width, you will often see cyclists in the middle of a lane and this is allowed by the law, regardless of their speed. Whether you hug the curb or not, a car and a bike cannot/shouldn't be adjacent to each other in the same lane on the roads in The Villages. The important part of the statute is highlighted in red in (5)(a) 3 below. If the roads weren't of sub-standard width then it would be different.

Originally Posted by njbchbum

Would this part of the statute not mean that it is the duty of the person riding the bike in the roadway to maintain the posted speed limit?



(1) Every person propelling a vehicle by human power has all of the rights and all of the duties applicable to the driver of any other vehicle under this chapter, except as to special regulations in this chapter, and except as to provisions of this chapter which by their nature can have no application.

Is this part of the Statute not in conflict with the highlighted part of your post above?


(5)(a) Any person operating a bicycle upon a roadway at less than the normal speed of traffic at the time and place and under the conditions then existing shall ride in the lane marked for bicycle use or, if no lane is marked for bicycle use, as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway except under any of the following situations:
1. When overtaking and passing another bicycle or vehicle proceeding in the same direction.

2. When preparing for a left turn at an intersection or into a private road or driveway.

3. When reasonably necessary to avoid any condition or potential conflict, including, but not limited to, a fixed or moving object, parked or moving vehicle, bicycle, pedestrian, animal, surface hazard, turn lane, or substandard-width lane, which makes it unsafe to continue along the right-hand curb or edge or within a bicycle lane. For the purposes of this subsection, a “substandard-width lane” is a lane that is too narrow for a bicycle and another vehicle to travel safely side by side within the lane.

Thanx for your opinion.