Who knows the 3ft. law ???

[memason]

Interesting reading in the Orlando Sentinel... Personally, I did not know about this law, but how could this ever be enforced. Plus, most people have enough trouble staying within an 8ft. lane. It's really hard to legislate common sense....

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/fl-bicycles-three-feet-law-20110528,0,5808603.story

Cheers....

[robertj1954]

I agree with "you cannot legislate common sense". People are individuals and nothing illustrates that point better then a group of them sharing the highway. :doh: I have been a bicyclist for 35 years and have had 2 collisions with injuries and many close calls. Unfortunate, but the price one pays when enjoying their bicycle. Today, I never drive on a roadway that does not have a designated bike path and I prefer dedicated bike paths over roads.

In reference to the 3 ft. rule. I can attest to it not being obeyed by the majority of motorists. The same can be said for the law that requires a motorist to move over to the other lane when approaching a law enforcement officer involved in a vehicle stop! :oops:

[Dynasty]

I am always amazed that the golf carts seldom slow down or get over for non golf cart traffic on the multi-modal paths.

[Biker Dog]

Some people were not born with common sense:rant-rave:

[skyguy79]

I agree that the 3 ft. law is not generally enforceable unless of course it the distance being judged is significantly under 3 ft. Human judgment is just not that accurate.

Several years ago I was the driver in a four person per all day, two leg auto road race (not a speed contest) where a lot of the tasks involved judging distance, whether it was inches or miles. One of the tasks I had to perform as driver involved positioning my vehicle on a starting point then move the vehicle forward the distance I was given by the judge using only my judgment. I was several inches off as were every other driver that day. So if we couldn't not accurately judge distance being in a close and tightly controlled test, how could anybody ever be able to make a 3 ft. judgment at a considerably higher speed with less time to make a judgment? Don't think it's possible without the element of luck entering into it.

Other factors can also enter into it such as cyclist swerve. As I've implied, it's nearly impossible to reach judgment unless the distance between motorist and cyclist is so tight that there is no way that it could exceed 3 ft., and even then there could be doubt.

Having said that I'd also like to state that I do believe that a cyclist has a right to use the roadways and do so safely, but there is never a guarantee of that happening unless the road has been closed off to vehicular traffic either temporarily or permanently. I may not be a cyclist I am aware of the dangers inherit in the activity.

A friend of mine was deeply involved in competitive cycling several years ago and although he never made it, he was in training to do an across America race. He also organized and ran some races that ran through parts of New York's Adirondack Mountains. One of those races involved two heartbreaking deaths from cyclists being struck by drivers. It hurt him so deeply that he never ran another race.

After the deadly race my friend spent 10 years of his life writing about his cycling experiences that resulted in his publishing a book called "The Camel's Heart"! It was his first and only book ever written. I believe it was over 400 pages long and was very gripping even to a non-cyclist like me! After reading it I lent it to a cyclist to read and never got it back. Jack, my friend send me another at no charge when he found out about it. I now have it packed with my other books ready for when we move to TV in the Fall.

Today Jack at the age of about 74 still remains unbelievable active and cycles and Kayaks during the summer month and does cross country skiing during the winter. He is also still self employed in running a hair salon for both men and women... especially the women! http://www.thewriterscoffeeshop.com/images/smiley/smiley006.gif He's quite an individual that, with what I've already stated and for other reasons, I admire a great deal.

I have sent a message to Jack and am currently waiting to hear back from him to see if he still has new copies available for sale. If he does I'll post a message here after I hear back if he does for anybody who might be interested in obtaining a copy.

[rjm1cc]

My general thought is that you treat a bicycles the same as you treat a car when passing. The problem is that passing them with the same distance (move over one lane)you give a car may cause problems as you slow down to their speed until it is save to pass. Thus the 3 foot law seems like a good compromise to passing them like a car (say 8 ft.). Unfortunately some motorist and cyclists seem to lack common senses and no law will fix that.

[skyguy79]

A friend of mine was deeply involved in competitive cycling several years ago and although he never made it, he was in training to do an across America race. He also organized and ran some races that ran through parts of New York's Adirondack Mountains. One of those races involved two heartbreaking deaths from cyclists being struck by drivers. It hurt him so deeply that he never ran another race.

After the deadly race my friend spent 10 years of his life writing about his cycling experiences that resulted in his publishing a book called "The Camel's Heart"! It was his first and only book ever written. I believe it was over 400 pages long and was very gripping even to a non-cyclist like me! After reading it I lent it to a cyclist to read and never got it back. Jack, my friend send me another at no charge when he found out about it. I now have it packed with my other books ready for when we move to TV in the Fall.

Today Jack at the age of about 74 still remains unbelievable active and cycles and Kayaks during the summer month and does cross country skiing during the winter. He is also still self employed in running a hair salon for both men and women... especially the women! http://www.thewriterscoffeeshop.com/images/smiley/smiley006.gif He's quite an individual that, with what I've already stated and for other reasons, I admire a great deal.

I have sent a message to Jack and am currently waiting to hear back from him to see if he still has new copies available for sale. If he does I'll post a message here after I hear back if he does for anybody who might be interested in obtaining a copy.I've heard back from Jack and he says that he has no more copies left for sale. If anyone is interested in the book I described above, I did find that there are 3 used copies availabe at Amazon. The address is:

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=papa+jack&tag=googhydr-20&index=stripbooks&hvadid=3134784171&ref=pd_sl_51dx1ooiv_b

(You'll have to scroll down about 7 items to find it. Look for "Camel's Heart: From Fitness to Death in the Adirondacks")

[rubicon]

Perhaps I misunderstand but how does one stay 3 feet clear of a bicylist when passing on the streets in TV. Most of these TV streets are narrow, especially those with designated cartpaths Maintaining a 3 foot separation practically puts you over the center line. I have made it a practic to drive in the left hand lane whil driving in TV for that very reason.

My complaint, both verbal and in writing since I moved here has to do with the multi-modal pathways. They are unsafe as ae many of the roadways given the lifestyle. I have witnessed people going out of their way to be accomodating but given the design and the lifestyle they are accidents waiting to happen. Now add to that the slower reactions by seniors and you have a recipe for disaster. Travel the cartpath at dawn or dusk and you will realize that some pedestrians and bicylist make no atttempt at safety issues, light clothing lightts, etc. add to that the headlights coming from carts and cars and a driver on a cart is blinded. Its why I drive very very slow at those times. forgive me but the 3 foot rule is stupid. the State needs to find better remedies as does TV