Bicycle riding rules
 

This morning I was riding my bike on the Buena Vista multi modal path near the Bel Air entrance. A bicycle club passed me, about 20 riders. As they were going past me 2 riders shook there heads and pointed at there ears because I was listening to my I pod and then a 3rd rider near the end of the pack yelled at me saying listening to that is illegal!!! Now here is the good part just up ahead the trail merges with the entrance road and there is a BIG RED STOP SIGN that all 20 bikers decided to just blow right thru it....I guess when you are in an offical bike club you get to pick and choose the rules of the road you wish to adhere to

i pod only one ear so you can hear whats going on around you. but to blow thur a stop sign so they can keep up the pace is telling everyone rules don't apply to the club. unless this was a posted race they were wrong not to stop

illegal, certainly, but what would you do if you were in a pack of 20 cyclists?

Assuming two abreast, you would still form a line ten cyclists long and, each time a new pair got to the Stop sign, the line would stop. Then two would go off the front, the line would move forward one bike length, and the new front pair would stop.

As long as they slowed sufficiently to ensure their path was clear then you really can't expect them to do anything else.

Just because the person wearing earphones didn't like being told he was in the wrong...

there is a bigggg difference in slowing and blowing thru full speed and as I posted it was full speed and whether I was right or wrong listening to my I pod...if you are going to point it out to me then follow the rules yourself

Bicycle packs have their own rules.
 

I was behind a "pack" and they kept coming out of the bicycle lanes into the car lanes. By law I have to give them 3 feet but what do I do when it forces me across the double line because they don't want to ride single file?

Obviously they have no respect for stop signs. STOP signs say STOP, I don't care if they have to stretch out into a long group. STOP means STOP.

Rules are rules. Everyone should follow them. Even the bike riders.

The STOP sign means STOP - it does not mean slow sufficiently. I don't believe I have seen a traffic sign in The Villages that says "SLOW SUFFICIENTLY, PLEASE".

Next time you are on the street - not multi-modal trail - slow up at a STOP sign when you see a police officer there and go right through. Explain that you slowed sufficiently and that is good as a full stop.

How is this different than a line fo cars??

well, to be fair, you just said "blow thru" in your original post, no mention of full speed

for safety's sake, they should have slowed down sufficiently to get a good look, and be able to stop if necessary

and, yes, legally they should have stopped, but that's cyclists for you.

Whether your vehicle has two wheels or ten wheels, STOP signs require stopping. Same thing goes for our gates. Cars & trucks stop, cyclists don't feel the need.

I for one am grateful they were on the path and not the road!
Can't for the life of me understand why one would choose the roadway instead of that lovely, smooth, paved path with no cars.

Those village bicycles gangs are getting to be to much.Always wearing their "colors" when they ride together. Some of them are starting to carry cans of spray paint. I heard the county sheriff gang squad is investigating.

Some cyclists obey all traffic laws,are careful and "share the road" in the proper way.

Unfortunately most (and not just in TV) think everyone should yield to them anytime, anywhere.

It works both ways.

:wave:

Oh my, you just GOTTA explain that one! :popcorn: That has got to be one juicy story!
Don

Paulandjean. ... That's a pretty serious accusation. Do you have any facts or proof to back it up? If you were being funny/sarcastic, a smiley would have been appropriate so folks don't take this seriously.

I reread this.................a smiley would have appropriate.:undecided:

Two wrongs don't make a right. You were wrong and should not have been wearing headphones it is illegal. So clean your own house first.

What statute is that ?

Having ridden a bicycle from Seattle WA to Washington DC with 700 others, riding 2 abreast on roads is simply not a good idea. A club of cyclists should have a set of rules, which state, among other things, always wear a helmet, obey all traffic signals, and don't ride side by side

Florida statute section 316.304 covers that, making the use of headphones illegal.
Florida Bicycle Laws

Maybe they were going from a funeral home to a cemetary? ;)

Once again, you came up with a good idea.

Are you for "real"?????????????????????? Man,lighten up you are waaayyyy to serious.....

LOL, Did they have their headlights on?

Personally I have no problem with the bike gang going through as one unit. Assuming the first rider stops before proceeding. Yes, I know the law but some groups are 30 strong. Imagine being behind them? I've seen some groups where the first rider will stop to insure that the way is clear for the group to follow.

In my opinion, wearing headphones while out riding anything is not a good idea. Not sure of the law but it sure helps to hear what's going on around you. I don't even like wearing them while I run, too many close calls. I don't wear them any longer.

No, not a good idea. With only 1 ear to listen to listen to traffic and whatnot you can't tell the direction of the sound.

Spot on Russ. The number one rule to survival is to be aware of your surroundings.

Headphones = dangerous limitation of situational awareness while in motion on highly traveled roads. Bad practice

...

First I'd say that Paulandjean does have a unique sense of humor but I don't know how anyone could have thought he/she was serious when he/she wrote....

Originally Posted by paulandjean View Post
Those village bicycles gangs are getting to be to much.Always wearing their "colors" when they ride together. Some of them are starting to carry cans of spray paint. I heard the county sheriff gang squad is investigating.

Carry on Paulandjean! Humor is the best medicine!

The law is the law. You can't do a rolling stop in a car, so you can't do it in a bike. Of course most people who ride bikes are above the law.

uh-oh.........

Wearing their colors,you know thats what gangs do ,Bloods ,Crips..Not 65 year old bicycle riders. Spray paints cans, you know to mark thir territory. Gang squad of county sheriff to investigate60,65,70 year olds. Think maybe what I was trying to say was meant for a younger crowd. Do you know of any 65 or 70 year old who are in a village gang that ride bicycles. Not ready for smiley faces yet.

One person makes a comment on cyclist going thru a stop sign, and you cats assume that it is true. Then you want to beat up all cyclist. Sounds like the original poster was upset because he or she got called out. So now you try to reverse it on the group. I do not know if they did or did run a stop sign. But I do know I see cars, Motorcycles, Cyclist and golf carts and doing the same, and oh yea the SCSO seem them do it also. Come on already, everyone relax. Another day in TV.....

So if you have 20 cars....passing one car with headphones...all 20 cars can run a stop sign? Sounds like South American road rules...LOL Have you ever been in a cab in Lima, Sao Paulo or Mexico City? Make sure your life insurance is paid up!

As others have already stated very eloquently:

Nobody is saying that it is legal for cyclists to go through stop signs, but they do, so get over it. No amount of bitching in TOTV is going to stop them.

Rather, be aware of it and adjust your driving accordingly. Sure, they are in the wrong, but if you hit a line of cyclists just to make a point then what does that say about you?

A State Trooper was amazed when a driver "slowed down significantly" at a STOP sign. Since he had time he pulled over the driver. "Did you see the sign?" "yeh" the driver replied. "What did you do?"

The driver replied " I yust ooooozed into the intersection."
Trooper said " lets look at the sign. What does it say?"

"Stop!" he says proudly.

"Next time you see one that says ooze then you can ooze through the intersection!"

Don't worry about the 20 or so cyclists who sped through the STOP sign.

The laugh will be on them when they receive their citations in the mail for not stopping at the STOP sign. They obviously forgot about the RFID chip that was implanted in their neck when they got their Villages ID Card when buying their house. The chip readers in the STOP signs gets a lot of scofflaws each and every month.

I feel bad for the poor car driver that has a line of cycles cut across in front of him/her ... should that driver hit one of the cyclists, I fear that the car driver will be found at fault. Stop sign or not, I have an uneasy feeling that the car driver would be the one held at fault. Big bad car vs innocent little "bike". Or, hitting the brakes hard and a following car hits car #1. Bet the cycles are long gone.
Don

Thanks JoeC1947,

I'm shocked to hear of a case of bicycle riders IN the bike lanes! What I see most often is bicyclists using the car lanes when they could/should be using the unmatched miles of bike/cart lanes.

Some seem to have a death wish, especially in the car lanes on the Morse Bridge between LSL and 466......s-l-o-w-l-y peddlin' along on a recumbent bike that is very hard to see amidst car traffic! I dread the thought of hitting one of them.