[tzangrilli]

Originally Posted by LuckySevens

Hate to hear of any accidents, but I have always wondered WHY any bicycle is allowed on the road when I am not allowed on the road in my golf cart (unless specifically marked). I have more protection in a golf cart than a bicyclist does. If I drive on a road in my golf cart that is not marked for golf carts, I will get a fine, so in MHO bicycles belong on the cart path, not on our roads.

Riding a bicycle on a road is a state law not a Villages rule. How would one ride to a destination, say Ocala, if there is no bike path to get there. The law does state you must use a bike lane when available. The only designatied bike lane in The Villages is Morse Blvd. North of 466, although a bicycle is allowed on the multi modal trails, they are not required to use them.

[Pibb26]

As an avid cyclist, I have "retired" from cycling in TV. After almost being hit twice (not in traffic circles). I have always preferred to ride on the road and even tried riding on the paths to the same experience of an earlier poster.
I was riding the white line down Buena Vista and a car passed me so close that if I had bobbled at all I would have been taken out. I do not believe the driver EVER saw me. I think too many drivers believe that they should not have to slow down to pass a biker and that two cars and the biker can fit safely on the roadway...it is just not the case. Though I have the legal right to be on the road in TV I choose to live a longer life.

[ilovetv]

A big part of the problem with bicyclists on the roadways here is that 9 out of 10 do absolutely nothing to make themselves more visible to car/truck drivers.

All bike riders, especially the low recumbent ones, need to wear bright orange/yellow/hot pink shirts, and put flourescent orange safety flags on the back of the bike. Often, if a person does have a flag or two, it's faded and useless...not any more visible than the pavement.

[Chazz]

Originally Posted by Richard1366

I rode my bike, along with 700 others, from Seattle, WA to Washington, DC all of it was on roads. We were required to wear helmets and ride single file. Roads are really the safest places to be and cyclists have the legal right to be there. Watch out for cyclists as you would for pedestrians.

Awesome accomplishment, Richard! Good points on road riding and safety, as well.

[GaryW]

Originally Posted by ilovetv

A big part of the problem with bicyclists on the roadways here is that 9 out of 10 do absolutely nothing to make themselves more visible to car/truck drivers.

All bike riders, especially the low recumbent ones, need to wear bright orange/yellow/hot pink shirts, and put flourescent orange safety flags on the back of the bike. Often, if a person does have a flag or two, it's faded and useless...not any more visible than the pavement.

Along those lines, how about All vehicles need to pay attention to the road and others on the road and obey the speed limit. I wish I could count how many times I have people come beside me and shake their fist and swerve into the lane closer to me. I know they could see me, so must have been other reason.........

It is not all the cyclist. I have never in my 49 years of living here seen so many retired folk in a hurry to get somewhere to do nothing but play golf, drink coffee at starbucks before it gets crowded and just be in a hurry for no reason. I am talking to the ones that drive like they are 2 hours late for a important date.

Now this post is to those that it applies to. Most people here are the friendliest in the world. I have had many fine people ride up beside me and tell me come on you can do it and so on. But to the couple in the red Mini-Van this past Saturday Morning about 1130am going north on Buena Vista turning right onto Stillwater, There must have been a divine intervention that made you take off after what you did. That was down right wrong and do not think it went unnoticed.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by GaryW

Along those lines, how about All vehicles need to pay attention to the road and others on the road and obey the speed limit. I wish I could count how many times I have people come beside me and shake their fist and swerve into the lane closer to me. I know they could see me, so must have been other reason.........

It is not all the cyclist. I have never in my 49 years of living here seen so many retired folk in a hurry to get somewhere to do nothing but play golf, drink coffee at starbucks before it gets crowded and just be in a hurry for no reason. I am talking to the ones that drive like they are 2 hours late for a important date.

Now this post is to those that it applies to. Most people here are the friendliest in the world. I have had many fine people ride up beside me and tell me come on you can do it and so on. But to the couple in the red Mini-Van this past Saturday Morning about 1130am going north on Buena Vista turning right onto Stillwater, There must have been a divine intervention that made you take off after what you did. That was down right wrong and do not think it went unnoticed.

Gary, I always know I can count on your posts for validity and from the perspective of a younger person. You have added so much accurate information over time and I know when I see your name that you will be fair and give excellent information.

It saddens me to say that there are those in this world who don't care about ANYONE but themselves and have some very thinly veiled cruel tendencies. They never ever try to control their impulses and enjoy hurting others and never try to see anything from another's point of view.

You see in on this forum, from folks who NEVER allow anyone to really KNOW them and come in and jab at most of the things the rest of us love.They enjoy trouble and they start things. They really do not know how to live peacefully among their fellow men (and women) on this earth. They DON't WANT to live peacefully. They thrive on trouble making.

Those are the people who are uncaring on the roads. As you say, most of us try to drive very carefully but that can't undo the harm done by the others. Unfortunatly, there are still nasty, bad, even evil people in this world...and I don't use the word evil very often.

Be very careful Gary. There are those who do care.

[crummybuttons]

Oh My! Not on the golf cart path please! Those bike people ride 2 and 3 abreast in the street and never move over when cars approach. It;s bad enough on the paths with walkers who walk together and don't budge.

Originally Posted by Happinow

Personally, I would like to see bicyclists ride on the golf cart path. I think it would be much safer. When I see cyclists on the main roads/in the round abouts I think of how dangerous it is for them. They aren't a motor vehicle but some of them act like they are and I find it sometimes problematic to navigate around them, especially when the roads are so busy. I would much rather encounter a biker or a pack of bickers on the golf cart path when I'm going much slower.

[crummybuttons]

What we need is to have police out there ticketing people going over the speed limit.

Originally Posted by pickleball22

Actually--I believe virtually every residential street in The Villages has a 20MPH limit ( other than Morse and Buena Vista ). Next time you drive down your own residential street make it a point to go no faster than 20MPH. You wll find that is plenty fast enough in a residential area--and you will fnd that MANY of your neighbors are exceedng the limit. What we need to do is to bring this subject up at our monthly neighborhood meetings!

[tzangrilli]

Originally Posted by crummybuttons

Oh My! Not on the golf cart path please! Those bike people ride 2 and 3 abreast in the street and never move over when cars approach. It;s bad enough on the paths with walkers who walk together and don't budge.

It is NOT a golf cart path, it is a multi modal trail meant for all to share.
No more than 2 abreast is the FL bicycle law which means if 2 cyclists are in a lane on a 4 lane road the car should move to the other lane if it would like to pass.

[Chazz]

Originally Posted by tzangrilli

It is NOT a golf cart path, it is a multi modal trail meant for all to share.
No more than 2 abreast is the FL bicycle law which means if 2 cyclists are in a lane on a 4 lane road the car should move to the other lane if it would like to pass.

Good point. The applicable law is 316.2065(6) which allows cyclists to ride up to 2 abreast within a single lane and when not impeding traffic. In a substandard sized lane (under 14 feet wide) a cyclist and a motor vehicle cannot share the same lane and still afford at least 3 feet of clearance for the cyclist, as required by Florida law 316.083. To lawfully pass a cyclist on such roads, the motor vehicle driver would have to pass using the next lane, if otherwise lawful. Therefore, cyclists riding 2 abreast cause no additional impediment to traffic. Please note that many of the lanes in TV are well under 14 feet wide.

[GaryW]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

Gary, I always know I can count on your posts for validity and from the perspective of a younger person. You have added so much accurate information over time and I know when I see your name that you will be fair and give excellent information.

It saddens me to say that there are those in this world who don't care about ANYONE but themselves and have some very thinly veiled cruel tendencies. They never ever try to control their impulses and enjoy hurting others and never try to see anything from another's point of view.

You see in on this forum, from folks who NEVER allow anyone to really KNOW them and come in and jab at most of the things the rest of us love.They enjoy trouble and they start things. They really do not know how to live peacefully among their fellow men (and women) on this earth. They DON't WANT to live peacefully. They thrive on trouble making.

Those are the people who are uncaring on the roads. As you say, most of us try to drive very carefully but that can't undo the harm done by the others. Unfortunatly, there are still nasty, bad, even evil people in this world...and I don't use the word evil very often.

Be very careful Gary. There are those who do care.

As Always with your post Miss GracieGirl

[jbdlfan]

Originally Posted by Trayderjoe

As much as it pains me to say, and with the potential for being "piled on", it is not always people hurrying who are the cause of, or involved in accidents. I would submit that there are people who are still driving that really need to surrender their license (or if they need the license for ID, should sell their car/stop driving). My mother recognized that she was losing depth perception when she was in her early 60's and had already stopped driving at night. She sold her car and surrendered her license. I am thankful that she did this not only for removing the potential for her hurting someone else, but also possibly hurting herself.

Hopefully if anyone recognizes themselves as possibly being in this "pool" of people, they will consider the harm that can be caused by their erroding abilities. Is killing someone worth the price of perceived independence? Remember that driving is a privilege and not a right. (Time to get off my soapbox.....)

You think when you find people driving their cars through barricades, through gate arms and cars on multimodal paths that it may be time for some drivers to get off the road?!?!?!?!?!?!

[ilovetv]

Originally Posted by jbdlfan

You think when you find people driving their cars through barricades, through gate arms and cars on multimodal paths that it may be time for some drivers to get off the road?!?!?!?!?!?!

It's not just elderly people.....it's also drunks and Lord knows, there are plenty of drunks here, there and everywhere.

[rubicon]

There is not one story told here that hasn't been told in every city around the world. It is why the word äccident"developed.

One poster made an excellent point by asking why bikes are allowed on roads and not golf carts, save street legal.

Conversely I always wondered why a golf cat eceeding 19.9mph had been given a ticket for exceeding 19.9mph with the pretense that exceeding that speed made the cart a motor vehicle and hence since not regitered an unregeistered vehicle and subject to a ticket and a fine. Yet a street legal vehicle because it was legal could exceed 19.9mph without getting a ticket

Finally, it has always been my position, and the comments on this thread support it, that The Villages was poorly designed given the creators knew this was going to be a huge golf cart community and that the people they would draw were going to be very physically active.

There should have beem pedestrian trails, bicycle trails both which could have been scenic Instead intentionally or otherwise the creators where very short sighted in their planning, that or they did not want to make the additional investment and left us with pivoting and dodging as we travel the roads and cart paths.