Before laws can be followed by all, they have to be known by all…Silly statement, right? Not when it comes to a few basic laws in the state of Florida for bicyclist. Let me give some examples. When you bicycle on a Florida road one should travel in the same direction of the traffic and follow all the traffic control devices just like motorist. These are laws that bicyclists break all the time. How many times have you seen someone riding a bicycle in a different direction as the traffic or ignoring a stop sign? I call them statistics but the truth is that they are more likely ignorant of our laws. And, these are basic laws that all bicyclists need to know to survive.
But for this article, I am going to discuss another law that everyone, motorists and bicyclists, using our roads needs to know and not so obvious that its needs to be followed by motorists and bicyclists alike. The law I am referring to is the 3 foot law and from what I can tell it is unknown by most bicyclists and motorist. It is a law that can differ from state to state, so many of our drivers and cyclists that have just moved to Florida or are just visiting the area are totally unaware. It is not the only one like this, but it is an important one when it comes to bicycle safety. This law reads as follows:
FS 316.083 - Overtaking and Passing a Vehicle
The following rules shall govern the overtaking and passing of vehicles proceeding in the same direction, subject to those limitations, exceptions, and special rules hereinafter stated:
(1) The driver of a vehicle overtaking another vehicle proceeding in the same direction shall pass to the left thereof at a safe distance, and shall not again drive to the right side of the roadway until safely clear of the overtaken vehicle. The driver of a vehicle overtaking a bicycle or other non-motorized vehicle must pass the bicycle or other non-motorized vehicle at a safe distance of not less than 3 feet between the vehicle and the bicycle or other non-motorized vehicle.
This is a law that is more challenging than the others as both bicyclists and motorists, including those that do not bike, need to know. For this reason this law was recently discussed at the June Lee County Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) meeting when one of the members made the motion to recommend the BOCC have "3 Feet Please - It's the Law" stickers put on all Lee County public vehicles to better educate the public about this law. At that time the motion was tabled for further discussion and discovery. But after that meeting I decided to do some investigation on my own since the idea of these stickers was new to me and sounded very interesting.
My investigation was pretty easy because when I put in “3 Feet Please” for keyword in Goggle I immediately found
http://www.3feetplease.com a web site created by Joe Mizereck for the purpose of promoting and educating the public about the 3 foot laws. At this web site I discovered you could not only get stickers there, but you could also purchase bicycle jerseys and t-shirts too. So I purchase one of each and tried them to see if it made any difference when used.
To my surprise both the t-shirt and the jersey both made a huge difference. Motorist approaching me from behind seemed to immediately see me, slow down and gave me plenty of room as they passed. This was true even as I navigated difficult a roads like Briarcliff Rd. As you can see below, this road can be a problem for cars and bicycles alike as the lanes are very tight.
With my 3feetplease shirt on people slow down and wait to pass when it was safe. This was a huge change for this road as before I used these shirts people would try to pass me even with on coming cars coming leaving me no where to go and risking a head on crash. I could not believe the difference these shirts made! Yes, there were still those drivers that still do not use due caution, but the change in most drivers was unbelievable.
The over whelming success of navigating the Lee County roads using 3feetplease shirts made me feel I have found one of the positive projects for my new blog site that can make bicycling more enjoyable and safer for all while educating the motoring public. Therefore, in my up coming articles I will continue to tell you about where promoting this has taken me.
