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Friday, August 19, 2016

Bloggytown

Oviedo cop tries to pull over biker, instead gets hard lesson in Florida bicycle law

Posted By Colin Wolf on Fri, Aug 19, 2016 at 11:25 AM

A police officer in Oviedo, Florida, attempted to pull over a bicyclist for riding in the street, but instead was served with a giant nugget of truth.

In the video above, the officer flips his lights on because he assumed the bicyclist should be riding on the sidewalk.

However, things went Stone Cold Steve Austin when the biker opened up a can of statute 316, which in this circumstance makes it completely legal to ride with traffic.

"Funny enough, he was driving right next to me for a few moments before he decided it was time to turn the lights on, like he was trying to figure out whether or not I was actually breaking any laws," said the cyclist on Reddit. "Apparently, he pulled me over because 'I don't want to see you get killed.' So OK, that's fair. How about you pull over everyone speeding on that road instead? That would significantly reduce the chances of getting killed."

Here's more on the bike section of Florida statute 316 for anyone wondering:

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.

Know your rights, folks.

Tags: Oviedo, Bike, Bicyclist, law, Video, Image

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