BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

The future leaders of America!

Yeah, we hope. I'm pretty sure they're in Alan Grayson's congressional district, too. Somethin's goin' on down there, what it is ain't exactly clear..

I have seen a lot of positive bike related things coming from Orlando, http://commuteorlando.com/

Interesting, it looks like FL has better bike laws than PA:

http://www.floridabicycle.org/rules/bikelaw.html

A link to a comparative summary of PA laws would be very helpful.

I was wondering if what those kids were doing (riding two abreast and taking the full lane with cars clearly behind them) was legal. According to the link above it is in FL, but I've never seen a provision like this in PA law:

"The 2-abreast rule only applies to roads on which a single rider can operate side-by-side with a motor vehicle (i.e. a lane 14 ft or wider, or a road with a bike lane). A single cyclist (or single line of cyclists) is entitled to the full use of a lane less than 14 ft wide, therefore it makes no difference in the flow of traffic for riders to be 2-abreast. In many cases it actually facilitates overtaking by reducing in half the distance needed to pass."

It's interesting to compare PA's bike laws with Florida's.

For instance, look at the Roadway Position section. In Florida, cyclists traveling slower than other traffic must "ride as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway" whenever the rightmost lane is wide enough to be shared with a car (except when passing, turning left, or for safety reasons).

On the other hand, PA doesn't have a corresponding rule specifically for cyclists. Instead they have a rule for any slower-moving traffic. All such vehicles must be "driven in the right-hand lane then available for traffic, or as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway" (with similar exceptions for passing, turning, and safety). I think this means you can be anywhere within the right-hand lane if there is a right-hand lane (i.e. if there are two or more lanes), but if there's only one lane you must stay to the right.

So Florida says in general you must stay to the right whenever the rightmost lane is wide, while PA only requires that when there's just one lane. Given two wide lanes, Florida forces you to the right, PA doesn't. Given one narrow lane, PA forces you to the right, Florida doesn't.

Both states specifically prohibit riding more than two abreast. PA has no further specific rules for riding two abreast, but Florida does: you can't impede traffic (or use more than one lane). In PA, I'm guessing the rules for roadway position then come into play: if there's one lane, you have to ride all the way to the right (so presumably you can't ride two abreast then) unless you can keep up with traffic. But if there's more than one lane, you both merely have to ride somewhere in the rightmost lane, as in Florida.

So on a road with a single narrow lane and cyclists going slower than other traffic, in Florida you can ride two abreast, but it looks like in PA you can't.

On the other hand, Florida law doesn't appear to explicitly say you can ride two abreast in such circumstances. It seems to be an inference the Florida Bicycle Association is making on that page, arguing that two riders in a narrow lane don't impede traffic any more than one would. A lawyer might argue that riding abreast makes passing harder, and that impedes traffic, so it's not legal.

Florida also permits cyclists to turn left from the right-hand lane. PA doesn't seem to permit that. Seems like it would be hard to do it safely even if it were legal here.

PA's requirements for brakes are much stricter. FL gives you 25 feet to stop from 10 mph. PA gives you 15 feet to stop from 15 mph. FL requires a rear light plus reflector; PA only a rear reflector. PA requires amber side reflectors; FL doesn't.

So laws in both states have good points and bad ones.

Watch the video under "Law Enforcement Products" in the middle of the page

Is there any way to encourage the city to use the resources mentioned at the end of the video?

(I hope I did the html right, not good at this stuff:( )