So long story short, I hopped into a bicycle lane and road it up to a stop light because someone behind me was tailgating me on their cellphone and kept letting off their brakes not paying attention. Statey saw me and pulled me over an issued a ticket.

anyways, I'm trying to order the transcript of my hearing.

The judge said "someone tailgating you on their cellphone DOES NOT IMPOSE AN IMMEDIATE DANGER" to me on my motorcycle.

The judge and officer were both snickering during the hearing I even said at one point "Don't laugh"

so hopefully the transcript caught it...


BTW I'm still under the notion of there is no law saying you CANNOT ride in a bicycle lane on a motorcycle. Despite what this judge said, she had already made up her mind as soon as I walked in there. and the whole thing was terribly rushed. I couldn't even get my jacket off before being told to go up to the stand.

Anyways I just paid it outright, huge waste of my time. US court system fail once again.
Had a good giggle afterwards with co-workers at the comments the judge made throughout the hearing. Here are a few.
"A bicycle lane is for bicycle only" - says that no where in the state or county laws.
"a car behind you on their cellphone poses no immediate danger" - LOLWUT?
*Judge giggles with officer mc-wasteyourtime* as I spoke my half of the story.


But one thing I learned from all of this..
A. My tag's are going back to being "tucked"
B. going back to the way I was about 3 years ago, never pulling over for traffic stops again. literally had no issues doing this, only had issues until after I started following the law.

It's illegal for any motor powered vehicle to ride in the bicycle lane.
Arizona and Pennsylvania for sure. especially if you're seen essentially as using it as a passing lane.

Quote from: jpfeiffer14 on May 25, 2018, 08:00:42 AM
It's illegal for any motor powered vehicle to ride in the bicycle lane.
Arizona and Pennsylvania for sure. especially if you're seen essentially as using it as a passing lane.

yes lots of states laws, STATE that its illegal to do so, in Florida, It's apparently assumed illegal, but nothing says its illegal. only thing it says it that if a marked bicycle lane exist, BICYCLIST HAVE TO USE IT.

Only thing that also pertains to the law is about lane width and that a vehicle. must operate within the full width of the provided lane. doesn't say that a small bicycle lane cannot be rode in by a motorcycle.

Anyway I was cited for using the bicycle lane and making a pass on another vehicle from the right using the shoulder [a shoulder and bicycle lane are TWO SEPARATE things but the judge refused to hear my argument on that at all, and kept interrupting me as I was trying to explain the definitions provided by the state law. and I even saw her flip through her book and look down at it, and I knew she couldn't find anything because she did not cite a single law that I actually broke. basically kept telling me it was a bicycle lane and its common sense.

But I was cited for Driving OFF THE SHOULDER/PAVED PORTION OF THE ROAD.

NOT RIDING IN THE BICYCLE LANE!

fkin BS is what I say. Judge refused to even listen to what I  had to say, it was clearly going in one ear out the other.


Quote I pulled off a bicycle legal riding website explaining it in detail.

"in most roadways, this is the white line painted on the outer edge of the road. When a paved shoulder exists, it is not part of the roadway (important!). When a bike lane is marked, it is a traffic lane and is part of the roadway."

so how did I drive off the fkin' pavement if its also a traffic lane.

Quote from: jpfeiffer14 on May 25, 2018, 08:00:42 AM
It's illegal for any motor powered vehicle to ride in the bicycle lane.

Lots of "spooky tooth" riders here and they don't get grief for using the bike lanes.  Even if it's stated as illegal it seems the cops don't mind motorized bicycles.


Anyway, J_Walker, I feel for you if the court hearing was less than professional.  I'd argue that you still broke the law, but if you were sited for using the shoulder I wonder if there is a way to contest the results.
It might not be worth your time or money depending on how much the ticket was.

Was another traffic lane not an option?
Or what about just pulling into the bike lane and STOPPING rather than using it to overtake?  If you pulled over as if there was a problem maybe the cop wouldn't have even lit it up, or maybe he would have approached you wanting to HELP rather than punish.


Anyway, it's stuff like this as to why I wear a camera daily.  Haven't had to use it for any kind of legal action yet, but it will be there if I need it.
I don't advocate you "never pull over for traffic stops again".  Aside from being really dangerous, evading police is a lot more serious than a ticket for, say, running a red light.
Don't be one of those FTP people...

Florida seems to have unusually restrictive bike lane laws but as a general rule it seems that one of two of their laws, if not both, would apply: a) if the bike lane is marked for bikes then it is for the preferential or exclusive use of unmotorized bicycles, and b) if there is a painted line on the margin of the road then you can't drive a motor vehicle outside the painted line (shoulder) particularly to pass.

So whether you personally think since neither law explicitly excludes YOU from riding a motorcycle in whatever that not-motor-vehicle-lane is with the language you prefer, it's pretty clear that the intent of the law is for motor vehicles to remain in the marked traffic lane if such marking exists.

Watcher had a good point, your remedy if you really thought the car behind you was endangering you would be to pull over and stop, then rejoin traffic behind the other driver.

Here is what I found:
316.1995 Driving upon sidewalk or bicycle path.—
(1) Except as provided in s. 316.008 or s. 316.212(, a person may not drive any vehicle other than by human power upon a bicycle path, sidewalk, or sidewalk area, except upon a permanent or duly authorized temporary driveway.
(2) A violation of this section is a noncriminal traffic infraction, punishable as a moving violation as provided in chapter 318.
(3) This section does not apply to motorized wheelchairs.

(5) BICYCLE PATH.—Any road, path, or way that is open to bicycle travel, which road, path, or way is physically separated from motorized vehicular traffic by an open space or by a barrier and is located either within the highway right-of-way or within an independent right-of-way.

I guess you could have argued the definition of "open space," but the intent of the law seems pretty clear to me. You cannot legally operate a motor vehicle in a bicycle path in Florida. The definition of bicycle path seems to include those directly adjacent to roads (within the right-of-way) and fully separated bike paths.

I think you could legally push your motorcycle in the bike lane since that would be "human powered."

i have to respectfully disagree with you. hard enough for cyclists to ride safely. ( yes even the @$$hole ones. ) but leaven them that 2 ft. since theyve little else to ride safely on. as a spooky tooth or motorised bicycle builder. this is a tricky area. most places still treated as a bicycle. and not a moped due to power and engine size. and not rteated as a moped or lol a motorcycle. this instance i can see it both ways. cyclists however are at a distinct disadvantage over other modes of transportation. anyhoo. did your system fail, perhaps . was there a need to be in lane.? only you know this. i dont . i wasnt there. could judge and cop been more professional? absolutely. ( taking your account as fact/ taking your word as it happened) no judicial system is perfect on this earth. thats the only truth there/
Aaron

Couldn't move over to the right, was stuck in traffic, and was in the furthermost right lane next to the bike lane.

I was cited for driving off the paved portion of the road, WRONG. should of been tossed out, instead the judge acted unprofessional like a childish highschool girl.

ticket wasn't that much, the ticket wasn't even the issue, I needed a judge to agree with me that a bike lane on a roadway is an acceptable lane for motorcycles to safely operate in while in danger of another bad driver. so I could submit the ruling to get the law to be clearly defined. I've been working on a new set of motorcycle laws/rules to submit for the state since my accident. lane splitting has been shot down so many times its not a worthwhile attempt. you can't even ride side by side, and a wheelie ticket is a $1000 ticket. but you can operate a motorcycle wearing whitey tightys and no helmet... basically our motorcycle laws are all over the place, and I have been working side by side with a law lawyer to get things changed.

few short an too the point things I'm trying to change.

U-turns on double yellow solid lines are a no-go.
Motorcycles can operate in the bike lanes if avoiding dangerous drivers or if traffic is moving slower than 15mph.
Getting the across the board helmet law put in place [we had one, they removed it] only required if you're under 21.
Motorcyclist can ride side-by side.
if a motorist brake checks a motorcycle to cause a lowside/highside/rear-end/collision the motorist is responsible for the accident.


also I wanted a helmet cam for a long time now, too expensive. and a crappy one is not gonna be that great in quality or show the detail required.

Quote from: J_Walker on May 27, 2018, 12:27:01 PM
few short an too the point things I'm trying to change.

U-turns on double yellow solid lines are a no-go.
So long as you can turn left over a double-yellow I don't think this will ever be possible.
Motorcycles can operate in the bike lanes if avoiding dangerous drivers or if traffic is moving slower than 15mph.
I disagree.  Bike lanes are for bicyclists and should remain as such.
Getting the across the board helmet law put in place [we had one, they removed it] only required if you're under 21.
I can get behind helmet laws.
Motorcyclist can ride side-by side.
Absolutely not.  I can site at least one case where doing this has directly resulted in a rider's death.  Life isn't CHiPs, life is life, if one rider has to swerve they have nowhere to go.
if a motorist brake checks a motorcycle to cause a lowside/highside/rear-end/collision the motorist is responsible for the accident.
That's the law as it is, brake checking is not an acceptable practice, but in a court where it's your word vs his the only thing that will help you is video evidence.  That being said, if you're following close enough to be affected by a brake check you're just endangering yourself.  Change your attitude.


also I wanted a helmet cam for a long time now, too expensive. and a crappy one is not gonna be that great in quality or show the detail required.

I've been really happy with my Sena Prism Tube for $120.  Here's a video showing a few different times of day/night and situations for you to get an idea of how it records.  YT's compression is notorious for making videos look worse than they actually are, as does Windows Movie Maker, so the videos do look better in their raw format.

I disagree, with your disagreements.

WE need law calcification instead of letting judges who are often times bias towards motorcyclist decide things, or cops in that manner.

Side by side riding, especially in traffic saves room and causes less conjugation, our roads are terrible around here there's no efficiency involved. the fact they build highways in areas, that the only way the highways would be efficient is if the roads leading to them could handle the motor-traffic, but they don't. What once was a single county road, with a dirt road off of it, is now a 4 lane road, that merges to a 2 lane road right after a stop light, that now more and more traffic is using because they opened up a highway off this road. causing huge amounts of traffic, I've seen 4 motorcycles stacked taking up basically 4 car lengths of roadway or a semitrailers worth of road, for 4 tiny motorcycles.

Florida is an interesting place, where family's own portions or whole lakes/waterways legally. and as long as you rub the right butt, you can get any thing passed legally, I will be rubbing lots of butts. 

As far as the U-turn thing goes. if there's no where to go on the left hand side, such as a property or road, than It's pretty clear that the driver was making a U-turn there. plus MOST drivers will admit to making a U-turn especially if they don't know that making a U-turn on a double yellow would be illegal. so right there is enough for a conviction.

If we can get a law passed saying you have to be 21+ to own a long rifle, than anything's fkin' possible in this a**-backwards southern state.

Coming to a stop side by side in slow/stopped traffic is one thing.  It's not illegal anywhere (that I'm aware of), nor is it dangerous.

Riding side by side is just stupid.


I think you misunderstood my U-turn argument.  I think a U-turn is functionally identical to a left turn in traffic, and unless specifically forbidden by signage I think it should (and usually does) follow the same rules as a left turn.
I think if you're allowed to turn left over a double yellow you should be able to U-turn over a double yellow.  If you're going to make one forbidden you should make the other forbidden as well.

Quote from: Watcher on May 28, 2018, 02:40:34 PM
Coming to a stop side by side in slow/stopped traffic is one thing.  It's not illegal anywhere (that I'm aware of), nor is it dangerous.

Riding side by side is just stupid.


I think you misunderstood my U-turn argument.  I think a U-turn is functionally identical to a left turn in traffic, and unless specifically forbidden by signage I think it should (and usually does) follow the same rules as a left turn.
I think if you're allowed to turn left over a double yellow you should be able to U-turn over a double yellow.  If you're going to make one forbidden you should make the other forbidden as well.

Nope, in Florida you will get flashed for sitting side by side at stop lights or heavy traffic. every time. normally by state troopers, that's the issue here. they will say "you can sit staggered but not side by side."

that's what I'm trying to do here, get some legal clarification on what is allowed and isn't. instead of leaving it up to a case by case basis. make it black and white and straight forward.

Making a left hand turn illegal on a double yellow would be fine if it didn't hurt rural property owners, and I'm not about that.