commuterBOBbie

It's not a requirement. It's also not in the statutes. It's the reasoning behind the 14 ft being a "standard" width and anything less not being shareable...
4 ft of operating space, 3 ft of buffer. Riding 2 ft in is sortof a general recommended distance from the edge.
Here's a diagram.

CommuterRun

Roger; I've seen that diagram and others like it before. The way I read your earlier post sounded like these distances were some mandated thing; my bad. The 2' from the road edge is the absolute minimum safe distance, and that is only if there are no obstructions or hazards along the edge of the road. This is a case where more is better.

Sailorman13

Unenforced laws may not be followed much, but unknown laws are followed even less. I'd bet dollars to donuts that not 1 in 5 Florida drivers are aware of the 3' passing law, and not 1 in 10 are aware that a bike has a right to take a substandard lane. I wonder why the 3' passing law got about 10% of the news coverage that was given to the new law about changing lanes when approaching stopped police vehicles.
Someone here on BF has an avatar of a sign about bikes having full use of a lane. These should be planted on all streets under 14' in Florida, even if they have to be provided by some private organization. They are desperately needed here, as are signs informing drivers of the 3' passing law.

droobieinop

I'm still looking, I'm not sure now as to exactly where I saw what, but I did find a reference on page 17 of this pdf from fba https://www.floridabicycle.org/resour...7-31-08web.pdf

Thanks another lnk for reference, doesn't get much clearer than that.

I would think that if the DOT calls 2 ft the "minimum safe" then that is a mandate, but like I said I'm still looking.

btw... sorry if the flo-ridas have hijacked this, 'twas not my intention, hope the discussion is helpful to all.

commuterBOBbie

I bet 1 in 10 Floridians are aware it's a state law they have to yield to pedestrians in a crosswalk, and 1 in a 1000 know that every intersection has crosswalks extending from the public ROW whether or not they are marked, even if there is no sidewalk.

Even though the "move over" law got more news coverage, most motorists still don't know about it and still don't move over or slow down when there are emergency vehicles on the shoulder.

The problem with this state (and the whole US, I suspect) is that we require barely any competence or knowledge for driving a motor vehicle. It's an entitlement with very little responsibility attached to it anymore.

That said, I don't think any amount of publicity for the 3 foot law will change motorist behavior. There's 2 kinds of close passing - mindless and deliberate.

The mindless ones aren't thinking about a law or anything else, they're just squeezing by in the space available. Cyclists have a lot more control over that than most of them use. Should a cyclist get ample clearance no matter where he's riding? Of course! Reality - motorists are mindless, you have to be assertive if you want respect..

The deliberate ones don't give a **** about the law. Our only defense against them is to leave plenty of usable pavement on our right.

In 67 miles today I think the average passing distance was 6-8 feet. There were a couple deliberate close passes and a couple mindless ones (because we left too much extra space in the lane). Got yelled at to get off the road by a guy in the left lane of a 4-lane road while we were in a bike lane. Got honked at by someone who passed easily in the left lane of another 4-lane road. Didn't get any flack from any of the motorists who had to slow a few seconds to pass safely.

I do love the Bikes May Use Full Lane (BMUFL) sign. I'd sure like to see some of them around here. It's about as unambiguous a TCD as we'll ever get! And maybe it will convince more cyclists to come off the edge of the road and ride like they mean it.

But the 3 foot law. Meh. I can think of better things to spend energy on.

JohnBrooking

Hey, that was my idea!!