Florida Bicycle Laws

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Roadway Position Explained

State Law says you must ride as far to the right as practicable. It does NOT say as far to the right as possible. Practicable means capable of being done within the means and circumstances present.

A cyclist should maintain no less than 2 feet of clearance from the edge of usable pavement to have room to maneuver around obstructions and to be more visible to crossing traffic. (NOTE: useable pavement does not include the gutter pan or any area frequently obstructed by debris or other hazards.)

In an extra-wide lane a cyclist should ride farther left—about 4 feet from the flow of traffic—to operate in the focus area of crossing traffic and reduce vulnerability to common collisions

When a lane is too narrow for a bicycle and a car to share safely, the cyclist is entitled to the use of the entire lane. Within this lane, the cyclist usually rides on the right half to facilitate visibility for overtaking motorists, but should ride far enough left to discourage motorists from trying to squeeze past within the lane.

Although the law uses the term "substandard" to discribe a lane that is not wide enough to share, these narrow lane-widths make up most of our roads.