Jaywalking Citation for a Cyclist?
Question
Heather asked: Can a jaywalking ticket be legally issued to a bicyclist that never put a foot off the bicycle, or even legally issued at all?
Answer
Jaywalking covers a lot of circumstances and is a pedestrian offense. A full discussion can be found here:
http://traffic.findlaw.com/traffic-tickets/jaywalking.html
s. 316.003 – Definitions
(4) Pedestrian – Any person afoot.
Obviously, a person on a bicycle is not afoot and is operating a vehicle. However, a bicyclist on the sidewalk or crosswalk has the rights and duties of a pedestrian under the same circumstances.
s. 316.2065 – Bicycle Regulations
(9) A person propelling a vehicle by human power upon and along a sidewalk, or across a roadway upon and along a crosswalk, has all the rights and duties applicable to a pedestrian under the same circumstances.
These are the possible jaywalking violations. Note that they all specify “pedestrian” and therefore could include a bicyclist with the rights and duties of a pedestrian.
s. 316.130 – Pedestrians; Traffic Regulations
(1) A pedestrian shall obey the instructions of any official traffic control device specifically applicable to the pedestrian unless otherwise directed by a police officer.
(2) Pedestrians shall be subject to traffic control signals at intersections …. but at all other places pedestrians shall be accorded the privileges and be subject to the restrictions stated in this chapter.
(8) No pedestrian shall suddenly leave a curb or other place of safety and walk or run into the path of a vehicle which is so close that it is impossible for the driver to yield.
(10) Every pedestrian crossing a roadway at any point other than within a marked crosswalk or within an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection shall yield the right-of-way to all vehicles upon the roadway.
(11) Between adjacent intersections at which traffic control signals are in operation, pedestrians shall not cross at any place except in a marked crosswalk.
(12) No pedestrian shall, except in a marked crosswalk, cross a roadway at any other place than by a route at right angles to the curb or by the shortest route to the opposite curb.
(14) No pedestrian shall cross a roadway intersection diagonally unless authorized by official traffic control devices, and, when authorized to cross diagonally, pedestrians shall cross only in accordance with the official traffic control devices pertaining to such crossing movements.
If the citation is for a violation of (1) or (2) above, it is likely valid. The only one that is questionable is (8) above since bicyclists on a sidewalk have the same rights and duties as pedestrians under the same circumstances. If the citation is for leaving the curb or sidewalk in an unsafe manner, it might be valid. For (10) through (14) above, a cyclist in the roadway could not be correctly cited for a pedestrian violation.
We really need more information on where you were riding and what direction, were you on the sidewalk or the road?
Also, not using the Status, you could of received a ticket for going the wrong way since when going into the street you are considered a vehicle since you are suppose to go with the flow of traffic.
If you go off the side walk, cut across the street to the other sidewalk, downtown between two stop lights then you were jaywalking.
Learn the laws for a bicycle.
I don’t understand keithmj’s comment:
” If you go off the side walk, cut across the street to the other sidewalk, downtown between two stop lights then you were jaywalking.
Learn the laws for a bicycle.”
What he was stating seems to be the rule for pedestrians, not cyclists.
If I am riding on a two way street and make a left turn to the other side of the street ( say into a driveway) between two stop signs, I am not jaywalking. If on my bicycle I leave a driveway on the right side of the street and drive into one on the left side of the street in the middle of a block, I don’t believe I am jay walking either ( seems to be a legal move for all vehicles).
BTW this is a great site with excellent questions/answers about bicycling in Florida. Well done!
In most cities if you are in town where you have crosswalks and red lights you are suppose to cross at the crosswalk. Most city blocks have crosswalks. If you cross the street any place except in the crosswalks that is considered Jaywalking. And you can receive a ticket. So if you are in the middle of the block and walk across the street to the other side where there is not a crosswalk then you would be jaywalking.
If a bike rider wants to be treated as a vehicle then they should stay on the road.
If you are riding on the sidewalk then we are treated like a pedestrian and follow the rules of a pedestrian. There is not enough information given so we just have the laws to go by.
If you are not downtown you will not be given a ticket for jaywalking so I assumed that they would be downtown. I would say that if you are downtown on a bike on the sidewalk and you ride across the street to the other side back onto the sidewalk then you are jaywalking as the officer thought. If pedestrians can’t do it then why would a bike be allowed to do it?
Vehicles crossing from one driveway to the other side to the driveway were not driving on the sidewalk and can not drive on it to get to the crosswalk to get to the other side.
The idea is to keep people out of the street and to keep crossing in certain areas.
Just to clarify: crossing a street on foot at an urban “mid-block” location is illegal only if (1) no crosswalk is marked at the location AND both adjacent intersections have traffic signals OR, otherwise, if (2) no crosswalk is marked at the location and the pedestrian fails to yield to street traffic.
A cyclist who crossed the street at such a location by entering the roadway at a driveway and leaving the roadway at a driveway on the opposite side of the street would be making a movement governed by the rules for drivers.