Pedestrians in Bike Lanes

Question

Beau asked:  Is there a Florida statute or specific law here in Florida, that explicitly prohibits pedestrians and joggers from using/occupying bicycle lanes? Protected, buffered or marked?  I am aware of Section 316.130 (3),F.S.  Has such a statute been proposed or drafted?

Answer

The statute to which you refer is this.

s. 316.130 – Pedestrians; Traffic Regulations

(3) Where sidewalks are provided, no pedestrian shall, unless required by other circumstances, walk along and upon the portion of a roadway paved for vehicular traffic.

(4) Where sidewalks are not provided, any pedestrian walking along and upon a highway shall, when practicable, walk only on the shoulder on the left side of the roadway in relation to the pedestrian’s direction of travel, facing traffic which may approach from the opposite direction.

Note that walking on a shoulder, and presumably not in the roadway, is required only when practicable.  

See this post about paved shoulders marked as bike lanes.

There is no other legislation that addresses your issue.

6 Comments on “Pedestrians in Bike Lanes

  1. If there’s a sidewalk pedestrians should not be on the road including the bike lane, right??

    • Florida law also requires bicyclist to ride in a single line, not side-by-side. Unfortunately bicyclist Want everyone else to obey the law While they ignore the laws.

  2. That makes sense, and it’s equal. On sidewalks pedestrians have the right away, on bike paths bikes have the right away. Finally a law that makes sense maybe it’s the start of a good thing, I hope.

  3. Recently I observed a situation where a pedestrian was walking in the bike lane. A biker came up to the pedestrian and moved out of the bike lane without signaling and almost was hit by a car trying to pass the bicycle. If the car would have hit the bicyclist who would have been at fault.

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