Bicycle Friendly America Winter 2018 - 28

STATE ADVOCACY

I'M JUST A BILL:
PROTECTING VULNERABLE
ROAD USERS IN FLORIDA
BECKY AFONSO

ednesday, August 9, 2017 - As I was blogging about
getting back to school and back to work while attending
the Florida Department of Transportation's Transplex
summit, a Florida Senator made good on his word and filed a
general bill, SB 116 - Operation of Vehicles.
I did not discover this bill filing until Friday, August 11, and
when I saw the bill and read the language, I felt a sense of joy,
a sense of hope and an overwhelming sense of satisfaction. We
have in play for the 2018 Florida legislative session a bill to
include vulnerable road users in the current Move Over law
[F.S. 316.126(b)].
This bill did not come about by happenstance. In 2015, Billy
Hattaway, then working as Florida Department of Transportation's District One Secretary and "Champion" of FDOT's
Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Coalition (Alert Today Alive
Tomorrow), had FDOT staff analyze the move-over idea to
include changes in the proposed legislative from FDOT.
As Hattaway stated in a March 31, 2015, NewsPress.com

28 BICYCLE FRIENDLY AMERICA

Share the Road series article discussing the issues law enforcement has with enforcing the bicycle 3-foot passing law [F.S.
316.083(1)],
"I'm trying to eliminate laws that aren't enforceable.
Certainly, if you have a move-over law for emergency
vehicles and vehicles with flashing lights and bicyclists,
you're sending a consistent message."
For whatever reasons, the measure was not part of FDOT
legislative changes. However, in the Association's capacity of
serving on the FDOT safety coalition, I knew of the proposed
changes. The measure was picked up by Florida Bicycle Association after a membership survey to develop a 2016 legislative
platform. "Move Over for People" became FBA's top priority.
Here's the current platform:
The Florida Bicycle Association (FBA) supports statutory
provisions to ensure the safety and rights of bicyclists.
To achieve this goal, we ask Florida's legislators to consider
the following:
1. Expand the current Move Over law to include vulnerable
road users.
A. This consideration will replace the current 3-foot passing law for bicyclists, deemed unenforceable by numerous law enforcement agencies. 2018 SB 116 / HB
117
2. Create Vulnerable Road User legislation that is enforceable regardless of leaving the scene of the crash.
3. Make texting while driving a primary offense for all drivers. 2018 SB 90 / HB 33
4. Clean up statutory language with regards to definitions
of sidewalks, crosswalks, lane position of bicyclists and
other related matters.
5. Continue to support FDOT's SUNTrail and Complete
Streets initiatives, in addition to funding initiatives for
nature surface trails.
FBA membership has been encouraged over the last year to
reach out to legislators to make this simple ask. At the end of
the 2017 Florida legislative session, we had no bill or bill sponsor, but we continued to reach out to lawmakers. Through the

http://www.alerttodayflorida.com/ http://www.alerttodayflorida.com/ http://www.NewsPress.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Bicycle Friendly America Winter 2018