When you use your bicycle near a city street, do you use the bike lane or the sidewalk? Is riding on the sidewalk when a bike lane is available even legal?

Dee, from Orlando, writes in this week:

Is it a traffic violation to bike on the sidewalk or do we have to stay in the bike lane?

The state of Florida can be a dangerous place to ride a bicycle.

How dangerous is it, though? The state is currently the most dangerous state in in the United States for bicyclists. More fatal wrecks involving bicycles happen in the Sunshine State than anywhere else in the country, according to a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

To answer your question, Dee: You, as a bicyclist, have the option of using a bike lane or the sidewalk. It is whatever you feel comfortable with.

In some areas, though — especially in metropolitan areas like downtown Orlando — there are city ordinances forbidding bicyclists to use the sidewalk.

That begs the question: Are bike lanes wide enough?

Just a few weeks ago, a bicyclist was killed off of State Road 436 in Altamonte Springs while riding in a bike lane. Some would argue the lanes don't appear to be very wide. In fact, they are just 4 feet wide. That could change in the next few years.

Amanda Day, from Best Foot Forward, said: "Is it unsafe? Yes. And that is one of the reasons why the Florida Department of Transportation through its study and research has just come up with a policy change mandating 4 feet to 7 feet for bike lanes."

There is another option: You could use a full lane of traffic, as well.

Cycling Savvy, a program of the American Bicycling Education Association, is an advocate of using a full lane of traffic and using your bicycle as a vehicle.

In Florida, a bicycle is legally defined as a vehicle and the bicyclist is defined as a driver with the same rights to the roadways and the same traffic laws to abide by as drivers of other vehicles.

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