Look, ma ... no hands!

We've all wanted to say that while riding a bicycle, but do you get a ticket for doing that?

Sam, from Cocoa Beach, writes in this week:

Is it true you can get a ticket in Florida for riding your bicycle without your hands on the handlebars?

"Well, generally speaking, obviously it's unsafe," said Christian Henrich, of Orlando's Retro City Cycles. "You're not controlling the bicycle. I've been riding bikes for 30 years, and I've got a pretty good handle on what the bike is going to do. So yeah, probably I'm OK with taking my hands off the handlebars."

With sentiment like that, it may be surprising to some that it was illegal as recently as 2012 when a 2011 law was repealed from Florida Statute.

That law stated that "a person operating a bicycle must keep at least one hand upon the handlebars."

"Cars literally get away with murder every day," Henrich said. "Those are the kinds of laws I'm looking for. Taking your hands off the bars? How long are you going to do that? Two seconds? Three seconds?"

So, to answer Sam's question: There currently is no Florida law preventing you from riding a bike without your hands on the handlebars.

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