Tampa FL news story: Legal Limbo?

Besides the DMV letter above, there is another on this site from the FHP, both claim MBs in FL are illegal. These letters are not the law, only their opinion of it. DMV nor FHP make the laws, they are only to enforce them.
The elected officals in Tallahassee make the laws. It's up to a judge to determine if the law as written by the law makers has been broken. If a judge decides on the statues the way they appear to read, then MBs are legal in FL.
Has anyone contacted their State Rep and asked to get some clairity on this issue? Maybe request some language added to the current statutes that specifies motorized bicycles are also mopeds. Who can write a short, clear and concise letter that we can all copy, sign and mail to each of our districts representative?

I'm gathering information in a bunch of polls. We will have a meeting and discuss all the issues. At later date we will be meeting with a law maker in hopes of getting a well defined law pertaining to our bikes.

Terry

i am pretty sure that is what's going on. the office of Rep Matt Gaetz told me that the bill is being constructed now and the changes are going to the house to be approved and then sent to Gov Scott for signature in to law. What I did on my end is I sent an email to Gov Scott's office requesting the bill be passed into law to allow for the gas powered bicycles. What I ask of everyone on here from Florida is to do the same thing. The more people that write him showing interest in having the gas powered bicycles might help our cause. Here is the link to contact him.
Florida Governor Rick Scott - Email the Governor
This is how we lobby to make this happen, by contacting the law makers directly and voicing our concern. Let's make this happen. It will take everyone on here less time to write and send this email then it would to get your kids into bed at night. Also find your local district rep and email them. here is the list of reps in the state.
Florida House of Representatives - Representatives
if you know where their office is located, take time to go over and talk with them on the issue. These are the things I have been doing for the last couple of months and it seems to be working. The time couldn't be more right for all of us to contact them, when they are constructing the bill. Remeber one thing!! There are only 120 Reps in the state of Florida and there is almost 19 million people that live and work in Florida. We out number them so our voice will be louder in numbers if we act now. With the day and age of computers this will be the fastest way to get our voice heard by the law makers. I do hope you all join me in the pursuit.

My recommendation would be for you to look up your state statutes online, print them and carry them in your bag with you whenever you are out. Most officers who bother to stop you at all are NOT familiar with obscure laws such as those that govern Motorized/Motor-Assisted bicycles. State Law may not even apply, E.g.: What happens if your bike IS capable of exceeding 30, does this morph your bike into a motorcycle or, as in Maine, does it mean your bike simply no longer matches the definition of Motorized Bicycle? They cannot nab you for illegal motorized bicycle if, according to statute definition, you are not riding a motorized bicycle. Just be respectful of the officer when you show him he's "mistaken" and you should be okay.

The head DMV office in Tallahassee stand by this document.
Got it from the dmv and its signed by a DMV notary and tax collector. Use it and you'll be fine. This is what i showed to the state attourney at my trial and the ticket/charges were dropped and was free to go without payin' a $.

Kona, if i remember correctly you are an officer.
what i'm going to ask is with no disrespect.
i know when i get pulled over driving or i go to court, either an officer or a judge always says," ignorance is no excuse.
so what happens to an officer if he writes a ticket that is totally incorrect. not a technicality. does that affect the officer. do they get reprimanded?
i know i would have to take half a day off of work to go to court & the officer might not even bother to show.
what happens in the case of the county in florida where they keep writing tickets for motorized bikes even though the judge is throwing them out?
is it considered harassment then?
i am lucky because my local tax collector called the sheriff to ask about their stance about motorised bikes.their response was that they only care if it is over 50cc.
my county is pretty nice like that.
i once got pulled over & they didn't take me to jail for driving on a suspended license.
i had a copy of a canceled check & a copy that they signed for a registered letter 2 weeks earlier & didn't apply it to my ticket yet.
so yes carrying info is a wise idea as you said.

Thanks for the question, deco! It is a good one and very fair. I'm happy to answer.

The short of it is that WHENEVER you are stopped by an officer and there is NO component of the situation (your behavior or information an officer has about your presence in that area) that would allow an officer to REASONABLY SUSPECT a violation of law is occurring then this becomes a Civil Rights Violation issue.

HOWEVER: Keep in mind that almost ALWAYS, when Officers "loose" in court, it is because the officer at the time of the incident either was not familiar enough with the law to have applied it correctly or their report or testimony in court was inadequate to substantiate the elements of the crime... or there is a gray area in the language of the law that the judge has to decide about and usually will side with you. You will be hard pressed to fly a civil rights violation lawsuit when the officer, sloppy as his was, was acting in good faith.

Then again, if the SAME officer has stopped you MORE THAN ONCE for a SAME violation about which you have already prevailed against him in court you would have a much stronger civil rights claim, and in that situation I would aak you at LEAST file a complaint with that officer's Internal Affairs division (people like that make ME look bad as well.)

Sorry all for the long-winded response. All I am saying is that, rather than go through the entire hassle of courts & missing work, it would be very helpful for you AND THE OFFICER if you had a copy of that, lets face it VERY obscure, set of laws WITH you when you're out there. Some officers are indeed a--holes but most really are trying to and believe they are doing the right thing. As long as you are RESPECTFUL when you bring facts to their attention it is very possible they'll even thank you for it!

James912 said:

The head DMV office in Tallahassee stand by this document.

Got it from the dmv and its signed by a DMV notary and tax collector. Use it and you'll be fine. This is what i showed to the state attourney at my trial and the ticket/charges were dropped and was free to go without payin' a $.

Click to expand...

Any chance of you scanning that to pdf? Showing someone a print out of a photo is not the best document to present as evidence. thanks

Is there a bill # and if so what is it.Its nice when you meet your rep that you have a copy of the bill.you will not belive how many bills a rep has to deal with in a year.In the past I even wrote on the copy: Please vote YES on this bill ( bill #*****) Thank you,your name and town or city your from.

Face facts, there will probably never be a bill introduced allowing gas bicycles, without registration, at the very least...
There is NO INCENTIVE to introduce an issue into a bill unless it's a civil rights issue or generates revenue..
Since not registering a gas bike introduces no revenue, it will never pass..
The ONLY thing I see them doing IS introducing something into a bill (like registering a gas bike as a moped) as that will generate revenue for the state..

This is only my opinion and NOT what I want to happen... I just feel that's what's going to happen.

ahha sweet, i love it. gona print these out and keep em handy...time to ride them sidewalks

bAllah said:

ahha sweet, i love it. gona print these out and keep em handy...time to ride them sidewalks

Click to expand...

You can ride on the sidewalk ONLY when pedaling and the motor is OFF...
You can still be ticketed for not riding under human power on a side walk...

The violation would be:
FS 316.1995 – Driving upon Sidewalk or Bicycle Path

No person shall drive any vehicle other than by human power upon a bicycle path, sidewalk, or sidewalk area, except upon a permanent or duly authorized temporary driveway. A violation of this section is a noncriminal traffic infraction, punishable as a moving violation as provided in chapter 318.

The statutory penalty would probably be:
FS 318.18* Amount of penalties

(3)(a)**Except as otherwise provided in this section, $60 for all moving violations not requiring a mandatory appearance.

There would be additional court costs that could be $100 or more.

That aint a print out. That is a official document that i took a picture of thru my phone, but yest, i will scan it in and put it as a pdf...your highness.

James912 said:

That aint a print out. That is a official document that i took a picture of thru my phone, but yest, i will scan it in and put it as a pdf...your highness.

Click to expand...

You are a gentleman and a scholar!

Thank u. It'll be up tonite after 630 CST. I swear on my life. lol

well..... i am making small steps with local authorities. finally i got the word from our local judge. he is throwing the tickets out as they hit the court room. from what i understand from a recent customer the judge is very displeased with the whole situation and is issuing a letter to stop the tickets for riding the gas powered bicycles in our local area. i guess you could say we are making small steps over here to the bright light to riding free. on another note i contacted Senator Latvala's office to find out the progress on the bill. still waiting on a phone call back. as soon as i find out the bill number i will post it for all to see. keep up the good fight everyone, remember there are alot more of us than there are of them. all we need to do is stick together and help each other out with any and all paperwork we get ourselves proving they are only bicycles and not MOPEDs.

Thank you i would realy like the bill # . Bubba

born a bicycle remains a bicycle,the only law I see is if you go over 50cc it is now a motorcycle,a totally illegal one. ride safe Bob B

There is nothing on my motor that says the size or anything else. That may be a problem at some point. I'm the second owner of the motor.

Terry