Today, I’d like to discuss riding bicycles on the sidewalk.
In Florida, it’s generally legal for a bicycle to ride on the sidewalk. Some people feel it’s safer to ride on the sidewalk, given that there are a lot of cars on the road. Technically bicycles are vehicles and should be ridden on the roads, however, when a sidewalk is available you are allowed to ride a bicycle on the sidewalk.
However, any bicycle on a sidewalk or in a crosswalk is considered a pedestrian and must follow pedestrian rules. Also, you must yield to any pedestrians on the sidewalk or crosswalk and if you’re overtaking a pedestrian you have to audibly signal that you’re going to pass them with either a bell, horn, or just some form of audible warning that you are passing them on the sidewalk so that they don’t step in front of you and get hurt.
So the general rule is yes, you can ride your bicycle on the sidewalk in Florida, just yield to pedestrians and make sure you do it safely.