Turn signals and Florida state law

[bigjeff]

I have seen some nice custom scoots on this site without turn signals. I like the looks of a scoot without turn signals and feel hand signals work fine...Anyone know what the Florida state law for scooters is in regards to turn signals? Are they required?

[jmkjr72]

us federal law requires turn signals and that they be 18 in apart
most of us that mod or remove the turn signals run the risk of getting ticketed
the exception would be scooters made before the law went into effect requiring them
fl can be very strict about the moped and motorcycle laws
they have a law on the books that says your plate can not be mounted sideways
the first 2 times is a pretty big fine the 3rd time they can actually impound the bike

[bigjeff]

thanks for the reply. Guess the flashers stay.

[jmkjr72]

they dont need to stay as is you can always get some that look better then the ugly ones that come on the scoots
for my stella i drilled some small holes in the cowels and mounted leds in place of the ugly oem signals those one are proably legal as they hit the 18 inches they are red instead of amber as they double as extra brake lights too
on the zuma i relocated them into the red section off to the side of the brake lights and might eventualy buy amber lenses for them
the front will actaualy be moved down and replace the front orange reflector

but then again just about any thing we do to our scoots makes them illeagla to take on the road
i dont think there is a single epa approved pipe for scooters
i know the bbks make them illeagle even if you plate it as a motorcycle as the bores are not smog approved either

but does that stop us nope
heck i dont even have licens plate lights on any of my 2 wheelers and those are required by law too

[90GTVert]

I never knew about the 18" apart law. The blinkers on the back of T2 are maybe 3" apart. T1's are not much better. I've been in front of so many cops with T1 it makes me wonder if many of them are aware of the law. I'm not even sure my stock signals were 18" apart.

[tango]

While on the topic of flashers (indicators) one of the things that I found odd on US spec cars was the lack of side indicators. These have been standard equipment on right hand drive cars since the dawn of time, but were repalced with either a plastic filler or those stupid marker lights (amber up front, red at the rear). I'm so happy that manufacturers are putting them on US spec cars now as standard equipment. It makes things a lot safer.

[jmkjr72]

yeah the 18 inches apart is why we dont get any of the jdm turn signals any more
infact many manufactures were importing ones that did not meet the dot requirements for many years