Highlands County, FL Public Conduct: Aggressive Panhandling (2026)

Ordinance No. 24-25-16 added Article IX, Certain Activities in Public Roadways, to Chapter 7 in 2024. Section 7-160 defines vulnerable road user as any individual, person, entity, group, representative or corporation who is not legally operating a motor vehicle or other approved mode of transportation, a definition broad enough to include a pedestrian standing in a median to solicit donations, a person handing out flyers at an intersection, or anyone else on foot in the roadway. Public roadway covers any state, county, municipal or other government-owned roadway used for vehicular traffic within the county, including any median in it.

Section 7-161 prohibits a vulnerable road user from engaging in activities in or on the roadway, including a median, that impede, block or interrupt the normal flow of traffic, or that create a safety hazard by compromising a driver's ability to operate a vehicle safely. Three exceptions apply: activity authorized by an appropriate governmental entity, lawfully crossing the roadway under applicable traffic and safety laws, and a temporary presence necessitated by a safety or emergency situation. Because the section regulates conduct, impeding or endangering traffic, rather than the content of any speech or sign someone is carrying, it applies the same way to a panhandler standing in a median asking for money, a charity soliciting donations from cars stopped at a light, or a pedestrian who lingers past a safe crossing window.