I used to be adamant about stopping and the law until I got hit in an intersection by an impatient driver when a cleat slipped trying to clip in while commuting to work. Now? No way in hell am I going to care. I have no blind spots and after my broken neck and back it is my life with no spares left. Arbitrary bullshit is far more dangerous than intelligent actions and reason. I stop when I must to be safe and only then.
this post was submitted on 19 Aug 2025
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In Colorado, where the law passed in 2022, it works wonderfully. The problem it solves is less expedience and more safety: a cyclist is never as much at risk of being hit as when starting from a full stop, because both speed and control are minimal and there is no possibility of evading.
I just feel bad for the driver who has to live with hitting a cyclist that effectively ran a stop sign.
Bikes either follow the same laws or they don't. This kind of mushy stuff just adds ambiguity.
Your argument about not being able to start is merely justification. Perhaps if the laws are followed, this isn't a concern (i.e. Everyone stops at a sign, and only proceeds when it's clear). Or, perhaps, don't setup a riding condition that makes following the laws of the road difficult to comply with. What's next, eliminating brakes because they weigh too much?
I say this as someone who's ridden much more than the average Joe (but not as much as regular commuters) , and I refuse to ride in congested areas. The safety factor is to high. I won't even ride my motorcycle in those places.
I feel like I get the sentiment you are expressing but I just don't think it is very logical. You are suggesting that having different laws for different modes of transportation is inherently bad because of the ambiguity it adds. But if we applied this to another situation -- a pedestrian in a crosswalk at a 4 way stop it begins to unravel. Should pedestrians also queue up at a stop sign and go during their turn instead of halting all traffic and allowing them to pass?
You say that the start/stop explanation is merely justification, but that's the whole point, providing justification for why a law should exist.
Your comment about this wouldn't be a problem if people just followed the law also applies to your original concern of a driver who hits a bicyclist who "effectively ran a stop sign". If this driver just follows the law then they wouldn't have done that.
The data is pretty indisputable that traffic incidents are reduced when this thing happens, so I'll take less drivers hitting bicyclists over more even if the ones that do feel it is unfair.
If the vehicle creates a risk so high that they can't follow the law, that vehicle is not suitable for use and should not be allowed at all.
Yeah fuck cars seriously why are they so dangerous
Anecdotal, but I just saw a bicyclist run a flagger paddle in a construction zone thinking it was a yield. Almost get creamed by oncoming traffic. So it probably shouldn't be treated as a yield at all because people are too dumb when it comes to inconsistent rules.
Of course its all situational but, when the light is red but its safe for me to go, I jump into the intersection because that is how you make people see you on a bike. That moment when the other side has yellow and my side has red, I can usually get at least halfway through the intersection, by the time traffic catches up, I am on the other side of it. Same for stop signs.
Again its all situational and if it doesn't look safe, I use caution and use the crosswalks if the intersection has them. I loved the Seattle bike lanes because a bunch of them now have their own signal that basically times it so you can get into traffic before the car traffic does.
Yeah I run red lights all the time, no big deal
"Idaho stop" sounds like something you'd say about politics tbh..
Naming aside, it's definitely a good idea IMO and should be adopted everywhere.