Cyclists could roll through stop signs under plan moving through California Capitol

For bicyclists, there are few places more dangerous than an intersection. Nearly a third of bicycle-related fatalities occur at one, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

California lawmakers are advancing a bill that seeks to make intersections safer for bicyclists by allowing them to roll through stop signs. Its backers say it’ll work by giving cyclists enough momentum to get through an intersection quickly, while it creates predictable behavior for drivers to follow.

“I think when you make bike behavior predictable for cars, you make it safer for everyone,” said bill author Assemblywoman Tasha Boerner Horvath, D-Encinitas.

But opponents, including bicycle safety advocate Pat Hines, say that the stop sign is part of “the glue” that holds together the social contract between cyclists and motorists. She argues that the bill will teach cyclists, particularly children, not to respect stop signs.

“We have to keep that social contract in place,” Hines said.

From 2016 to 2018, traffic collisions killed 455 cyclists, the highest rate of any three-year period since the mid 1990s, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The bill has already passed through state Assembly, and now goes for consideration by the Senate.

What the bill does

Existing law requires anyone operating a vehicle — including bicycles — to stop at a stop sign at the entrance of an intersection.

Assembly Bill 122 would instead require a bicyclist, when approaching a stop sign at an intersection, to yield the right-of-way to any vehicles that have entered the intersection or that are approaching the intersection “close enough to constitute an immediate hazard,” until it is reasonably safe to proceed, according to the legislative digest.

The bill, if it becomes law, would sunset on Jan. 1, 2028.

Boerner Horvath pointed to a study by the Delaware State Police, which assessed a similar law.

The study looked at vehicle-versus-bicycle collisions 30 months before and 30 months after the law passed. Itthat there were zero cyclists killed in a fatal crash at a stop sign-controlled intersection and a 23% reduction in injury crashes at intersections.

The assemblywoman acknowledged that her bill is counter-intuitive, with different rules for bicyclists than for cars.

“Bicyclists are not driving a deadly weapon. In the same way that a car can kill, a bicycle cannot,” she said.

‘’Most vulnerable point for a cyclist’

Phil Coleman has a background both in cycling as the former president of the Davis Bike Club and law enforcement as a retired Davis police chief.

Coleman said that it is important for bicyclists to be able to maintain their momentum so that they can get through an intersection as quickly as possible.

“The most vulnerable point for a cyclist is in the middle of that intersection,” he said.

Coleman spoke to The Bee on behalf of the California Bicycle Coalition, a sponsor of AB 122.

“When you have that momentum you’re able to get through that intersection much more quickly and safely,” he said.

Supporters of the bill, including Coleman, point to the fact that California would not be the first state to allow bicyclists to treat stop signs as yield signs. Idaho and Washington have similar laws on the books.

A fatal crash

For Pat Hines, founder of traffic safety group Safe Moves, this bill is personal.

While training for the 1984 Olympics, Hines and a fellow cyclist, Sue Latham, rode their bikes through an intersection, believing they had enough time to cross. Hines made it across, but Latham was struck and killed by an oncoming vehicle.

Hines said that she was “absolutely in shock” to learn that Assembly lawmakers voted for AB 122.

She said that passing the bill will send a poor message to children, that stop signs are not to be respected.

Hines, who has worked with children for decades, said “it feels like it’s all for nothing” if AB 122 becomes law.

Though other states have passed a similar law, Hines called the comparison “apples to oranges.”

“Delaware and Washington and Idaho are not California, we have more drivers than they will ever have,” she said.

This story was originally published May 6, 2021 at 5:00 AM.