Is The Idaho Stop Law Gaining Traction In Florida? | Cycling Safety | Bicycle Laws for Cyclists
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- Опубліковано 13 вер 2024
- Is the Idaho stop law gaining traction? So the answer to that question is yes, it is. Recently there was an article that two new states have adopted the Idaho stop law, Utah and North Dakota. So that brings a total of 19 states who have adopted a version of this law. Each version of the law from state to state is somewhat unique.
So, what is the Idaho stop law? There's a lot of conversation about what it means and what it says. Essentially, what it says is when a cyclist approaches a stop sign, they shall slow down. If required for safety and stopped before they enter the intersection, If necessary, after slowing to a reasonable speed or stopping, they shall yield the right away to any vehicle that's approaching or already in the intersection, except that you may slow to a reasonable speed yield the right of way if required, and they may then cautiously make a turn or proceed through the intersection without stopping.
So there's a lot of caveats to this in terms of cautiously proceeding, remember that in giving the cyclist the right to make this decision. If the cyclist makes the wrong decision they still could be held responsible for not yielding the right of way at an intersection. Attorney Jim' Dodson's opinion is that his law is most useful for an intersection where there's no vehicles involved at all. If that were the Florida law. In Idaho the statute says when there's a steady red traffic signal you shall stop before entering the intersection and yield to all other traffic and then you may proceed through the steady red light with caution. So with the red light, you are required to stop but you can proceed if you can do so safely. So basically yield at a stop sign, stop at a red light, but proceed with caution.
The Idaho stop law isn't gaining traction in Florida. There is a proposed statute this year having to do with cyclists stopping at a stop sign in a group. The new proposed law says that if a group of 10 cyclists or less are riding basically together they have to stop at a stop sign, but all 10 of them can proceed through the stop sign. So Florida is still pretty much on the firm footing, cyclists need to stop at a stop sign. The Idaho stop law has not gained traction here. Jim is not sure that it will because the argument has been that this is an urban state. Idaho is not an urban state. A lot of these states who have accepted it are not considered urban but some of them quite frankly do have urban areas like Minnesota, Ohio, and Colorado.
Jim thinks it would be ideal if we had some version of the Idaho stop law in Florida because there's a lot of interest among cyclists. Do you think it would be helpful in Florida? Let us know your thoughts.
Great video, Jim!
Thank you, Kati!
I tried to explain to vehicle drivers that we really want to spend the least amount of time in an intersection as possible. It is the least safe place a cyclist can be. So I am in favor of the Idaho stop and I would like it to pertain to a 10 bicycle peloton…
Patty, you make a good point about the practicality of cyclists coming to a complete stop at every intersection and how the last thing drivers want us to do is to take those extra seconds required to come to complete stop and then begin from a dead stop to move through the intersection. You raise a very good point that intersections are typically one of the most dangerous places we find ourselves on a ride and minimizing our time within the intersection would seem to correlate with increased safety. I still am concerned the perception with legislators remains that cyclists don't follow the law and I don't think there is a strong sentiment that they want to reward what they perceive as our bad conduct and not following existing law by incorporating the terms of the Idaho stop.
Actually in the 2010 census, 70.6 percent of Idaho's population was in its urban areas. Boise (city proper) is larger in population than Port Saint Lucie, Tallahassee, or Fort Lauderdale. It's perfectly comparable to here.
Thank you for writing Douglas. I think it's great when our listeners correct something I've said which I actually failed to verify before I spoke about the population of Idaho and the perception that it was more rural than Florida. I can't represent to our listeners that the reason the Idaho stop law has not gained traction here is related to the population density of Florida. These issues are always multifactorial. The bottom line at present is that we don't have enough support in the legislature to get the law approved here currently.