[Stop sign on N. Williams Ave.]
Photo: haljon/Flickr

A recent interview I published about an effort to change the laws around how bicycles treat stop signs touched of an engaging and lengthy debate (92 comments so far).

In reaction, this is the first of two posts I will publish to present different perspectives on the proposed law change.

This first one is in support of allowing bicycles to treat stop signs as yields. The eloquent argument comes from newbie bike commuter David Dean (who originally left it as a comment): (more...)

[Bjorn Warloe]

Portland resident Bjorn Warloe wants Oregon to take a cue from Idaho when it comes to how bicycles treat stop signs and traffic lights.

Since I met him last December, he has garnered interest and support from the Bicycle Transportation Alliance and some lawmakers in Salem.

I asked him a few questions about his effort:

Your group is called "Idaho Style". Where does that name come from? (more...)

There's a notable addition to the BTA's 2007 Legislation page.

In a section titled "Other Bicycle Bills" (meaning ones they're not working on themselves) is a mention of a local effort -- which I reported on a month ago -- to consider changing how bicycles treat stop signs.
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In my post last week about changing existing stop sign and yield laws for cyclists, I referred to City of Portland Transportation Planner Stuart Gwin. I'd heard that Stuart had some previous involvement with the Idaho statute that allows bicycles to roll stop signs.

Stuart was formerly the chair of the Citizen Advisory Committe for the Ada County Highway District, which governs several cities in Idaho (including Boise).

He recently shared some information with me about the statute and his involvement as its first test case.
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[Photo by
quite peculiar.]

For many years, the prevailing mantra from bicycle advocates has been, "Same roads, same rights, same rules." Beyond a catchy slogan, the thought is that this puts bicycles on a level playing field with motorists in the court of law and public opinion. This seems to make sense.

However, the problem with this thinking is that bicycles and motorized vehicles are vastly different, both in physical makeup and more importantly, in their potential to cause harm when an illegal maneuver results in a collision. It also seems unfair that given this difference in potential to cause harm, bicycles are levied the exact same fines as motor vehicles.

Under current law, a grandma rolling through a stop sign on her three-speed receives the same $242 ticket as the guy in the big SUV.
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