CalBike
  • About
  • Advocacy
    • 2025 Legislative Watch
    • Restore $400M to the ATP
    • Support the Quick-Build Pilot
    • Keep Bike Highways Moving
    • Sign-On Letters
  • Resources
    • News
    • Report: Incomplete Streets
    • Bicycle Summit Virtual Sessions
    • California Bicycle Laws
    • E-Bike Resources
    • Map & Routes
    • Quick-Build Bikeway Design Guide
  • Support
    • Become a Member
    • Business Member
    • Shop
  • Search
  • Menu Menu
  • About
  • Advocacy
    • Legislative Watch
    • Invest/Divest
    • Sign-On Letters
    • Report: Incomplete Streets
    • Bike the Vote
  • Resources
    • News
    • California Bicycle Laws
    • E-Bike Resources
    • Map & Routes
    • Quick-Build Bikeway Design Guide
  • Support
    • Become a CalBike Member
    • Business Member
    • Shop

Tag Archive for: safety stop

New Studies Show No Downsides for Bicycle Safety Stop

January 9, 2025/by Jared Sanchez

Since Idaho passed its “Idaho stop” law in 1982, people on bikes have been treating stop signs as yields without any negative effects on traffic safety. As more states continue to pass similar laws, studies showing the benefits of the bike stop-as-yield, or Bicycle Safety Stop, accumulate. The latest is a pair of studies demonstrating that drivers and bike riders can easily and safely navigate intersections where the people on bikes treat stop signs as yields and that perception of the safety stop is positive or neutral, even among the car driving population.

Simulated stop-as-yield

The first study, headed by researchers from Oregon State University, placed participants in a simulator that had bike riders and car drivers navigating intersections where people on bikes were allowed to treat stop signs as yields. The study found no unsafe behavior from the bike riders and no difficulties in sharing the road from those operating motor vehicles. The study concluded that stop-as-yield laws would work better if states included information about them in driver handbooks — something even Idaho does not do. The authors recommend more education and outreach so road users in all modes understand stop-as-yield for bike riders.

Of course, many people in cars also roll through stop signs when there are no other vehicles present; this is a common and logical behavior for all road users, though it carries different risks for people operating 2-ton machines. For bike riders, stop-as-yield is essential for efficient riding because it conserves the momentum lost when starting after coming to a complete stop. The first study also found that bike rider speed through intersections was higher, on average, when using the rolling stop, which can augment safety. This confirms other studies, such as one showing that conflicts between bike riders and car drivers at intersections went down 23% after the introduction of a stop-as-yield law in Delaware.

Bike riders roll for safety

The second study is a literature review by researchers from Gonzaga University in Washington State, the University of Idaho, and Oregon State University — all states with stop-as-yield laws. The research looked at surveys of public opinions as well as expert input on intersection safety.

One data point that jumps out is an Idaho survey of road users in all modes about why they broke traffic rules. Among bike riders, 95.9% reported breaking a traffic law, but 97.9% of pedestrians and 99.97% of drivers said they did the same. The most common reason for flouting the law among drivers (85%) and pedestrians (71%) was saving time. However, people on bikes most commonly skirted traffic regulations for their own safety (71%). This data highlights the inaccuracy of perceptions among an unfriendly segment of the driving public that bike riders are lawbreaking road anarchists.

Again, this study finds a need for better public education so people driving and biking can share the road safely.

What happened to the California Bicycle Safety Stop?

CalBike has been heavily involved in campaigning for laws to legalize bicycle stop-as-yield over the past several years, and we haven’t given up on this important advancement in bicycle safety. Unfortunately, it looks unlikely that we’ll find a champion for this bill in the legislature this year. The current panic about e-bike safety (spurred by the proliferation of electric motorcycles illegally sold as e-bikes) makes the bicycle safety stop much less likely to garner attention and support. And we may need to wait for a new governor, since Gavin Newsom has vetoed a Bicycle Safety Stop Bill in the past and seems unlikely to approve one in the future. 

CalBike has heard from advocates in Nevada who are working on a bill to legalize stop-as-yield this year, and we wish them luck. The more states that adopt this sensible regulation, the greater the evidence becomes that it improves street safety rather than impairing it. We hope California will join its neighbors in enacting this legislation in the near future.

https://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Stop-as-Yield_safety-stop-2.jpeg 515 1030 Jared Sanchez https://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/calbike-logo.png Jared Sanchez2025-01-09 15:23:472025-01-09 15:54:23New Studies Show No Downsides for Bicycle Safety Stop

CalBike Senior Policy Advocate Reflects on Big Picture Agenda

June 30, 2022/by Jared Sanchez

by Jared Sanchez

The California State Legislature is advancing more bicycle-related bills than ever. At least three times this year, a legislative committee approved seven important policy changes in a single day. With my years of experience, I’ve never seen so much energy and attention on bicycling issues at the state level. I’m grateful to our members whose advocacy has made this possible and to the legislators advancing powerful policy changes. It’s great to watch, and I want our organization to do everything we can to influence the changemakers who are taking bold steps to make our streets safer in a year that could have a huge impact on active transportation in California. 

Three goals that will bring better biking to California

These goals top CalBike’s agenda: 

Build 100% complete, protected bikeway networks in five California cities in five years.

At current funding levels, most local and regional bike plans won’t be complete for another 30 years. And even then, those plans too often leave gaps where one dangerous intersection or one block of fast-moving traffic will scare most people away from biking. CalBike has proposed a new program to fund cities that build complete bikeway networks without gaps quickly. We won’t wait 30 years.

Make it easy and inexpensive to hop on a shared bike anywhere in California.

We need to subsidize bike-share as an integral part of public transit so that anybody who can afford the bus can afford a similar ride on a shared bike. Shared bikes and scooters can be just as valuable as public transit if they’re supported with the same level of funding. Good shared micromobility programs, equitably distributed and affordable, can help millions of Californians take advantage of multimodal public transit and bike trips instead of car trips and make transit more effective and efficient. 

Make sure that when we talk about safe streets, we prioritize safety for Black and brown Californians.

Our policy team worked hard last year to pass bills that would have removed opportunities for pretextual policing—allowing bicyclists to treat stop signs as yields and decriminalizing safe mid-block crossings. The governor vetoed both bills, but we’re bringing them back this year with some changes that we think will garner his signature. 

We can’t forget the climate crisis

Climate disaster looms closer every day. Fire, drought, and extreme weather hit disadvantaged people hardest, widening social inequities. Energy costs, including the price of gas, are rising faster than incomes, squeezing low-income people even more. We can’t separate climate policy from economic policy from transportation policy.

Bicycling is central to creating transportation policy that will meet this critical moment in California. 

We know that to make transportation affordable for everyone, Californians need to be much less dependent on their cars. We can do that easily, as CalBike members well know, by relying much more heavily on bikes. And we have to make the switch quickly, in the next 10 years.

Yet California is moving very slowly to implement the changes necessary to make bicycling an easy choice for people. California’s policymakers know that bicycling is a low-cost, sustainable, healthy, and joyful transportation solution—bikeways are drawn on maps in every city and town in California. But local governments aren’t building them. That’s why CalBike’s 2022 agenda focuses on how we can speed up this transformation. 

The past two years have proven that California’s lawmakers and agencies can move quickly when faced with a dire challenge. The climate crisis, and the cascade of issues that result from it, require the same level of urgent action. 

  • No more “something is better than nothing” for bicycle infrastructure. 
  • No more prioritizing freeway building over creating safe neighborhoods. 
  • No more programs that advantage the comfortable and leave everyone else behind.

We can’t do this work without YOU. We rely on individual supporters, and your involvement is hugely impactful to the work we do. 

This is the time for bold action. Are you with us?

https://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/poppies-and-bikes.jpeg 480 640 Jared Sanchez https://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/calbike-logo.png Jared Sanchez2022-06-30 18:47:282022-06-30 18:48:00CalBike Senior Policy Advocate Reflects on Big Picture Agenda

Safety Stop Wins Support of Transportation Committee

March 23, 2021/by Kevin Claxton

On March 22, 2021, the Assembly Transportation Committee approved the Safety Stop Bill (AB 122, Boerner-Horvath). The CalBike-sponsored legislation will make it legal for bikes to treat stop signs as yields. If the Safety Stop Bill wins the support of the entire legislature, bicyclists can proceed without stopping if there is no other traffic in the intersection and it’s safe to proceed.

At the hearing, Assemblymembers Laura Friedman and Buffy Wicks signed on as co-sponsors. CalBike Executive Director Dave Snyder was among those who spoke in support. The bill passed out of committee by a vote of 10-4.

The Safety Stop is safer: a similar law in Delaware led to a 23% reduction in bicycle crashes at intersections.

Safety stop wins wide support, narrow opposition

The list of supporters of the Safety Stop Bill is a who’s who of bicycle advocacy and active transit organizations from across California. The bill got statewide support from groups like the Safe Routes Partnership, PolicyLink, Transform, and California Walks, among others. National bicycle champions People for Bikes also signed on in support, as did the Berkeley City Council.

The only group that signed on to oppose the Safety Stop Bill is the California Association of Highway Patrolmen. Apparently, the CHP wants to protect its right to cite less than 200 bicyclists a year for this safe and commonsense behavior. Two AAA clubs opposed the bill unless the committee made specific revisions. The committee did not make AAA’s suggested revisions, though it did make modifications to the bill’s language. The committee also added a sunset date of 2028. The safety stop will no longer be legal at that time unless the legislature takes action to make it permanent.

What’s next for the Safety Stop Bill

The next stop for the Safety Stop Bill is the full Assembly. Your calls and emails to your assembly members will help ensure that the safety stop wins the votes it needs to move on to the Senate. We’ll let you know when it’s time to step up for the Safety Stop Bill.

https://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Palo-Alto-Bicycle-Boulevard-WEBSITE-2-1290x600-1.jpg 600 1290 Kevin Claxton https://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/calbike-logo.png Kevin Claxton2021-03-23 15:48:562021-03-24 15:29:40Safety Stop Wins Support of Transportation Committee

Latest News

  • California State Capitol
    CalBike’s Legislative Agenda at the Halfway PointJune 11, 2025 - 2:56 pm
  • Complete Streets bill passes
    CalBike Works with Caltrans to Move Complete Streets ForwardJune 11, 2025 - 2:48 pm
  • California highway boondoggles
    California’s Budget Prioritizes Freeway Expansion Over Safe StreetsJune 9, 2025 - 5:00 pm
Follow a manual added link

Get Email Updates

Follow a manual added link

Join Calbike

  • Link to Facebook
  • Link to X
  • Link to LinkedIn
  • Link to Mail
  • Link to Instagram

About Us

Board
Careers
Contact Us
Financials & Governance
Local Partners
Privacy Policy
Staff
State & National Allies
Volunteer

Advocacy

California Bicycle Summit
E-Bike
Legislative Watch
Past and Present Projects
Report: Incomplete Streets
Sign On Letters

Resources

Maps & Routes
Crash Help and Legal Resources
Quick-Build Bikeway Design Guide
Report: Complete Streets
All Resources

Support

Ways to give
Become a Member
Donor Advised Funds
Donate a Car
Business Member

News

Blog
CalBike in the News
Press Releases

© California Bicycle Coalition 2025

1017 L Street #288
Sacramento, CA 95814
© California Bicycle Coalition 2025

Scroll to top