[SDCBC] Fwd: MTC to study Idaho "stop-and-roll" law

[Serge Issakov]

The attached is regarding the idea of implementing the Idaho "stop-and-roll"
law in California that was discussed  at the last SDCBC board meeting (the
board voted to not support such a law).

I certainly agree a major cause of cycling crashes is cyclists disobeying
the law.
What I'm not sure about is whether such a law makes cyclists more or less
likely to be involved in crashes, or whether it would affect that at all.

I know Idaho isn't exactly the same, but as Kathy pointed out, Idaho's
suburban areas aren't all that different from California's suburban areas,
and in Idaho apparently there is no evidence of higher rates of cyclist
crashes or fatalities since this law was passed about 5 years ago.

Serge


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Michael Graff <michael.graff at pobox.com>
Date: Wed, Jun 18, 2008 at 4:37 PM
Subject: [CABODIR] Fwd: [Ebbc-Talk] MTC to study Idaho "stop-and-roll" law
To: CABO directors <cabodir at topica.com>


FYI.


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Eric McCaughrin <emccaughrin at yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, Jun 18, 2008 at 16:23
Subject: [Ebbc-Talk] MTC to study Idaho "stop-and-roll" law
To: ebbc-talk at lists.ebbc.org


Published Wednesday, June 18, 2008, by the San Francisco Examiner:

"The 'stop and roll' proposal is patterned after a state law in Idaho in
which bicyclists are legally able to treat stop signs as yield signs, and
interpret red stoplights as stop signs. Currently, California bicyclists
must stop and put one foot on the ground at stop signs, and follow the same
stoplight rules as drivers.

"The Metropolitan Transportation Commission's bicycle advisory committee
will be discussing the proposal Thursday. If the group recommends the plan,
the MTC staff will further investigate the idea and possibly bring it before
the agency's governing board, which could eventually propose state
legislation to change the California vehicle code, said Sean Co, MTC's
bicycling coordinator.

[...]

"Though the MTC envisions the possible legislation as a way to encourage
bicycling as gas prices soar, police said the idea would likely lead to more
bicycle-to-car collisions.

"Capt. Greg Corrales, chief of the San Francisco Police Department's Traffic
Company, said bicyclists have a sense of entitlement and have long ignored
existing traffic laws, especially at stop signs. As a result, he said his
office repeatedly cites bicyclists. More importantly, he said, the rate of
bicyclist fatalities is higher than it should be because they rarely abide
by basic traffic rules."





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-- 
NOTE: Any opinions expressed above are mine and not necessarily shared by
any organization in which I am involved.
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