Tag Archive for: bicycle safety stop

Bicycle Safety Stop FAQs

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The Bicycle Safety Stop Bill will make it legal for people on bikes to do what they already do: slow at stop signs, stop if necessary, and proceed with care if the way is clear. It’s a commonsense bike riding maneuver that’s legal in several other states. Yet the governor has vetoed it twice, citing safety concerns. So we wanted to break down common misconceptions about the bicycle safety stop to respond to those concerns.

What is the bicycle safety stop? 

The bicycle safety stop allows bicycles to treat stop signs as yields. When a bike rider comes to a stop sign, they must slow down and assess whether they have the right of way and whether it is safe to proceed. If the intersection is clear, the person on a bike may proceed. However, bikes still have to yield to pedestrians and other traffic that entered the intersection first.

Is the safety stop the same as the Idaho stop? 

Yes and no. The original safety stop law, passed in Idaho in 1982, allows people on bikes to ride through red lights after coming to a full stop, in addition to treating stop signs as yields. So the bicycle safety stop, as proposed in California, resembles half of the Idaho stop law. California would not allow bike riders to treat red lights as stop signs.

Is the safety stop the same as the Delaware yield? 

California’s safety stop law would be the same as the Delaware yield, which allows people on bikes to yield at stop signs.

Is the bicycle safety stop legal in California?

No. Assemblymember Tasha Boerner authored a bill to legalize the bicycle safety stop in 2021 and 2022. Both bills passed the Assembly and Senate and were vetoed by Governor Gavin Newsom. The governor cited safety concerns in his veto messages.

In 2023, Boerner is running AB 73 in another attempt to make stop-as-yield legal for adults on bikes in California. As of this writing, it has passed the Assembly and is moving through committees in the Senate soon. Look for opportunities to raise your voice to support AB 73 in the coming months.

Is the bicycle safety stop safe? 

In the six years after Delaware legalized stop-as-yield for bikes, the state police have reported that bike-involved crashes went down, most notably at intersections. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued a fact sheet in 2022, citing the safety of stop-as-yield laws. There is no evidence that the laws have made bicycling less safe anywhere they have been adopted.

Why does CalBike support the bicycle safety stop? 

CalBike has long supported legalizing the bicycle safety stop. 

  • Treating stop signs as yields makes sense for bike riders because it conserves momentum.
  • At bike riding speeds and with full visibility (bikes don’t have blind spots), it’s safe for bikes to yield at stop signs when the intersection is clear of other traffic.
  • Bike riders are safer when car drivers know what to expect. The safety stop is a common and commonsense behavior that is likely to reduce crashes.
  • Most bike riders never get a ticket, despite commonly treating stop signs as yields. However, we know that Black and Latino bike riders in California are targeted by police disproportionately and are more likely to be cited for minor infractions with no impact on public safety, such as rolling through a stop sign. Legalizing the safety stop will reduce the number of traffic stops for people on bikes that can sometimes become deadly police encounters.

What are the benefits of the bicycle safety stop?

The bicycle safety stop gives people in cars better information about what to expect from people on bikes, particularly at intersections. It has been shown to reduce or have no effect on crashes involving bikes. And it will make Black and Latino bike riders safer from pretextual police stops.

The safety stop allows bike riders to conserve momentum and maintain the flow of traffic, making riding more intuitive and fun. And that’s good for the climate and for neighborhood safety because the more people that bike, the safer it is to ride.

Where is the bicycle safety stop legal? 

At the moment, some version of the bicycle safety stop is legal in these states:

  • Idaho
  • Washington
  • Oregon
  • Utah
  • North Dakota
  • Oklahoma
  • Arkansas
  • Delaware
  • District of Columbia
  • Minnesota (as of 8/1/2023)

Legislation is currently being considered in Virginia, New York, and Texas, and there is interest in other states and in Canada as well.

What’s the federal position on the bicycle safety stop?

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Transportation, issued a fact sheet in 2022 citing the safety and benefits of stop-as-yield laws.

Is it dangerous for bikes to treat stop signs as yields? 

Legalizing the safety stop is an important step to recognizing that riding a bike is different from operating a motor vehicle and creating bike-specific regulations that make it easier for bike riders to operate legally and safely on California roadways.

The safety stop won’t cause bike riders to suddenly start blowing through stop signs or riding more dangerously. They will do what they currently do: slow down at stop signs, stop when necessary, and ride cautiously through the intersection if the way is clear. The only difference will be that this common, safe way to ride will be legal.

Why did the governor veto the bicycle safety stop before, and why won’t he veto it again?\

In the governor’s veto message, he stated he was concerned that the change in law may decrease rather than increase safety, specifically for children. Ignoring years of data from other states that have successfully implemented the law, he instead focused on faulty state traffic data that effectively blamed people on bikes for increasing collisions. This time around, more states have adopted these laws, and more data is available. In addition, this year’s bill only applies to adults, so we’re hopeful the governor will take a more reasonable position.

People on bikes already do crazy things. Won’t the safety stop make them even more dangerous?

A small minority of bike riders, like a minority of car drivers, make poor choices, disregard the safety of others, and fail to share the road considerately. If you drive a motor vehicle around people biking, you may notice the few who ride unpredictably and not the many who share the road safely and considerately.

So, no, people on bikes don’t generally do crazy things. If a bike rider blows through a stop sign and gets hit by a car, the person on the bike will fare much worse in the collision than the person in the car, so the bicyclist, a vulnerable road user, has a strong incentive to be cautious.

Unfortunately, our streets and roads were designed for people in cars. Bike riders do their best to find safe ways to get where they need to go, often without safe or adequate infrastructure. That can lead to confusion and challenges in sharing the road.

People on bikes aren’t the only ones who treat stop signs as yields on California roads. Our state is famous for the California rolling stop, where a car driver slows but doesn’t stop at a stop sign. Perhaps you do this yourself. 

If someone in a 2-ton vehicle with limited visibility can safely roll through a stop sign, someone on a human-powered, low-speed, 30-pound bicycle (or even a slightly heavier and faster e-bike) with a tall vantage point and high visibility can certainly do the same. 
Everyone will be safer if we make the bicycle safety stop legal. If you support the Bicycle Safety Stop Bill, sign our petition and stay tuned for chances to tell the decision-makers in Sacramento that California should legalize stop-as-yield for people on bikes.

CalBike Statement on the Withdrawal of the Bicycle Safety Stop Bill, AB 1713

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CalBike is disappointed that AB 1713, the Bicycle Safety Stop, was withdrawn ahead of a likely veto from Governor Gavin Newsom. The bill would have allowed bike riders aged 18 and older to treat stop signs as yields. Riders would have been required to slow down, stop for pedestrians and cross traffic, and proceed carefully if the way is clear.

Once again, the governor has chosen to listen to law enforcement groups that oppose this bill. That opposition is based on biased accident data compiled by police who default to assigning blame for crashes to bike riders. A recent study added to previous data that bicyclists are often inaccurately deemed responsible for crashes.

Nine states already have similar laws on the books, and more are poised to join them. After Delaware legalized the bicycle safety stop, a study found that bike-involved collisions declined. Earlier this year, the National Highway Safety Traffic Administration endorsed stop-as-yield laws, saying, “Bicyclist stop-as-yield laws allow cyclists to mitigate risk to their advantage, increase their visibility to drivers and reduce exposure.”

While our state has embraced measures to make driving greener, it hasn’t done nearly enough to encourage alternative modes of transportation. We need to make it easier, cheaper, more convenient, and safer for people to bike, walk, and take public transit so we can reduce our dependence on private automobiles. 

The bicycle safety stop is essential to creating the bike-friendly California we need. The administration’s position on this essential bike safety measure is wrongheaded and counterproductive. If, as promised, Assemblymember Boerner Horvath introduces it again in 2023, we hope Governor Newsom will have the vision to support it. 

CalBike Senior Policy Advocate Reflects on Big Picture Agenda

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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?

Response From CalBike’s Executive Director to the Governor’s Vetoes of Bicycle and Pedestrian Bills

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In 2021, CalBike decided to sponsor two related bills that would have legalized walking midblock across an empty street (AB 1238, Ting) or biking carefully through a stop sign at an empty intersection (AB 122, Boerner Horvath). Our goal was to broaden and strengthen the movement for the dignity and safety of people who walk and bike. 

Despite the governor’s vetoes (see below), we made significant progress. More than 100 organizations and 3,000 people signed on in support of both bills. Your support made a difference.

The Bicycle Safety Stop Bill received bipartisan supermajority support. The Freedom to Walk Act started a national discussion about how we police walking in this country (covered in the New York Times and on NPR’s “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me”). 

Newsom’s veto messages cited solidarity with our cause, if not our proposals. In his veto of the Freedom to Walk Act, he said, “unequal enforcement of jaywalking laws and the use of minor offenses like it as a pretext to stop people of color … is unacceptable.” His veto of the Bicycle Safety Stop Bill cited his “full support of safe and equitable access to the state’s transportation network for bicyclists.” 

Unfortunately, the governor didn’t include specific proposals to accomplish these supposed commitments to our goals in either letter. And we are troubled by his reliance on biased SWITRS data to support conclusions about bicycle and pedestrian safety.

However, CalBike is part of a strong movement and public support for giving people the joyful option to bike safely. It’s affordable, healthy, neighborly, and sustainable. We’ve gained momentum, and we’ll use that to move us forward.  CalBike is advocating for significant increases in active transportation investment at the scale needed to make our streets safe for people who bike and walk. We’ll give the governor a real chance to achieve his stated goals, and we’ll build a strong coalition with increasing public support that will make it even harder for lawmakers to reject future proposals.

  • Dave Snyder, Executive Director, CalBike

What Governor Newsom Got Wrong About Biking and Walking

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On October 8, 2021, the governor vetoed two bills that CalBike had sponsored: The Bicycle Safety Stop Bill (AB 122, Boerner Horvath) and the Freedom to Walk Act (AB 1238, Ting). In both cases, he cited data collected by police and, therefore, marred by police biases. In 2021, it should be unacceptable to rely on police accounts when making decisions about public safety. On top of that, Newsom presented slices of data cherry-picked to support his vetoes.

Here’s why Governor Newsom’s statistics, and the conclusions he reached, were misleading, disingenuous, and just plain wrong.

The governor’s defective data on biking

bikes should be able to treat stop signs as yields

The governor’s veto of the Bicycle Safety Stop demonstrates how inaccurate reporting of bike crashes harms bike safety efforts. The governor cited statistics from the Statewide Integrated Traffic Reporting System (SWITRS), California’s database of crash reports compiled by police departments around the state. It is the only official source of data about the cause of traffic crashes. 

In his veto message, Newsom’s claim that 88% of the people killed while biking past a stop sign were at fault displays a fundamental failure to understand safe bicycling or account for the anti-bike bias that is endemic to policing. And, unfortunately, police have only the car driver’s word for what happened after they have killed someone on a bike. 

For example, when Amelie le Moullac was killed in San Francisco by a truck turning right into her path, the police report faulted the bicyclist for running into the side of the truck. SFPD didn’t even bother to look for evidence to back up this anti-bike assumption. It was the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition that found camera footage of the crash, proving that Ms. le Moullac was standing legally in the bike lane when the truck turned into her. 

According to SWITRS, people on bikes and walking are constantly throwing themselves in front of law-abiding drivers and suffering death and injury as a result. 

SWITRS data is unreliable. Police aren’t trained in the choices people on bikes make to ensure their safety, and they then make assumptions about who is at fault in a crash based on preconceived ideas about bicyclists’ bad behavior. Unfortunately, this unverified information influences policy debates throughout California. When the media reports on a controversial bike safety improvement, reporters cite SWITRS that claims half of all bike crashes are the bicyclist’s fault. That false statistic reduces the political will to take the actions needed to truly make the streets safe for people on bikes. 

Cherry-picked pedestrian data leads Newsom to the wrong conclusion

In his veto statement for the Freedom to Walk Act, the governor used CHP talking points to blur the truth about what really makes pedestrians most vulnerable: prioritizing fast-moving cars and trucks over human life. People walking don’t stand a chance when two tons of steel take ownership of public streets, and crashes are considered the collateral damage of modern life. 

jaywalking Legalize Safe Street Crossings

The biggest problem with Newsom’s cherry-picked SWITRS data is that he didn’t include ALL pedestrian crashes. He just cited fatalities, but fatal crashes represent only a small share of the accidents where cars hit pedestrians, and using this figure gives a distorted picture of street safety.

When you look at all crashes involving a car and a pedestrian, it becomes clear that it’s not those crossing outside of crosswalks that are at most danger. California’s own data show that 44% of all pedestrian crashes occur when someone is “crossing at a crosswalk in an intersection.” Almost 70% of collisions involving pedestrians are caused by the driver disregarding a traffic law. 

In addition, SWITRS data is drawn from accident reports prepared by the police, who have a notoriously anti-pedestrian bias. It’s not surprising that police would find pedestrians at fault for “taking actions against traffic controls or safety laws” in 63% of fatal crashes. Police, and our society at large, don’t place enough responsibility on car drivers to share the road responsibly with other road users.

When did the penalty for walking outside of proscribed pedestrian boundaries become a death sentence?

It is inaccurate for the governor, using arguments from the CHP, to insinuate that illegal crossings are the reason for rising pedestrian fatality rates. There’s no evidence of a rise in jaywalking correlated with an increase in pedestrian fatalities. In fact, recent data from the state of Virginia shows the opposite. After the state decriminalized jaywalking earlier this year, initial data indicates that it hasn’t made pedestrians less safe.  

But there is a correlation that increased distracted driving and a trend toward higher front grills, mainly on trucks and SUVs, which reduce visibility for drivers and increase the deadliness of car-pedestrian crashes that correlates with this increase. 

Also, it is not surprising that the most deadly crashes happen outside of crosswalks, where drivers travel at much higher speeds.

How to get accurate accident data

The prevalence of faulty data in these reports is also an argument for reducing the police role in traffic crash reporting. The movement to refocus police energy away from such activities is growing. For instance, the City of Berkeley is considering transferring that duty to its Transportation Department to allow police officers to focus more on crimes they are better equipped to deal with, an initiative that CalBike supports. 

Fact-checking SWITRS accident reports would go a long way toward changing the narrative about who causes the most harm on our street. But it will be a big job to comb through the data, investigate the facts, and prepare more truthful reports. Still, it’s a critical job.  If you know someone willing to analyze the SWITRS data and provide more accurate accident data, contact Jared Sanchez at jared@calbike.org.

Governor Newsom Vetoes Bill to Improve Bike Safety

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For Immediate Release: October 11, 2021

Contact: 

Dave Snyder, 916-251-9433, dave@calbike.org

Jared Sanchez, 714-262-0921, jared@calbike.org

Governor Newsom Vetoes Bill to Improve Bike Safety

Sacramento – The Bicycle Safety Stop Bill (AB 122 – Boerner Horvath, Friedman, Ting) had broad support from the Assembly, the Senate, and people who ride bikes. CalBike is disappointed that Governor Newsom vetoed a bill that would make it legal for people on bikes to treat stop signs as yields. 

Similar laws are on the books in 10 other states and have been proven to reduce collisions and improve conditions for bike riders. CalBike created a video to explain how the bicycle safety stop works, and more than 75 organizations across the state signed a letter supporting the bill.

“Governor Newsom showed today he doesn’t understand the needs of people who use bikes for everyday transportation. This commonsense law would have reduced conflict between bike riders and car drivers,” said Dave Snyder, Executive Director of CalBike. “I’m disappointed that, while climate change ravages our state, the governor blocked a popular measure that would have helped more people choose carbon-free transportation.”

CalBike Senior Policy Advocate Jared Sanchez said, “CalBike hears complaints every year about punitive sting operations that have nothing to do with safety and are sometimes used as a pretext to stop Black and Latinx people. These police interactions too often have tragic results. The Bicycle Safety Stop Bill would have been a step towards making the streets safer for every Californian.” 

Assemblymember Tasha Boerner Horvath, the bill’s original author, said, “We know from the example of other states that when riders are allowed to yield at stop signs, they choose safer streets and will spend less time in dangerous intersections. It’s time for California to live up to its values and start encouraging — not penalizing — smart riding in our state.”

In Delaware, a recent study found that collisions involving bicycles at intersections decreased by 23% after the state made the safety stop legal. The governor’s veto prevents California from joining a long list of states that have implemented the safety stop: Idaho, Delaware, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Arkansas, Utah, Oklahoma, and North Dakota. None of those states have reported any safety problems after implementing this rule.

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CalBike Scores Wins in Sacramento for Californians Who Bike and Walk 

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California’s legislative session has ended with several big accomplishments for active transportation. CalBike’s signature E-Bike Affordability Program is fully funded and in development. And the two other bills we sponsored this year have passed the Assembly and the Senate, which have placed a spotlight on the need to decriminalize the bicycle safety stop and jaywalking. 

In 2021, California became the first state to offer e-bike subsidies. And the legislature passed bills to decriminalize safe biking and walking.

We don’t know if Governor Newsom will sign our outstanding bills (we hope he does), but we want to take a moment to savor the forward momentum for people who bike and walk in California.

More affordable e-bikes

Bicycle advocacy in Sacramento can be frustrating. Trying to explain the joy and efficiency of getting around by bike to people who only see the world through the windshield of an automobile is sometimes a steep uphill pedal. Fortunately, this year, the California legislature showed that it understands the value of e-bikes to fight climate change.

Kids on e-bike

Electric cars get most of the attention and funding as a solution for climate change, even though electric bikes are the greenest transportation options. Electric bikes are accessible and healthful transport for people who aren’t physically able to ride a standard bike, carry heavy loads or passengers, or need to ride farther and faster than a traditional bike can take them. Plus, e-bikes have been shown to replace car trips, so they provide excellent low-carbon transport. 

But e-bikes are much more expensive than classic bikes, so they often aren’t accessible to the people who need them most. CalBike has been working for the past several years on programs to make e-bikes more affordable. SB 400 (Umberg), passed in 2019, added electric bikes to the Clean Cars 4 All program. However, the rollout was hampered by the pandemic. And, while the program offers generous incentives, only people with a qualifying car to surrender could participate. We knew we needed to do more to help Californians get on e-bikes.

So we rolled out an ambitious campaign to get $10 million for e-bike subsidies through the budget process and AB 117 (Boerner Horvath). The legislature and the governor have agreed to a $10 million budget for e-bike purchase incentives. The program will launch by July 1, 2022. CalBike is working with the California Air Resources Board to develop its guidelines. 

Our goal is to help get e-bikes into the hands of approximately 10,000 Californians who would benefit the most from electric bikes. That includes people who need utility bikes, bikes for carrying children, folding bikes, and bikes for people with disabilities. We are working hard to support a multi-faceted program that will meet the needs of these Californians and more. Sign up to find out when e-bike grants are available.

Common sense wins: the legislature endorses the Bicycle Safety Stop 

The Bicycle Safety Stop Bill (AB 122, Boerner Horvath) will make it legal for people on bikes to treat stop signs as yields. Riders will legally do what most of us already do: slow down when approaching a stop sign and stop, if needed, to let other traffic and pedestrians cross. If the intersection is clear, bike riders can pedal through without stopping.

Idaho, Delaware, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Arkansas, Utah, Oklahoma, and North Dakota have already made this commonsense bicycle maneuver legal. This year, the legislature signaled that it’s time for California to join the movement for sensible bike laws. That’s thanks in no small part to the many of you who emailed your representatives in support of AB 122.

We hope this will be the year California passes the Bicycle Safety Stop Bill, but we have not heard from the governor that he’ll sign it. Please contact Governor Newsom and tell him to sign AB 122.

California poised to be a leader by legalizing safe street crossings

As a recent LAist article noted, everyone jaywalks. Jaywalking is an invented offense, put on the books a century ago to clear the streets for early (and very unsafe) car drivers. The new “crime” was designed to shift the blame in a crash from a negligent driver to the person walking.

jaywalking Legalize Safe Street Crossings

CalBike’s Freedom to Walk Act (AB 1238, Ting) would make California one of the first states to reclaim the right of pedestrians to cross the street safely, repealing century-old jaywalking laws that made such crossings technically illegal. It will still be illegal to run out into traffic, but safe mid-block crossings would no longer be crimes. Virginia and Nevada have already enacted limited jaywalking decriminalization measures this year.

CalBike co-sponsored this bill with our partners California Walks, LA Walks, and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area. Our streets can’t truly be safe until everyone is safe. The Freedom to Walk Act recognizes that street safety requires better infrastructure plus freedom from dangerous police encounters that too often end badly for BIPOC folks.

Getting this bill through the legislature was a hard-won victory. Legislators and law enforcement groups raised safety concerns, especially since pedestrian fatalities have been rising in recent years. However, our current jaywalking laws have done nothing to protect pedestrians. Decriminalizing jaywalking will free lawmakers and police to address the true causes of traffic violence (hint: it’s the people inside the two-ton machines, not the people outside them). 

Jaywalking laws let reckless drivers off the hook for killing and injuring pedestrians and give police a pretext to harass Black Californians, who are cited at a rate as much as five times higher than white people—even though everybody jaywalks. 

We are grateful that lawmakers understood the importance of legalizing safe street crossings and ending outdated and unjust laws. Their action is the first step in making California streets safe for all of us.

Governor Newsom can make California a leader in stepping boldly into that future by signing the Freedom to Walk Act. California will be the first state in the nation to repeal unjust jaywalking laws, which could be the start of an overdue trend. AB 1238 has already added to a growing national discussion about the need to decriminalize jaywalking.

We hear that the governor is under pressure to veto this critical bill. If he hears from enough constituents who support it, that could help him get to yes. Tell Governor Newsom to legalize safe street crossings.

More wins and losses for people who bike, active transportation, and climate-friendly communities

California’s legislative session ended on September 10. It was a mixed year for the other transportation and climate bills CalBike supported or was following. Some excellent legislation didn’t make it, but some visionary measures passed both houses. Read our full recap.

Bicycle Safety Stop Bill Passes Senate

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For Immediate Release Contact: Dave Snyder, 916-251-9433, dave@calbike.org

Tuesday, August 31, 2021 Jared Sanchez, 714-262-0921, jared@calbike.org

Bicycle Safety Stop Bill Passes Senate

SACRAMENTO – On August 30, the California Senate passed the Bicycle Safety Stop Bill (AB 122, Boerner Horvath, Friedman, Ting) with a bipartisan 31-5 vote. The bill allows people on bikes to treat stop signs as yields, including giving the right of way to pedestrians. More than 75 organizations across the state signed a letter in support of the bill. 

CalBike is thrilled that the Senate has shown its support for commonsense biking. A recent study in Delaware found that collisions involving bicycles at intersections decreased by 23% after the state made the safety stop legal. If the Bicycle Safety Stop Bill becomes law, California will join a long list of states that have implemented the safety stop: Idaho, Delaware, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Arkansas, Utah, Oklahoma, and North Dakota. None of those states have reported any safety problems after implementing this rule.

Assemblymember Tasha Boerner Horvath, the bill’s original author said, “We know from the example of other states that when riders are allowed to yield at stop signs, they choose safer streets and will spend less time in dangerous intersections. It’s time for California to live up to its values and start encouraging — not penalizing — smart riding in our state.”

“Bicycling is good for California in so many ways: it improves our health, our economy, and our environment. We’re grateful to the thousands of Californians who encouraged their State Senators to remove this nonsensical obstacle to safe and reasonable biking,” said Dave Snyder, Executive Director of CalBike.

The Bicycle Safety Stop Bill doesn’t change existing right-of-way laws. People on bikes will still have to take their turn at intersections. AB 122 makes it legal for bike riders to slow down at intersections, wait for other traffic to clear, then proceed without coming to a full stop. It will improve predictability at intersections and mutual respect among road users. CalBike has created a video to explain how the bicycle safety stop works.

Unnecessary laws that are disregarded can become a pretext for unfair enforcement. CalBike hears complaints every year about punitive sting operations that have nothing to do with safety, and are sometimes used as a pretext to stop Black and Latinx people. These police interactions too often have tragic results.

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