In 2020, Washington became the fifth state to legalize the safety stop. The Washington Safety Stop law allows cyclists to treat stop signs as if they were yield signs, except for school-bus stop signs and stop signs at railroad crossings.
What does this mean?
Except for stop signs at rail crossings and school-bus stop signs, cyclists will be allowed to treat stop signs as if they are yield signs. Here’s a quick review on what yield signs mean for all road users (and what stop signs now mean for cyclists).
When approaching a yield sign or for cyclists approaching a stop sign or yield sign:
- Drivers or cyclists must slow down to a speed slow enough so that they could safely come to a stop if they need to
- If cross traffic has a stop sign, the driver or cyclist must wait until the intersection is clear of any vehicles that entered the intersection before the driver or cyclist arrived
- If cross traffic does not have a stop sign, the driver or cyclist must wait until the cross street is clear of any vehicles which are close enough (and fast enough) to present a hazard
- If none of these conflicts are present, then coming to a stop may not be necessary and the driver (at a yield sign) or cyclist (at a stop or yield sign) may proceed
What does this not mean?
This does not mean that cyclists may approach stop signs at speeds too fast to be able to come to a safe stop if necessary. “Blowing through the stop sign” is a reckless, dangerous behavior, and is not permitted at stop signs or at yield signs for any road users. Cyclists who do not exercise safe yielding behavior at stop signs put themselves at risk and also can be cited by police for “failure to yield”.
This also does not mean that cyclists automatically always have the right of way. If another vehicle has the right of way, cyclists must allow that vehicle to clear the intersection. If no other vehicle has the right of way, then the cyclist may proceed without stopping.
Lastly, this does not mean cyclists in a construction area can proceed past a flagger with a stop paddle. In this case, the right of way is controlled by the flagger, and a cyclist (just like a driver) may not proceed until the flagger grants them right of way.
Why is this a good idea?
This is actually not a new idea – the state of Idaho adopted a similar law in the 1980s and had a 14% decline in bicycling injuries starting the very next year. Even though it may be counterintuitive, requiring that cyclists come to a complete stop actually increases crash risk for cyclists. Intersections are areas where crash risk is highest for all vehicles, and when cyclists come to a complete stop it forces them to spend more time in the intersection (much longer than motor vehicles). Starting from a stop as a cyclist is also when you are the most unstable and the least maneuverable, and after coming to a complete stop cyclists are very disadvantaged in their ability to avoid crashes. In cases where a cyclist has the right of way, allowing cyclists to retain some of their speed and momentum when navigating an intersection minimizes the time spent in the conflict area and increases their ability to avoid crashes when unexpected conflicts do occur.
There are benefits to drivers, too! Because cyclists spend so long crossing an intersection after coming to a complete stop, this change will in many cases reduce the time opposing drivers will spend waiting for cyclists to clear the intersection before the driver has right of way. Many drivers may also be thinking, "Well, this just legalizes what cyclists already do!," and that's absolutely right. However, much of driver frustration with cyclists stems from inconsistent cyclist behavior and the conflict between cyclist behavior and driver expectations. Acknowledging that this behavior is safer for cyclists and codifying the practice can help create a traffic culture wherein cyclists are able to behave safely and follow the law at the same time, and drivers can have more accurate expectations of cyclist behavior.
