Bicycles, Rolling Stops, and the Idaho Stop: Great video for bike-riders everywhere

[darkemeralds]

Gosh, I hope I'm not spamming the comm today. This just came to my attention and I thought it was fantastic and worth sharing. It's an instructional video designed to explain the "Idaho stop law." In the US state of Idaho, traffic law allows bicyclists to use a rolling stop--i.e., an informed slowdown--at stop signs, rather than requiring a full stop in all instances.

"Cyclists are scofflaws and always blow stop signs" is a common complaint by motorists who sometimes seem to think that this fact rules out funding for cycling infrastructure (or, in extreme cases, justifies attempted vehicular manslaughter).

This video, by Spencer Boomhower, is the clearest, most rational explanation I've seen for why the Idaho stop law makes perfect sense as a general cycling strategy on streets and roadways shared with cars. It's well worth showing to non-bike-riding friends and family.

Bicycles, Rolling Stops, and the Idaho Stop from Spencer Boomhower on Vimeo.

Comments

[darkemeralds]

I can't help wondering how the transition to roundabouts went. It seems a very bold move.

And I would NOT want to try one on my bike, except on the quietest back roads.

[ironed_orchid]

It seems to work okay. Although a lot of drivers still don't know how to indicate when leaving the roundabout. We have roundabouts or stop signs or give way signs or traffic lights depending on the intersecton.

The only place I have seen roundabouts fail is when they are combined with pedestrian crossings, because the point of roundabouts if to keep traffic moving and pedestrian crossings stop traffic.

[sara]

I think maybe that's the problem with the one in Springfield -- it has something like five roads feeding into it and all of them have various pedestrian opportunities. It's...well, I detour around it.