AB122 - Bike Stop-as-Yield - Tell Governor Newsom to sign the bill

[Troy Buss]

Bike Stop-as-Yield

Every day, thousands of bike riders across California slow as they approach stop signs. They look both ways. If there is traffic, they stop; if not, they roll safely through the intersection.

Right now, this is illegal under California law. The Bicycle Safety Stop Law (AB 122) would make this commonsense bike rider behavior legal.

You might know the stop-as-yield as the Idaho stop because Idaho was the first state to legalize it, way back in 1982. It's time for California to make the bicycle safety stop legal, too.

https://www.calbike.org/bicycle-safety-stop-law/

[karlos]

If this is important to you, make your voice heard by contacting Gov Newsom by following Troy's link. Some of you may remember that the 3 foot law was passed by both the Assembly and the Senate easily, but it took THREE tries (several years) to get Gov Brown to finally sign it, with pressure from AAA, CHP and trucking associations. I'm not sure what kind of pressure Newsom is getting to hold off, but I do know there are several Nextdoor fires burning currently by folks complaining about bicyclists and they may be pushing Newsom to not sign. Hopefully, Newsom is in a good mood these days. They really do count what the populace pushes, even though this is not a proposition, so if you have an opinion one way or the other, let your voice count.

[karlos]

As I half expected, Gov Newsom vetoed AB 122 despite support by both the Assembly and the Senate. This was his statement:

"Fatalities and serious injuries have been on the rise on the state's roads since 2010. The Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System shows that, since 2015, there were 3,059 crashes involving bicycles at an intersection in which the primary collision factor was failure to stop at a stop sign. The data indicates bicyclists were determined to be at fault for 88 percent of the collisions resulting in fatalities and 63 percent of those involving injuries."

Please don't be frustrated or be angry ... it took 3 tries and ~8 years in Oregon to get it through. His statement, to me, shows that more cyclists need to be better educated. If only the basic ideas in the Smart Cycling and/or Cycling Savvy curriculum were understood and followed by everyone (and motorists were also aware of what is taught there), the Governor would not have been able to make that statement, imo.

Nevertheless, please obey all traffic signs and NCCC group rides should make sure that the first riders in a group come to a full stop, wait for the group to bunch up behind them and to proceed like a large truck. None of our groups are so large that a group would be on the order of ~100 so traffic officers will likely not cite that behavior, although the law does require everyone to completely stop and proceed when it's their turn - you have all the duties of a motor vehicle driver via CVC 21200.

Hang in there. Ride safely, legally and courteously but mainly enjoy riding your bike