The Idaho Stop 10 Years Later

It was actually over ten years ago that I first blogged about the Idaho stop.

In 1982, the state of Idaho made it legal for cyclists to treat stop signs as yield signs. Essentially, if it's safe, you can slow down a little and blow right through the stop sign.

I consider myself a safe cyclist. I signal, I respect vehicles on the road and, for the most part, I follow the rules of the road.  When I encounter a stop sign and the coast is clear, however, I treat it like a yield sign. I risk the ticket and practice the Idaho stop.

It would be nice to see the Idaho stop adopted here, so that becomes legal. I'd also like to explore the option of treating a red light like a stop sign.  In essence, if you're on a bicycle, stop signs become yield signs and red lights become stop signs.

It just makes sense, doesn't it?

The Idaho stop is still a violation of our traffic laws, but I've been practicing this as if it's legal since I took up cycling again in 2012. To give you an idea of how much cycling I've done since then, I can tell you it's exactly 118,276.16 KM at the time of this writing. That's 118,276.16 KM, almost all on Toronto and Mississauga trails and streets. I always practice the Idaho stop.

That means stop signs are treated like yield signs and red lights are treated like stop signs. I realize I risk expensive tickets for violating our traffic laws, but I've happily taken this risk for 118,276.16 KM.

It still just makes sense. Let's legalize it.