Studies continue to show the Idaho stop is safer

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Originally published at: Studies continue to show the Idaho stop is safer - Boing Boing

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I thought the Idaho stop was that thing where a guy gets tazed on the side of the road for arguing with cops about how they don’t have authority over him because he is a sovereign citizen.

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Nothing seems to anger drivers around here more than the idea that cyclists can “get away” with breaking the rules. Nevermind that pedestrians and cyclists are being run over daily.

The amount of hate and vitriol directed towards cycling on my local subreddit is discouraging.

It’s almost like people aren’t allowed to be racist in public anymore, and they have to spit their venom somewhere, and it’s socially acceptable to do it at the bikers, flaunting their forward momentum while they sit stewing in bumper to bumper traffic. And it only intensifies if you’re actually wearing cycling clothing. And there’s no reasoning with them. It’s just blind hatred.

Legislation to allow the Idaho Stop has been introduced in Richmond, but it hasn’t passed.

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There’s a fairly serious flaw in your assumption.

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I am not so certain that a study conducted with only 30 participants, who used a simulator to gauge the effectiveness of educating people about the Idaho stop, carries much scientific weigh. The sample size is too small, and the duration of the study is too short.

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For stop signs, I will do a complete stop when there are cars at the intersection, everyone takes their legit turn going through - no issues there. But if I’m the only one I will slow down enough that I COULD stop very quickly, but not enough to lose momentum.

At a red light ? Absolutely follow the signals. Never in such a rush I’ll blow through a red light. Even at 3am with nothing else in sight, I stop (cycling OR driving).

Of course nothing a cyclist does is ‘legal’ according to drivers. Merely existing is an affront to them. I’m home in 10 minutes while they’ve moved maybe a block. To their mind I can only do that by breaking every law on the books, nothing to do with the dedicated bike lanes. There is an underlying seething jealousy that gets cyclists killed.

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I made my point inelegantly. What I meant was, at least on my local subreddit, if you made a post that says “I hate cyclists,” the response would be overwhelmingly positive, whereas a similar post about any other group would be deleted immediately. At least here, cyclist hate seems socially acceptable and nearly universal.

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And my area added roundabouts a few years ago to ‘improve traffic flow’ & eliminate traffic lights - they sent out mailers about how & what to do in a roundabout re behaviour & signaling, etc , but almost no one seems to have bothered so now theres at least an accident/incident every week. Not sure the people around here are smart enough for Idaho stops

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Are you on the west coast of Canada, by chance?

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Here in Denver I have more issues actually GETTING people to take their turn at an intersection, instead of holding things up so they can feel good about waving you through. Idaho stop is now legal here, but lots of motorists seem to think that means their turn doesn’t count. I call them niceholes. They’re trying so hard to be nice, they slow everybody down.

On reflection I guess that’s better than pure hostility towards cyclists…

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My only complaint with cyclists in my area (central NJ-ish) is that it seems like everyone who rides an e-bike is under the impression that they are a pedestrian. They’re always on the shoulder riding against traffic, and I don’t get it. Maybe they weren’t cyclists before they got an electric bike? Regular bikes are always on the correct side of the road, but I swear, every time I see an e-bike, they’re going against traffic.

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I’m a bit confused.

“once drivers were educated, intersection interactions between people biking and driving were no more dangerous than before introducing the law”

“safety increased instead of decreasing when an Idaho stop was permitted and when drivers were informed of the law.”

How does “no more dangerous” in one paragraph become “safety increased” in the next?

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Indeed.

I sometimes say that while it isn’t at all the same, to get the slightest sense (as a replacement-level white dude) of what it’s like to experience full-on racism, just ride bikes around typical US cities and towns for a while and try to engage in civic conversation about your needs as a cyclist.

It’s not at all the same. To be clear! But you will actively perceive people leaning hard into racist thought patterns about this non-racial thing.

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I hope that doesn’t mean they’re planning to extend the privilege to vehicles with bad brakes.

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Wait, is that what the B52s were singing about all this time? The lyrics make sense now!

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Yeah, looks like it!

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I’m on record here on BBS with that pet peeve.
the thing the cage dwellers never understand is that they can see me fine, because I’m out in the open. THEY are behind tinted glass that the single most powerful light source in our solar system is reflecting off of.
I CANNOT SEE YOU WAVING.
WHY DON’T YOU JUST TAKE YOUR TURN INSTEAD OF TRYING FOR PROGRESSIVE BROWNIE POINTS THAT I DON’T CARE ABOUT?

but yeah, coast-to-coast Idaho stop in 2024. Harris -Walz!

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Even when I see them waving, I would rather they just go. But yeah - C2CIS is something I can get behind!

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Either that or they think their e-bike is a car but they’re all British?

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