Why don’t bicyclists want to stop at stop signs or wait at red lights when there is no approaching traffic?
Bicyclists tend to want to roll through stop signs and stop lights when there is no approaching traffic because it requires considerable energy to stop completely and get back up to speed. In addition, bicyclists instinctively recognize they will be safer if they can minimize time spent in intersections. The Idaho experience has demonstrated that bicyclists do not mistakenly fail to stay out of the way of approaching motorists at stop signs or red lights just because the law allows them to stop and/or yield and roll. While the data is not entirely clear, at least one European study has demonstrated that removing stop and yield signs tends to reduce the number of collisions because operators pay more attention to approaching traffic and engage in cooperative merging and sharing of the roadway (in much the same way pedestrians share sidewalks). In addition, because the bicycle relies upon the relatively low power output of the human operator, unnecessary slowing or stopping, taking one’s
