{"id":749,"date":"2010-06-17T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-06-17T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wabikes.org\/2010\/06\/17\/to-roll-or-not-to-roll\/"},"modified":"2010-06-17T16:00:00","modified_gmt":"2010-06-17T16:00:00","slug":"to-roll-or-not-to-roll","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/index.php\/2010\/06\/17\/to-roll-or-not-to-roll\/","title":{"rendered":"To Roll or Not To Roll"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Hi, my name is Katie, and I roll through stop signs.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.freefoto.com\/images\/41\/15\/41_15_52---Stop-Sign_web.jpg\" style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" border=\"0\" height=\"200\" src=\"http:\/\/www.freefoto.com\/images\/41\/15\/41_15_52---Stop-Sign_web.jpg\" width=\"132\" \/><\/a>I\u2019ll be the first to admit that I ride right through 4 stop signs in on my morning commute across I-90 (sometimes I slow down\u2026sometimes I don\u2019t). In the afternoon, I blow through so many stop signs on the Burke-Gilman trail that I can\u2019t even count them. When this topic comes up, I usually hasten to add that I always stop at stop lights, as if that redeems my blatantly illegal stop sign flaunting. <\/p>\n<p>I know the law; <a href=\"http:\/\/apps.leg.wa.gov\/rcw\/default.aspx?cite=46.61.190\">RCW 46.61.190<\/a> states quite clearly, <\/p>\n<blockquote><p>(2) Except when directed to proceed by a duly authorized flagger, or a police officer, or a firefighter vested by law with authority to direct, control, or regulate traffic, every driver of a vehicle approaching a stop sign shall stop at a clearly marked stop line<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Since bicyclists are drivers of vehicles (<a href=\"http:\/\/apps.leg.wa.gov\/rcw\/default.aspx?cite=46.04.670\">RCW 46.04.670<\/a>), this law clearly applies to us. Yet if you\u2019re like me, you have probably rolled through your share of stop signs, too. And odds are, like me, you don\u2019t feel particularly guilty about those illegal non-stops, either &#8212; even if the behavior outrages motorists a little bit.<\/p>\n<p>Why is stopping, or not stopping, at a stop sign such a big deal? There has been plenty of discussion about why (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ecovelo.info\/2008\/08\/28\/why-bicyclists-hate-stop-signs\/\">here<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cyclingdude.com\/2004\/05\/why_bicyclists_.html\">here<\/a>, and <a href=\"http:\/\/socrates.berkeley.edu\/~fajans\/pub\/pdffiles\/StopSignsAccess.pdf\">here<\/a> [PDF], for starters). As fellow bicyclists, you probably already have an answer ready, and I bet your answer runs along these lines: It all comes down to <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Momentum\">momentum<\/a>, an issue that doesn\u2019t even register on the radar of motorists or even most pedestrians. Bicyclists crave momentum, hoard it, and release it only under duress. Stopping at stop signs, particularly at completely empty intersections at the bottom of big hills, kills our momentum and makes us work hard to get going again. This rubs us the wrong way, particularly at empty intersections. <\/p>\n<p>However, few topics divide cyclists more quickly than what to do around stop signs. That means there&#8217;s an entire contingent of vehicular cyclists who say that the law is clear: Bicyclists should &#8220;drive&#8221; their pedal-powered vehicles the same as they would a motor vehicle, including coming to a full and complete stop* when traffic control devices mandate it. Additionally, there are other concerns around riding through stop signs: It makes cyclists unpredictable and thus more prone to collisions with other vehicles; it infuriates motorists and increases ill-will between motorists and cyclists (see, for example, <a href=\"http:\/\/community.seattletimes.nwsource.com\/archive\/?date=20030530&#038;slug=ontheroad30e\">here<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/community.seattletimes.nwsource.com\/archive\/?date=20030907&#038;slug=bumper07m\">here<\/a>, and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.spokesman.com\/stories\/2009\/apr\/12\/road-scholars\/\">here<\/a>); it makes the cyclist more likely to hit pedestrians in crosswalks; the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bikeleague.org\/resources\/better\/index.php\">reasons<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.slate.com\/id\/2232555\">concerns<\/a> go on.<\/p>\n<p>This brings us to the question of what we should do about this issue. The law clearly doesn\u2019t reflect reality, and many cyclists would argue that the law shouldn\u2019t apply to us for <a href=\"http:\/\/www.stc-law.com\/idaho_stop_law.html\">various reasons<\/a>. Alternatives such as the <a href=\"http:\/\/bikeportland.org\/2009\/01\/14\/idaho-stop-law-faq\/\">Idaho stop<\/a> have received plenty of discussion, but our strict stop-at-stop-signs law remains on the books. Should the Bicycle Alliance pursue an Idaho stop law (the <a href=\"http:\/\/bikeportland.org\/tag\/idaho-stop-law\/\">BTA&#8217;s 2009 effort<\/a> to implement such a law in Oregon failed), or some other alternative? Should bicyclists more strictly adhere to the law if only to forestall motorists\u2019 eternal complaining about \u201cthose law-breaking bicyclists,\u201d since our casual attitude toward stopping always comes out as the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mercurynews.com\/ci_15063143\">first piece of evidence<\/a> against us? <\/p>\n<p>I know this discussion has only scratched the surface of the issues surrounding stop signs. I\u2019m interested to hear your thoughts on the topic. Do <i>you<\/i> stop every time? Should you have to?<\/p>\n<p>*   We won\u2019t even get into whether you have to put your foot down or if a track stand counts as a complete stop.<\/p>\n<p><i><b>Stop sign image courtesy of FreeFoto.com. <\/b><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hi, my name is Katie, and I roll through stop signs. I\u2019ll be the first [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[44,63,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bike-issues-advocacy","category-legal","category-share-the-road"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>To Roll or Not To Roll - Washington Bikes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/index.php\/2010\/06\/17\/to-roll-or-not-to-roll\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"To Roll or Not To Roll - Washington Bikes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Hi, my name is Katie, and I roll through stop signs. 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