Researchers at Oregon State University have found that laws that allow cyclists to yield at a stop sign rather than coming to a complete stop do not increase the likelihood of unsafe driving or cycling behavior.
However, studies suggest that providing more information about rolling stop laws could benefit Oregon drivers and cyclists.
In 2019, Oregon was one of a handful of states to legalize the so-called “Idaho Stop,” which allows cyclists to give way to flashing red lights and stop signs, rather than subjecting cyclists to the same stopping rules as motorists. Cyclists must still stop at a solid red light.
Researchers at the State of Oregon wanted to know what this means for safety.
“What we would not like to see is an increase in the frequency and severity of accidents, especially involving cyclists or pedestrians,” said David S. Hurwitz, director of the Kiewit Center for Infrastructure and Transportation Research at Oregon State University.
The Oregon researchers teamed up with scientists from Idaho and Washington to interview transit officials, police officers and bicycle activists in states that have implemented rolling stops, conduct a citizen survey and conduct a laboratory study of the behavior of drivers and cyclists.
The researchers wanted to know: Did Oregon “make a good decision” by allowing rolling stops statewide? The answer was yes, Hurwitz said.
“People should be reasonably confident that the implementation of these laws will not result in any significant compromise to security,” he said.
Surveys found that “increased awareness” of rolling stop laws is needed. Residents of Idaho, the first state to enact the right-of-way law in 1982, were more familiar with the rule than people in Oregon and Washington, which did not implement these new laws until around 2020.
In fact, researchers found that nearly 60% of the 80 Corvallis-area drivers and bicyclists that Oregon State researchers recruited for a laboratory study of their driving behavior were unaware of state right-of-way laws before participating in the study.
The laboratory study tracked the driving behavior of nearly 40 bicyclists and 40 motorists before and after a training seminar on the right-of-way law. Participants drove two routes on a real-world simulator, then received training on the Oregon law, and then drove two more routes. They knew at that point that researchers were monitoring their behavior.
Both drivers and cyclists changed their behavior when they learned about the law, the study found.
Some drivers who knew about the yield rule braked sooner when approaching a stop and then drove more slowly through intersections, the study found. Nearly 70% of lab participants who drove cars said they were concerned about cyclist safety at intersections after learning about the rule, the researchers found.
Cyclists who previously normally stopped at stop signs were more likely to yield at a stop sign than to ride through an intersection at a higher speed after learning the rule, according to the study. Cyclists were still more likely to stop when there was a car at an intersection, the paper said.
The increased speeds of cyclists suggest that they were able to navigate intersections without stopping “more safely and efficiently” after learning about the policy, the study says. This could reduce travel time and improve traffic flow, the study says. But it “also raises concerns about yielding behavior, which could lead to an increased risk of crashes if cyclists do not yield the right of way appropriately,” the study says.
In general, researchers found that cyclists “did not contribute to dangerous behavior” when roll stops were allowed, the study said. Cyclists who knew about the roll stop rule did not try to speed through narrow gaps in front of speeding cars, Hurwitz said. Car drivers also did not ignore cyclists or accelerate toward them, he said, and even paid more attention to cyclists.
In all cases observed by the researchers, the behavior of drivers and cyclists either remained the same or improved when people knew about the law, Hurwitz said.
“We see this as a pretty positive result,” he said.
Sami Edge covers higher education and politics for The Oregonian. You can reach her at [email protected] or (503) 260-3430.
