A bill that would allow Utah bicyclists to simply yield at intersections governed by a stop sign or traffic signal, was killed by the Utah House Transportation Committee who evaluated it. The proposal would have put Utah in line with an Idaho law on the books there for 20 years. Whether this rule would have reduced the incidence of auto-bicycle accidents in Utah is another story.
The bill, not surprisingly, met with a lot of resistance, with bike riders actually being on both sides of the issue. The argument in favor of the change is that cyclists already in practice treat intersections as “yield” signs anyway. The law change would simply be legalizing what is already a common practice. Some of the law makers debating this admitted that yielding at this intersection is a common practice for them as well.)
As a cyclist myself, I think the biking community will be safer by following the rules that motorists are required to follow, even though the practice of “blowing” stop signs will undoubtedly continue. With the animosity there seems to be in Utah between motorists and bicyclists, I think it best not to create any law that will create even more animosity between the two transportation groups.
Ron Kramer is a Utah personal injury and Utah bicycle accident lawyer with offices in Draper, Provo and Bountiful Utah.