House Transportation committee hears testimony on S.123 changes to bicycle rules including ‘stop-as-yield’ and bike signals

The House Transportation Committee took testimony May 2 on Senate Bill S.123, a measure that would let bicyclists use pedestrian signals and allow a limited “stop-as-yield” behavior at stop-controlled intersections.

Supporters, traffic-safety advocates and bicycling organizers told the committee they believe the changes could reduce crashes and make bicycling safer and more practical. Opposing or cautionary comments focused on statutory definitions, potential enforcement gaps and how the law would interact with existing state traffic statutes.

The proposal would explicitly allow bicyclists to proceed when a pedestrian signal indicates it is safe to cross and would let bicyclists treat a stop sign as a yield when no other traffic is present — a practice often described as the “Idaho stop.” Jonathan Weber, programs director at Local Motion, said the group would not advocate the change unless it believed the amendments would improve safety: “We would not be here asking for these changes if we,…