March 16, 2021 – Salt Lake City, Utah – Gov. Spencer Cox today signed into law the Utah Yield / Idaho Stop law, HB 142. The new law will allow cyclists to treat stop signs as yield signs. Rep. Carol Moss, has worked tirelessly for the last 11 years to get the bill passed. The bill passed the legislature on March 5, 2021; the last day of the session.
As with most bills passed this year, it will take effect on May 5, 2021.
Rep. Moss’ tweet announcing the signing is here:
@SpencerJCox busy signing bills today signed my HB 142, Cycling Traffic Amendments, making it legal for cyclists to treat a stop sign as a yield sign if there is no traffic or pedestrian in the intersection. pic.twitter.com/PcNYh6ewGC
— Carol Moss (@RepCarolMoss) March 17, 2021
The relevant sections of the code are here:
The relevant portion of HB 142 is below:
(5) (a) As used in this Subsection (5), “immediate hazard” means a vehicle approaching
91 an intersection at a proximity and rate of speed sufficient to indicate to a reasonable person that
92 there is a danger of collision or accident.
93 (b) Except as provided in Subsection (6), an individual operating a bicycle approaching
94 a stop sign may proceed through the intersection without stopping at the stop sign if:
95 (i) the individual slows to a reasonable speed; and
96 (ii) yields the right-of-way to:
97 (A) any pedestrian within the intersection or an adjacent crosswalk;
98 (B) other traffic within the intersection; and
99 (C) oncoming traffic that poses an immediate hazard during the time the individual is
100 traveling through the intersection.
101 (6) Subsection (5)(b) does not apply to an intersection with an active railroad grade
102 crossing as defined in Section 41-6a-1005.
They don’t stop NOW, so what’s the difference?
Cars don’t need to unclip. Unclipping to come to a complete stop, and reclipping in an intersection, is more dangerous for a cyclist. When you see a cyclist just blow through a stop sign, honk at that loser and even call him out on it: “You give cycling a bad name.” But if he’s just slowing down to a safe controlled roll when there are no pedestrians or cars, that’s respectable and that’s exactly what this bill aims to make legal for the safety of the cyclist. If you don’t care about their safety, tell that to Shawn Bradley.
[…] The only break in the Zen of the ride was a rough looking guy in a crappy old truck yelling at me for not stopping at a stop sign. For all the other riders out there you can confuse the uneducated by yelling back “HB 142” also know as the “Idaho Stop”. Actually, don’t yell back, just ignore them because they are driving large vehicles and have already shown that they have the wrong attitude towards cyclists. Do remember that as a cyclists, thanks to HB 142, you can treat a stop sign as a yield sign. […]