Col­orado Gov­er­nor Jared Polis signed the “Col­orado Safe­ty Stop” into law on April 13, 2022, mak­ing it legal for peo­ple on bikes to treat stop signs as yield signs and treat stop lights as stop signs, accord­ing to an arti­cle by Bicy­cle Col­orado.

The arti­cle cites data that shows the Safe­ty Stop—known in bicy­cle and plan­ning cir­cles as the Ida­ho Stop—reduces col­li­sions involv­ing peo­ple on bikes and auto­mo­bile. Delaware, which adopt­ed a sim­i­lar law in 2017, has seen a 23 per­cent drop in col­li­sions involv­ing bicy­cles at stop sign con­trolled inter­sec­tions. Researchers from DePaul Uni­ver­si­ty pub­lished a study in 2016 that also sup­port­ed Ida­ho Stops for the safe­ty of peo­ple on bikes.

Bicy­cle Col­orado also pro­vides addi­tion­al infor­ma­tion on the new law, as list­ed in the source arti­cle:

• Younger bicy­clists may per­form the maneu­ver if an adult is present.
  Bicy­clists can yield and then pro­ceed through stop sign-con­trolled inter­sec­tions at up to 10 miles per hour.
• Inter­sec­tions where bicy­clist-spe­cif­ic lights or signs are present that pro­hib­it the maneu­ver are exempt from the new law.
• The bill defines “low speed con­veyances” in Col­orado law. These are small pro­file, low-speed vehi­cles that peo­ple use for trans­porta­tion and recre­ation, includ­ing bicy­cles and elec­tric bicy­cles, elec­tric scoot­ers (not includ­ing mope­ds), and wheel­chairs.

The Col­orado Leg­is­la­ture approved the law in March 2022, paving the way for this week’s his­toric bill sign­ing. Bicy­cle Col­orado says the law has been in the works for years.

The state of Col­orado now joins Ida­ho, Delaware, Arkansas, Ore­gon, Wash­ing­ton, North Dako­ta, Utah – 2021, and Okla­homa among states where the Ida­ho Stop is the law of the land. Cal­i­for­nia could have been on the list, but Gov. Gavin New­som vetoed AB 122 in 2021.