COLORADO SPRINGS — “Bike to Work Day” is underway today and the city of Colorado Springs is encouraging people to strap on their helmets and opt outside. Since more bikes will be on the road, it’s important to be aware of the state’s new Colorado Safety Stop Law.
The Colorado Safety Stop Law allows bicyclists over the age of 15 to treat stop signs as yield signs and to treat stop lights as stop signs. But let’s look at the details of the law.
Younger bicyclists may follow this new law if an adult is present. Bicyclists can yield and then proceed through a stop sign. Intersections where bicyclist specific lights for signs are present that prohibit the new maneuver are exempt from the new law. The bill defines “low speed conveyances” in Colorado law. This includes electric bikes, scooters but not mopeds.
For cyclists on the road, they say this new law is helpful.
“The nice thing about being able to go through an intersection like this is it will save time and you don’t feel like you’re holding up traffic as a cyclist. I do feel safer, I think I’ll feel safer once other drivers think that that’s the norm,” said Bernie Brayton, a local cyclist.
“I think it’s a two-way streak. It’s cyclists and automobiles are sharing the road and so we all need to understand the rules and cyclists need to understand the rules just as much as the road and that way we are both being predictable as we go through intersections, as we go through stop lights and we don’t want to upset each other,” said
Vince Seporito, a local cyclist.
The new law might take some getting used to for both cyclists and those driving on the road but over time, the law is intended to make sharing the road a smoother process.
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