Bring the Bicycle Safety Stop to DC
This action is no longer active. Please visit our action center for current actions you can take.
Update: The hearing record closed at the close of business on Thursday, May 19.
The DC Council is considering two important changes to the rules of the road for drivers and people who bike in DC. The Council’s Transportation Committee held a hearing last week and advocates have until May 19 to send in written testimony to be included for the record.
The Safer Intersections Amendment Act of 2022 makes two changes. First, it adopts the Bicycle Safety Stop in DC, allowing a person riding a bike, scooter or ebike to treat a stop sign as a yield at intersections and treat a red light as a stop sign. This change would give a bicyclist greater visibility to drivers and reduce the time they spend in the intersection when no other road users are present. The bill also prohibits right turn on red for drivers at all signalized intersections unless permitted by signage.
So far, nine states have adopted stop as yield, including Delaware, where reported crashes at intersections involving bicycles dropped 23% in the 30 months after the change. For more information on the Bicycle Safety Stop, read our blog post explainer or this fact sheet from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Read the full bill text here.