Fact Sheet: Safety Yield

OVERVIEW

Improve safety and encourage bicycling by allowing people bicycling to treat stop signs as yield signs under limited circumstances (Safety Yield).

Reasons to Support

• Improves the safety of people bicycling.
  • The Safety Yield is a proven safety measure recommended by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
  • Traffic crashes involving bicyclists at stop sign intersections fell by 23% in the 30 months after Delaware adopted a Safety Yield law in 2017.
  • A person on a bicycle must still stop and let people walking and other cars or bikes go first before crossing the street at an intersection
• Incorporates recommendations of a Virginia State Police (VSP) “Safety Yield” stakeholder group convened as directed by the General Assembly in 2021.
  • This bill is modeled after Delaware’s Safety Yield law to achieve similar safety benefits as recommended in the stakeholder group’s report.
  • The Safety Yield would apply only to people who are at least 15 years old or accompanied by an adult.
• Supports riding bikes on quiet neighborhood streets where there aren’t as many cars and cars drive more slowly.
• Safer bicycling will encourage more people to bike, which will reduce transportation-generated greenhouse gasses.   
• Eleven states (ID, DE, AR, OR, WA, UT, ND, OK, CO, MN and NM) and Washington DC have enacted Safety Yield laws. There is no evidence that these laws have made bicycling less safe, and no state has ever repealed such a law.

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Problem to be Solved 

Under current Virginia law, a person on a bicycle must come to a complete stop at every stop sign, increasing crash risk by reducing stability, slowing progress through intersections (where nearly half of bicycle-vehicle crashes occur), and placing bicyclists in potential conflict zones longer than necessary. 

National safety experts, including the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), recognize Safety Yield as a proven safety measure.

In 2021, Virginia State Police convened a stakeholder group to review Safety Yield policies and produced consensus findings. However, Virginia law has not yet been updated to reflect these findings. 

This legislation aligns Virginia law with national safety recommendations and state-level stakeholder consensus. 

Introduction

Bicyclist fatalities have recently doubled. In 2024, Virginia experienced 25 bicycling fatalities from crashes with motor vehicles, compared to an annual average of 12.6 bicycling fatalities/year over the five preceding years.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has concluded that the Safety Stop, a.k.a. Stop-as-Yield, “provides additional safety benefits for cyclists”. As of November, 2025, bicyclist “Stop-As-Yield” laws have been adopted by eleven states.  Enacting the Safety Stop in Virginia could save several lives every year while increasing the popularity of riding with associated safety, public health and environmental benefits.

Why a Safety Yield?

The purpose of Safety Yield legislation is to reduce bicyclist-involved crashes allowing bicyclists to yield instead of stop at stop sign-controlled intersections.

Bicycling is one of the most efficient forms of transportation, with the efficiency derived from momentum. Unnecessarily coming to a complete stop, i.e. when no other vehicles or pedestrians are present at a stop-sign controlled intersection, interrupts that momentum with the result that the bicyclist needs more time (and a wider gap in cross traffic) to clear the intersection.  A bicyclist is then at higher risk crossing an intersection when starting from a complete stop. Treating the stop sign as a yield sign requires the bicyclist to slow, and yield to others, and, when clear, allows them to continue more safely through the intersection.

Safety Yield requires bicyclists to yield the right-of-way at a stop sign without requiring a complete stop. This puts the emphasis on avoiding a crash and possible injury.

Safety Yield promotes bicycling on safer, low-traffic, low-speed local streets. The frequent presence of all-way stop signs along such neighborhood routes discourages their use for bicycling.  Allowing people on bicycles to treat stop signs as yield signs would encourage more bicyclists to use safer, local streets instead of parallel arterial streets with heavier and faster traffic.

This YouTube video explains how a “Safety Yield” improves safety: Idaho “Rolling” Stops for Bicycles in Oregon. 2009.

How does this law affect scooters? What about motorcyclists or moped riders?

The Safety Yield would apply to a person, 15 years of age or older, while operating a bicycle, electric personal assistive mobility device, electric power-assisted bicycle, motorized skateboard, or scooter. It would not apply to motorcyclists or moped riders.

Would the Safety Yield allow bicyclists to blow red lights?

NO! It would not change the requirements of a bicyclist to stop at a red light. It also does not allow bicyclists to blow through stop signs, only to properly yield to oncoming traffic with due care, after slowing.

Have other states adopted the Safety Yield?
Yes - Eleven! Idaho was the first state to enact legislation allowing cyclists to treat Stop signs as a yield in 1982. Since then, Delaware, Arkansas, Oregon, Washington, Utah, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Colorado, Minnesota, New Mexico and the District of Columbia have enacted similar legislation. 

Have studies shown safety benefits of a Safety Yield? 

Yes! A 5-year study of the Safety Yield in Delaware was shown to contribute to a 23% reduction in bike crashes at stop-sign controlled intersections. Researcher Jason Meggs conducted an earlier study with the University of California Berkeley School of Public Health. When Meggs compared bicycle accidents in Boise, Idaho and Sacramento, California — two similar cities — he found Boise had at least 30 percent fewer injuries.  

Has the Virginia General Assembly considered this bill before?

Yes. The House of Delegates approved an earlier version of this bill 75Y-24N in 2021 as part of a Bicyclist Safety Act, HB2262. Ultimately, the Safety Yield provision was not enacted in 2021, but rather was referred to Virginia State Police (VSP) to lead a study.

What was the result of a Virginia State Police 2021 studyof the Safety Stop?

As a result of the VSP-led study and subsequent engagement with stakeholders, the draft bill includes provisions that address concerns raised by stakeholders:

• The stakeholder consensus was that if Virginia seeks to achieve a safety result similar to that of Delaware, the proposal should be substantially similar to that of Delaware. This proposal has been updated to be substantially similar to Delaware’s Safety Yield. 
• AAA requested a minimum age to account for cognitive development of young people.  The Safety Yield would not apply to bicyclists under 15 years old.

The report of the Virginia State Police 2021 study of the Safety Stop is here.