Big Apple bicyclists would be allowed to cruise through red lights and stop signs after merely slowing down and looking both ways, under a proposed bill by a city councilman.
The measure, introduced by Antonio Reynoso — who represents bike-crazy Williamsburg — would lift the requirement that cyclists follow the same traffic-light rules as motor-vehicle drivers.
The proposal comes as Mayor de Blasio struggles with his Vision Zero plan to lower pedestrian fatalities and cops are trying to crack down on rogue drivers, cyclists and jaywalkers.
City records show 4,463 cyclists were injured in crashes last year.
But Reynoso defended the proposal, noting how stopping is difficult for cyclists at full speed.
“Riding a bike is not like driving a vehicle. A bike’s motor is the human body, and there is the issue of losing momentum,” said Reynoso, who loves biking so much, he sold his car to raise money for his 2013 campaign.
‘It is not sensible to have to stop and go at every stop sign.’
- Antonio Reynoso, councilmember
“It is not sensible to have to stop and go at every stop sign.”
Reynoso, who admits he sometimes blows stop signs and red lights “when appropriate,” believes his plan could improve traffic safety in general by speeding up the time it takes everyone to get through an intersection.
The change would be even more extreme than the laws in Idaho, which has become known for the nation’s most pro-bike rules, allowing riders to treat red lights as stop signs and stop signs as yield signs. Such rolling stops have earned the name “the Idaho stop” among avid city bikers.
But bringing such rural rules to New York City, which has five times the population of Idaho, is being called a terrible idea by pedestrian advocates.
“That’s the way cyclists already treat them now, and to legitimize that behavior would be a huge mistake,” said Andrew Albert, chairman of the NYC Transit Riders Council.
Some at City Hall also are sneering at the bill.
“His resolution doesn’t speak to bicycle safety,” said a source.
Because rules for bikes come under state traffic laws, the City Council can’t act unilaterally. The bill is for a resolution asking the state Legislature and Gov. Cuomo to change the law statewide.
Reynoso said he knows his plan is a long shot, but hopes he can change some minds.
“We need to start educating the general public,” he said. “We need to have more thorough and comprehensive conversations about how bicycling works in this city.”
Similar bills are currently being pushed in San Francisco and Washington, DC, and the same rule went into effect in Paris last summer.