The Idaho Stop is Coming to Berkeley

Walk Bike Berkeley is on a ROLL! On Nov 12, City Council unanimously adopted a referral to

  • deprioritize enforcement against bicyclists who treat stop signs as yield signs (the Idaho Stop),

  • set up a ticket diversion program to educate rather than fine cyclists for traffic violations,

  • and calm/divert traffic and remove unnecessary stop signs on bicycle boulevards.

In September, Walk Bike Berkeley objected to the Berkeley Police's recent bike-focused enforcement. We then helped Councilmember Robinson develop the Council referral, which was adopted with minor amendments. Our work made quite a splash: see Streetsblog, the SF Chronicle, the Daily Cal, and Berkeleyside.

Ben Gerhardstein