Somerville City Councilor Supports 'Idaho Stop' For Cyclists

SOMERVILLE, MA — Somerville City Councilor Ben Ewen-Campen sponsored a resolution last month designed to change the way local police officers enforce laws toward bicyclists.

The resolution calls on the chief of the Somerville Police Department — currently Charles Femino — "to adopt a policy of de-prioritizing enforcement against cyclists who treat red lights as stop signs when it is safe to do so."

Bicyclists treating stop signs as yield signs and red lights as stop signs, when no pedestrians are present, is called the "Idaho Stop" after that state legalized the practice in 1982, according to NBC 10 Boston. The station reported that Idaho observed a 14.5-percent decrease in cyclist injuries the year after changing the law.

In his resolution, Ewen-Campen referenced a 2022 report from the United States Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that explained that many states have enacted bicyclist stop-as-yield laws to enhance and protect cyclists.

"What we're talking about here is a cyclist comes to a red light and stops, sees that there are no pedestrians, that there's no traffic or the right of way, and then proceeds through. That's the behavior that we're talking about," Ewen-Campen told NBC 10 Boston.

Ewen-Campen, the Ward 3 councilor and the city council president, said he started looking at the issue after hearing from local residents who had been given warnings by the Somerville PD for various offenses, including treating red lights as stop signs.

In fact, Massachusetts law does require bicyclists to stop at red lights and stop signs.

In July, Somerville PD Captain James Donovan told the city's Public Health and Public Safety Committee that the department had stopped and warned 198 cyclists for various infractions. Donovan said the focus on bike safety came after the city received a state grant for pedestrian and cyclist enforcement.

When contacted by Patch, Ewen-Campen said he is not looking to change any laws, which are regulated at the state level.

"My resolution is calling on the Mayor's Office and the Somerville PD to de-prioritize enforcement of cyclists who proceed through red lights after coming to a stop and ensuring no pedestrians or oncoming traffic is present."