Cyclists push for change, but Jefferson City’s Idaho Stop ordinance hits a roadblock

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ) 

A proposed Idaho Stop ordinance for cyclists was sent back to committee for further review on Monday after Jefferson City Mayor Ron Fitzwater vetoed the idea. 

The Jefferson City Council passed the ordinance, also known as the "Idaho Law," in May by a 6-2 vote, allowing cyclists to treat intersections with a stop sign or flashing red lights as a yield sign. The proposal would have made Jefferson City the first municipality in Missouri to adopt an Idaho Stop law. 

The council needed seven of 10 votes to override the veto on Monday, but the attempt failed, receiving support from only three council members. However, instead of scrapping the idea entirely, the council opted to send it back to the Public Safety Committee for additional discussion and possible revisions.

Fitzwater said Monday his decision to veto the ordinance stemmed from concerns raised during the council's original discussion of the proposal.

"My concern was there were a lot of questions asked where we got multiple answers that were sometimes 180 degrees apart, and it was confusion in the room," Fitzwater said. "This is a city doing it in a state that has not adopted this language. I have full confidence that bikers understand traffic, and they will not intentionally pull in front of a car. But I've got three teenage grandkids that drive and there's a lot of factors out there that I just did not feel like were addressed in multiple ways at the meeting."

Fitzwater added he does not believe the ordinance should be abandoned permanently, but would like to see the language clarified before it returns to the full council.

Ward 5 Councilwoman MacKenzie Job said she was pleased the council chose to continue discussing the ordinance, rather than allowing it to die with the mayor's veto.

"I am glad the bill ended up being sent back to committee rather than simply being vetoed," Job said in a statement to ABC 17 News. "As is evident by the whole process, there is some education around active transportation that needs to happen."

The ordinance was a hot topic of discussion, with six residents appearing before the council on Monday to speak in favor of the idea. Supporters of the proposal argued the ordinance would improve cyclist safety by reducing the amount of time riders spend in intersections.

Sasha Vosko -- who said she has rode a bicycle in Cole County for the past eight years -- told council members that stopping at intersections can present unique challenges for cyclists.

"Stopping on the bike is not as easy as in a car. When I'm stopping on a bicycle, I have to downshift, while squeezing the levers, breaking, and at the same time twisting my foot out of the pedals. So it kind of creates a dangerous situation," Vosko said.

Michael Cardinal, who commutes by bicycle in Jefferson City, argued the ordinance would benefit both cyclists and motorists.

"When a cyclist can roll through an intersection without stopping, you can get out of the way faster, which benefits motorists behind them as much as the cyclist," Cardinal said.

Jackson Hotaling, director of policy and programs for Missourians for Responsible Transportation, also spoke in support of the ordinance during the meeting and told ABC 17 News he believes the measure would make roadways safer for cyclists.

"There have been quite a number of studies that have demonstrate, specifically for reducing the amount of time that a cyclist has in an intersection, is valuable because that increases your exposure rate to other vehicles," said Jackson Hotaling, director of policy and programs for Missourians for Responsible Transportation.

Hotaling argued allowing cyclists to move through intersections more efficiently can reduce the risk of crashes.

"If you did have the Idaho Stop law in effect, that would allow cyclists to be able to travel through the intersections where they are most at risk of certain kinds of crashes," Hotaling said. "Additionally, if you have a large group of people it is helpful to stay together, but if you're asking people to stop individually, that will of course increase risk just due to the amount of time that a whole group are going to go through."

Hotaling also noted that several states have already adopted similar laws.

"Our neighboring states like Oklahoma and Arkansas and Idaho, that's had this on the books for 20 years or so, it's been proven and documented to be effective for safety," he said.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 13 states and Washington, D.C., have adopted some version of an Idaho Stop law. Missouri currently allows bicyclists and motorcyclists to proceed through malfunctioning traffic signals under its "Dead Red" law after stopping and waiting a reasonable period of time.

Job said she believes confusion during the original presentation of the ordinance contributed to the mayor's concerns.

"While I feel the ordinance itself is straightforward and clear, the way it was described during the meeting when it was presented was a bit confusing and led to the veto," Job said.

However, Job told ABC 17 News she remains optimistic that the proposal can move forward after additional review, adding that she plans to compare Jefferson City's language with Idaho's existing law before the ordinance returns to the council.  

"We will come prepared to the public safety committee meeting with the verbiage from Idaho regarding their 'stop as yield' ordinance to compare and make sure ours is crystal clear before sending it back to the full council, where I hope it will pass without further incident," Job told ABC 17 News. "As one resident stated during last night's meeting, cyclists don't want to be hit by cars, so I'm hopeful we can move this forward to improve safety for everyone on the road.”