By: Haley Berley
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — This week Governor Asa Hutchinson signed Arkansas Act 650 of 2019 making it legal for people traveling by bicycle through the state to treat stop signs as yields and red lights as stop signs.
While many other states have a similar law specific to either stop signs or red lights, Arkansas is only the second state cover both instances in one law. The first state to initiate this was Idaho in 1982. Cyclists around the area began commonly referring to the law as the “Idaho Stop Law.”
While the city of Fayetteville has a history of being “Bicycle friendly”, Arkansas has made large strides in promoting itself as a bicycle-friendly state as a whole.
The bill was supported by the League of American Cyclists, PeopleForBikes, and local advocacy groups such as Bicycle Advocacy of Central Arkansas and Bike NWA.
The bill does not change any right of way for vehicles using the roads and all other traffic laws still apply. However, cyclists have all of the rights and duties applicable to drivers of motor vehicles