MORGANTOWN — A cyclist with no helmet cruising through a four-way stop.
Today, that scenario represents multiple violations of city code.
That may be about to change.
Morgantown City Council is preparing to take up numerous amendments to the city’s traffic code, including implementation of a “stop as yield” provision that would essentially allow bicyclists to treat stop signs and traffic lights as yield signs.
The reasoning for this is simple, according to Staff Engineer Drew Gatlin.
“Intersections are dangerous places,” he said, particularly for cyclists.
He said such laws are colloquially known as “dead red laws,” meaning “You don’t want to get caught dead at a red light.”
“In layman’s terms, if it’s your turn and it’s safe to do so, you may roll through the intersection,” Gatlin explained, emphasizing the word “if.”
“This does not allow cyclists to be reckless and it does not allow them to consider the right of way differently. If there’s another vehicle in the intersection, they must come to a complete stop.”
Such laws were first implemented in the early 1980s. Gatlin said comparative data shows cities that implement “stop as yield” see considerably fewer cyclist-involved crashes.
Under the proposed changes, adult cyclists could also choose whether or not to wear a helmet.
It’s currently illegal for anyone to ride in the city without a helmet. The change would align the city with state law, making helmets mandatory only for those 15 and under.
“Nobody is arguing that you shouldn’t wear a helmet when you ride a bicycle, but mandatory helmet laws are not effective. They are, in fact, very negative in their effects,” he said, claiming such laws encourage a perception of cycling as inherently dangerous.
Further, he said, helmet laws discourage ridership and utilization of bike-share programs “which we may end up seeing deployed here given certain changes that you might make in the next few weeks …”
The changes would also eliminate the city’s prohibition on riding what it currently considers “toy vehicles” — things like skateboards, scooters and skates — on city streets and sidewalks.
Gatlin said the laws banning these uses are simply not enforced and not in line with how people get from one place to another, both in Morgantown and across the country.
“The vast majority of both the world and the rest of the country has moved on and recognized that these things are actual forms of transportation for many people,” he said, pointing out that vehicles utilizing sidewalks must yield to pedestrians and will remain prohibited in the downtown business district.
The proposed traffic code changes would also:
- Expand the power of the city manager, and by extension, city administration, to act without a vote from city council to do things like install stop signs and traffic control signals/devices and otherwise restrict traffic or different uses of city streets.
“These changes do require us to deliver written orders to [council]. So anything we do, we’ll tell you about it,” Gatlin said. “And they allow you to reject or overturn any administrative action. They also maintain your ability to do this stuff on your own.”
- Codify the city’s Healthy Streets program and add language explaining “motorists must always yield to other uses on these types of streets.”
Through the use of signage and other traffic calming measures, the Morgantown Healthy Streets program restricts through traffic on selected routes in order to give residents more space to recreate and use non-motorized means of transportation.
Jackson Avenue, Western Avenue, Demain Avenue and Wagner Street have been designated as such.
- Eliminate Article 315 regarding parades, placing it under Article 311 “special uses.
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