I am probably the only cyclist in Vancouver, BC who even pretends to stop at stop signs. Well, some of the racers will stop, especially if they're wearing team kit, as they wouldn't want to bring discredit upon their sponsors. But most of the guys & gals I see are the typical Critical M*******s, and they think they're exempt from the same rules as motor vehicles. I, having attained my cycling education thru club riding, randonneur brevets, and John Forester, will stop (or do a "pretend stop") at stop signs, and will wait for red lights (unless I know I can show in traffic court that the light wasn't about to change for one bicycle & no other vehicles were present).

And the problem with Vancouver's Critical M******* approach is that motorists now routinely roll thru stop signs, likely because they see cyclists do it, and peds ignore red lights entirely. This reallly annoys me. And what's funny is that I often travel to California (my former home), and I'm impressed with the fact that almost without exception, cars will come to a COMPLETE stop at stop signs!

If you go on the listservs for cycling advocacy in BC and bring up the subject of cyclists blowing stop signs, you're usually told to shut up, bicycles are different, or that we need to get more people on bicycles, and having to stop at stop signs just discourages them!

What also annoys me are people on official ACP-sanctioned brevets who run stop signs. I really think they should get severe time penalties. Bike racing and gran fondos are different; there are corner marshalls or police at the stop signs or red lights to let riders thru without stopping. But in any official event where this is not the case, I really think that all traffic laws should be obeyed.

Riding in a group in an organized event can also be weird. Quite often the group will run a stop sign, each riding shouting "clear" as they pass by the stop sign. In this situation, I find that it's usually best just to follow the group, as slowing down or stopping (when it's plain that no vehicle is approaching) would be more likely to cause a crash. I remember that at the start of PBP, leaving St. Quentin-en-Yvelines, my group of about 40 riders ran every stop sign and red light along the main boulevard without even slowing down until we were out in the countryside. But it was between 5 and 7 in the morning and people in that area knew what was happening. But when I was riding alone, or with a small group, we always stopped at the red lights and did the slow roll thru the stop signs.

Luis