Originally Posted by
skye
Another reason group rides are dangerous. What may be a clear intersection at the front may very well not be when the back of the pack gets there.
Also, think of your liability. If the last words one of your riders heard before he got smacked was you telling him the intersection was clear, you just got yourself tacked onto the lawsuit.
When I teach cycling classes, I tell my students to ignore anybody yelling clear. Stop, look, and make the decision yourself.
All I can say is that, we are probably going 5mph, if that, and the stop signs we encounter on our ride are easily visible in all directions for several hundred yards, and there's hardly any traffic. If you feel the need to come to a full stop at every single one, that's fine. We don't. And I don't know ANY riders who would blow through a stop sign without looking for themselves, even IF the rider in front called clear.
As to liability, If it is just a random rider (as opposed to an official bike club officer or official ride leader) who yells "clear", I don't know how much liability would stick if it was clear for them, but possibly not for a rider 20 feet behind them.