Study: Oregon Bikers Abide Red Lights

Move aside, myth of the reckless biker who flouts the law at every possible junction.

1 minute read

July 3, 2014, 1:00 PM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


"Nearly 94 percent of people riding bikes in Portland, Beaverton, Corvallis and Eugene stopped for red lights, a forthcoming Portland State University-based study of 2,026 intersection crossing videos has found. Of those, almost all (89 percent of the total) followed the rules perfectly, while another 4 percent entered the intersection just before the light changed to green," reports Michael Andersen.

Fortuitously, Andersen has a study from September 2013 for comparison finding that 36 to 77 percent of motorists tend to break the speed limit on local streets.

Few similar studies have been conducted in other cities, so it's hard to say whether bikers in these cities are relatively law abiding compared to bikers in other cities. It is still easy, however, to say that bikers in Oregon are safer than Alec Baldwin. 

Thursday, July 3, 2014 in Bike Portland

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I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

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