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Laws that allow cyclists to treat stop signs and red lights as yield signs are called "Idaho stop" laws and are debated fiercely.

• pridkett 2y ago
  Unfortunately, New York seems to be odd in this respect. Even at lightly used stop lights, such as the lights inside of Central Park when most vehicles can’t use the roads, the police have been known to ticket cyclists. Then again, I’ve also seen the police ticket cyclists for speeding in the park. Numerous Reddit threads for both topics.
  • reliabilityguy 2y ago
    Typically those crosswalks in Central Park have a lot of pedestrians. So, makes sense.
  • sheepscreek 2y ago
    I guess jaywalking laws have been used as bandaid for what is the real problem - a complete disregard for pedestrians and cyclists on the road in big North American cities. But instead of putting more onus on the motorists, they’ve offloaded it to the former. I guess you could say the bias extends to the lawmakers. Almost feels like victim shaming, if you ask me. But the fact is, jaywalking is against the law and when people don’t follow the rules, it just adds to the confusion which can cause more accidents. Just makes one wonder - what’s the point of it?
  • joenot443 2y ago
    I think in this case the exception is Central Park, not the rest of the city. I've lived here three years and see cyclists blow through red lights every single day, it's more or less expected at this point. For better or worse, the police largely don't enforce traffic laws for bikers in NYC.