If you ride, then you may have come across this yourself. You're riding along a suburban street with little traffic and you get stopped at a red light. You wait, and wait, and wait…with no other vehicles approaching the light does not change to green. Why? Because your bike does not weigh as much as an auto vehicle and therefore does not alert the sensors under the pavement that someone is there, time to turn green and restart the cycle. Illinois has been working on a law that could alleviate this problem for bikers, which has been receiving mixed reviews.

The legislation would allow motorcyclists to treat a red light as a stop sign if the light does not change to green in a reasonable amount of time. Carey Caldwell who has been a rider for over 40 years and also sells motorcycles, states that it would be "similar to a right on red. Full stop, take a look, make sure there's no traffic and proceed safely through it," (Proposal Would Allow Bikers to Treat Some Red Lights as Stop Signs, Mike Parker, CBS Chicago,

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2011/08/03/proposed-law-would-allow-motorcyclists-to-run-some-red-lights/).

Many believe it is not an issue of bikers sitting frustrated at red lights, but rather one of safety. It is not uncommon for a biker to "fear stopping at red lights because they know how hard it is at times for drivers to see the riders and the situation leaves them vulnerable to rear-end collisions," (Proposal Would Allow Bikers to Treat Some Red Lights as Stop Signs, Mike Parker, CBS Chicago).

This is not the first time this issue has been addressed in the U.S. Twelve other states have a law similar to the proposal being discussed in Illinois, including Missouri, Wisconsin, and in 2008 South Carolina joined in the ranks as well.

The proposal in Illinois was sponsored by Senator Gary Forby of Benton, but was originally vetoed by Governor Pat Quinn. However, the proposal passed the House with a 45-6 vote, and the law will go into effect June 1, 2011, (‘Straight on red' law not yet in effect in Illinois, Kurt Erickson, Courier Lee News Service,

http://wcfcourier.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/straight-on-red-law-not-yet-in-effect-in-illinois/article_6653953a-183a-11e1-9271-001cc4c03286.html).

Up until then, law enforcement will use this time to look over the law to better understand how it will be monitored and to determine an appropriate amount of waiting time before going straight on red. Once the details are worked out, headquarters will send out a notice to all state troopers of the changes to be enforced, (‘Straight on red' law not yet in effect in Illinois, Kurt Erickson, Courier Lee News Service).