When Bicyclists Follow Every Traffic Law: Chaos on Two Wheels in San Francisco
You know things are about to get spicy when a protest hasn’t even started and already a driver is laying on the horn. That’s exactly the scene in San Francisco’s famed “Wiggle” bike route when hundreds of cyclists decided to obey every single traffic law, just as the city’s police captain demanded. Their goal? To show just how grindingly slow and snarly city traffic would be if every biker treated stop signs like a car—even when there are hundreds of bikes.
The result: gridlock, honking, and a tidal wave of hot takes from the internet, with everyone from seasoned cyclists to long-suffering pedestrians chiming in. But what does this rolling demonstration really reveal about city traffic, road rules, and the messy intersection of bikes, cars, and common sense?
Let’s rewind. The protest, immortalized in a Reddit thread that racked up thousands of upvotes, wasn’t about breaking the rules. It was about following them to the letter—specifically, the law that says cyclists must stop at every stop sign, just like cars. So, in a feat of what Redditors dubbed “malicious compliance,” hundreds of riders formed a single-file line, came to a full stop at each intersection, waited for their turn, and proceeded only when legally allowed.
Almost instantly, traffic ground to a halt. “The thing you say you want—every cyclist to stop at every stop sign—you really don’t want that,” protest organizer Morgan Fitzgibbons told SF Weekly. “You’re going to destroy traffic in every neighborhood that has a heavy dose of cyclists.” Turns out, the law-abiding act of civil disobedience snarled traffic so effectively that, as one commenter put it, “Not stopping is almost always faster than stopping.”
But was this a fair representation of everyday riding? Reddit’s r/MaliciousCompliance community had thoughts—a lot of them.
The Predictability Paradox
One of the most upvoted comments, from u/lizzyote, cut to the heart of the matter: “I just want everyone on the road to be predictable please.” That’s the dream, right? Whether you’re on two wheels, four wheels, or two feet, what most of us crave isn’t militant rule-following or free-for-all chaos, but for everyone to do what’s expected. As u/CrazyKingCraig put it: “Don’t be nice, be predictable!”
But here’s the rub: In real life, predictability isn’t always straightforward. Several drivers in the comments confessed that, when they actually stop at intersections and wait their turn, drivers behind them get agitated—or try to “be polite” and wave them through, creating even more confusion. As u/Harborcoat84 described, “Drivers try to wave me through on their go about, 7 times out of 10. I don’t get it.”
This well-meaning “politeness” can be dangerous. As u/Just_Aioli_1233 (an engineer, no less) explained, “People are idiots who try to be polite on the roadway, that makes things more dangerous for everyone. Don’t be polite, follow the rules and be predictable.”
Why Not Just Enforce the Rules?
A surprising number of commenters wanted strict law enforcement for both drivers and cyclists. As u/BumblebeeDirect bluntly put it, “As the person almost hit by three different bicycles running red lights while walking from the train station to my office—yes, I want that.” And as u/alexrider803 pointed out, “Yeah they should obey the law, that’s the law.” Of course, others were quick to highlight the hypocrisy: u/loki2002 noted, “Drivers say that and then consistently go over the speed limit any chance they get, fail to use their turn signal, don’t wear their seatbelts, be on their phone, cut people off, etc. Drivers are not a moral authority when it comes to obeying traffic laws.”
Many agreed that the real world is messier than simple rules allow. In fact, the mass protest was a bit of a red herring—a one-off event, not a daily occurrence. As u/serial_crusher observed, “A similarly-sized group of cars agreeing to drive down the same street at the same time and follow traffic laws just as diligently, probably would have created a bad traffic jam too.”
The Idaho Stop and Infrastructure Insights
Since the original protest, the conversation around bike law has evolved. Commenters noted that more than a dozen states have now adopted the “Idaho Stop,” which lets cyclists treat stop signs as yield signs. As u/SugaryBits pointed out, “In those 10-years, 12 states have adopted the The ‘Idaho Stop’ (Stop as Yield) because it is safer for cyclists.” Research backs this up: the risk imbalance between cars and bikes is enormous, and rigidly enforcing car-designed rules on cyclists can do more harm than good.
But here’s where things get spicy: should we blame the cyclists, the rules, or the roads themselves? “With the existing infrastructure it’s impossible to obey all the rules without being an issue for traffic. BUILD BETTER BIKE INFRASTRUCTURE,” argued u/JaschaE, echoing a growing chorus calling for smarter city planning. And when someone joked about roundabouts, u/too-much-shit-on-me dropped this classic: “‘I don’t want that European shit in my town.’ Literally an argument someone made when my town put in a roundabout, which completely fixed the traffic flow at that intersection.”
The Human Element: Empathy, Annoyance, and the Occasional Broken Bone
Of course, not everyone was feeling charitable toward cyclists. Some, like u/Sensitive-Skill2208, recounted horror stories of being hit by bikes on sidewalks, or seeing riders blow through red lights without a care. “There may be some good, nice, polite, reasonable cyclists out there, but I sure haven’t encountered any.” Others, like u/Wyndeward, reminded us of the human cost: “I want them to obey the law because I don’t end up with a 10-speed hood ornament, with the rider gone with the Schwinn.”
But the overwhelming takeaway from the thread isn’t that one side is “right.” It’s that our streets—and our rules—aren’t designed for harmony between bikes, cars, and pedestrians. Predictability and consideration matter more than blind obedience, and if we want cities that work for everyone, we’ll need smarter laws, better infrastructure, and a little less self-righteous honking.
So, next time you see a cyclist at a stop sign, or find yourself fuming in traffic, ask yourself: is the real problem the rules, the roads, or just the way we use them?
What’s your take? Are you Team Idaho Stop, Team Full Stop, or Team “Can’t We All Just Get Along”? Share your thoughts below—and remember: don’t be nice. Be predictable!
Original Reddit Post: This Is What Happened When Bicyclists Obeyed Traffic Laws