A new bill would permit bicyclists to yield — rather than come to a full stop — at stop signs if the intersection is clear in Maine.

It’s an attempt to put into state law what is already common practice, said Jim Tasse, assistant director of the Bicycle Coalition of Maine, which supports the bill.

“It doesn’t mean you can blow through a stop sign,” Tasse said. “It’s not a ‘run stop sign bill.’ It is a ‘if you approach and it’s safe to proceed’ you can proceed.”

As written, the bill sponsored by Sen. Mike Tipping (D-Orono) also proposes to allow cyclists to stop at red lights and then proceed if the coast is clear. The coalition is proposing an amendment to remove that part of the bill.

Tipping said he’s open to considering the amendment.

“I’m looking for anything I can do to keep people safer,” Tipping said. “It’s kind of a thing most cyclists, when they can, do anyway because they don’t want to unclip. This would make it legal and safer for everyone.”

Tipping and Tasse pointed to national statistics that show a decrease in crashes and injuries in states that have adopted what’s sometimes called the Idaho Stop, Delaware Yield or Safety Stop.

Idaho passed its law in 1982 and the following year, bicyclist injuries from traffic crashes decreased by 14.5%, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

In 2017, Delaware passed a similar law and saw traffic crashes involving bicyclists at stop signs drop 23% in the following 30 months, the administration said.

In Maine, two cyclists have been killed on Maine roads each year since at least 2016, according to The Maine Monitor, which compiled several years of bicycle crash data in December.

Most crashes happen in heavily populated counties such as Cumberland and York, the analysis showed. From 2017 to 2021 in Cumberland County, there were 114 minor crashes, 33 serious crashes and two fatalities, according to the Monitor.

Last week, a 20-year-old Auburn man who was pushing his bicycle across Minot Avenue in Androscoggin County died of his injuries after being struck by an SUV.

Nationally, from 2011 to 2020, bicyclist and other cyclist fatalities increased by 38% from 682 in 2011 to 938 in 2020, federal data shows.

“In 2020, 26% of bicyclist and other cyclist fatalities occurred at intersections, which are extremely hazardous for bicyclists and present a high risk for crashes where bicyclists cross paths with motorists,” the traffic safety administration wrote in a fact sheet.

The Maine bill, LD 1551, will get a public hearing before the Legislature’s Transportation Committee at 1 p.m. Tuesday.