When it comes to greening up our transportation systems and reducing the massive carbon footprint left by our daily commutes, there’s a much better solution than trying to get everyone into an electric car. Encouraging increased cycling, whether on electric bikes or good old-fashioned acoustic bikes, has the biggest impact on reduced emissions and the health and well-being of our society. But with safety at the top of the list of concerns for those switching to a two-wheeled commute, more studies are showing that the best way to protect cyclists at the most dangerous point on their rides is to simply let them blow through stop signs in what is commonly known as an “Idaho stop”.
The Idaho stop gets its name from the state that first enacted it into law back in the 1980s. In an Idaho stop, cyclists are permitted to treat stop signs as yield signs, meaning they slow down and look for traffic before continuing through, no full stop required. In many states, the Idaho stop goes further, not just letting cyclists treat stop signs as yield signs but also treating red lights as stop signs.
There are few things more frustrating to anti-cyclist drivers than seeing a bike rider roll through a stop sign or red light (perhaps seeing them zip past traffic by using the bike lane could be one of them?), but studies are now showing that using an Idaho stop is actually safer than requiring cyclists to come to a full stop at stop signs.
As Alvin Holbrook pointed out in Velo, a recent study by the University of Oregon that put cyclists and drivers in over a dozen “live interaction” four-way intersection scenarios revealed results that may surprise some drivers.
The study found that cyclists preferred the Idaho stop method (which is pretty obvious for a vehicle that works largely by maintaining momentum), but also that when drivers received an education about the rolling stop sign law for cyclists, they approached intersections slower than before and created fewer dangerous scenarios for the cyclists.
Alvin explained, “The main takeaway from the study is that a rolling stop law allowed people biking to do an action they preferred in treating a stop sign as a yield. And once drivers were educated, intersection interactions between people biking and driving were no more dangerous than before introducing the law.”
In other words, safety increased instead of decreasing when an Idaho stop was permitted and when drivers were informed of the law.
That’s just one example, but many studies have confirmed the result that Idaho stops, or rolling stop laws, either increase the safety of road users or have no impact (i.e. are no more dangerous to cyclists than requiring a full stop).
Alvin also pointed to a study from Delaware, one of eight states in the US that has an Idaho stop law on the books, which found a 23% decrease in car/bike crashes at intersections after the Idaho stop law was enacted.
Another study performed in Tampa Bay, Florida, (a state infamous for its questionable drivers) and commissioned by the Florida Department of Transportation, “found that dangerous street design and motorists are what put cyclists at risk, not cyclist behavior.” That study found a nearly 90% traffic law compliance among cyclists, which might surprise drivers who tend to remember the few cases they witness of cyclists breaking traffic law, then projecting that onto all riders. But as the study shows, cyclists are generally incentivized to follow traffic law more than drivers since the risks of not doing so are higher.
The least flattering study on Idaho stops comes from Illinois, where the researchers found no difference in the proportion of crashes after the Idaho stop law was enacted. However, they did find that the severity of those crashes decreased. The result was that cyclists were able to move around more efficiently without increasing the rate of crashes and while decreasing serious crashes.
Even the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) highlights the fact that “there is no evidence showing bicyclist stop-as-yield laws have increased bike conflicts with other bikes or pedestrians.”
So why is it safer for cyclists to blow through stop signs or continue through a red light after stopping?
It likely comes down to a number of factors, but several of them lead back to the same underlying issue: intersections are the most dangerous location for cyclists since such intersections are designed for cars, not bikes. When stopped at an intersection, cyclists often disappear from the view of car drivers, blending into the background while drivers instinctively look for other cars. A moving bike is more visible to drivers due to millions of years of evolutionary pressure adapting humans to spot movement.
Rolling through stop signs also means cyclists ultimately spend less time in the most dangerous location for them, quickly moving out of intersections and back to the relative safety of bike lanes on straightaways.
And as studies show, cyclists generally don’t blow through stop signs in a dangerous fashion. They’re incentivized to slow down and check for traffic out of sheer self-preservation. They don’t have a 5,000 lb steel cocoon to protect them the way drivers do. This is despite there being a decent chance that the reader’s confirmation bias would argue differently, as it is easy to remember the last time we all saw a cyclist do something dangerous and forget the dozens of cyclists riding safely that we conveniently ignore every day.
But as Alvin points out, “The bottom line is every person on a bicycle has more to lose — and a greater incentive to yield — when entering an intersection than a driver does. A collision between a car and someone walking and biking will always be tilted against the person outside of the car.
Streets are safer when there is a common understanding of what to expect from everyone. Streets are safer when car drivers aren’t able to use stereotypes of cyclists breaking laws to threaten and harass them. And of course, streets are safer when people are biking.”
Japan’s Nippon Steel is expected to close its acquisition of U.S. Steel for $55 per share, sources familiar with the matter told CNBC’s David Faber.
President Donald Trump cleared Nippon’s bid for U.S. Steel on Friday, referring to the deal as a “partnership.” Trump said Nippon will invest $14 billion over the next 14 months. U.S. Steel’s headquarters will remain in Pittsburgh, the president said.
U.S. Steel shares were up more than 1% on Tuesday. The $55 per share bid for U.S. Steel is the offer that Nippon originally made for the company before the deal was blocked in January.
President Joe Biden had blocked Nippon’s bid for U.S. Steel on national security grounds, arguing that the deal will potentially jeopardize critical supply chains. But Trump ordered a new review of the proposed acquisition in April, despite his previous opposition to Nippon acquiring U.S. Steel.
The United Steelworkers union had opposed the Nippon’s bid to acquire U.S. Steel. USW President David McCall said Friday that the union “cannot speculate about the impact” of Trump’s announcement “without more information.
“Our concern remains that Nippon, a foreign corporation with a long and proven track record of violating our trade laws, will further erode domestic steelmaking capacity and jeopardize thousands of good, union jobs,” McCall said in a statement.
Trump told reporters on Sunday that the deal is an “investment, it’s a partial ownership, but it will be controlled by the USA.” Pennsylvania Senator Dave McCormick told CNBC on Tuesday that U.S. Steel will have an American CEO and a majority of its board members will be from the U.S.
“It’s a national security agreement that will be signed with the U.S. government,” McCormick told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “There’ll be a golden share that will essentially require U.S. government approval of a number of the board members and that will allow the United States to ensure production levels aren’t cut.”
The $14 billion that Nippon will invest includes $2.4 billion that will go to U.S. Steel’s operations at Mon Valley outside Pittsburgh, McCormick said. The deal will save 10,000 jobs in Pennsylvania and add another 10,000 jobs in the building trades to add another arc furnace, the senator said.
When asked what Nippon gets from the deal, McCormick said the Japanese steelmaker will “have certainly members of the board and this will be part of their overall corporate structure.”
“They wanted an opportunity to get access to the U.S. market — this allowed them to do so and get the economic benefit of that,” McCormick said of Nippon. “They’ve negotiated it, it was their proposal.”
Trump said Friday he will hold a rally at U.S. Steel in Pittsburgh on May 30.
Kia has posted details of its 2026 model year EV9 SUV, including updated pricing. Most of the EV9’s third model year carries over from the 2025 version, but there are some cool new customizations and configurations. Additionally, several of the 2026 trims of the Kia EV9 are priced at their lowest to date.
The Kia EV9 has entered its third model year after establishing itself as a slam-dunk of a three-row BEV and a flagship model for the Korean automaker. During its production run, the EV9 has garnered several awards and steady sales as it transitioned production of the BEV to its US plant in Georgia.
As such, the 2025 versions of the Kia EV9 qualify for federal tax credits (while they’re still around). The 2026 versions of the Kia EV9 may also briefly qualify for credits, but the pricing of multiple trims will save consumers a little cash.
We shared how those model-year prices compare below.
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Kia lowers a majority of EV9 trim pricing for 2026
Kia shared all the details of its 2026 EV9 models today, including its latest pricing. As mentioned above, most of the updates for the third model year are cosmetic, but there are some (slight) increases to range compared to the 2025 versions.
For example, the Light Long Range EV9 gained a whole extra mile (305 mi), while the Wind and Land trims jumped from 280 miles in 2025 to 283 for 2026. Lastly, the top-tier GT-Line increased the most, gaining 10 miles of range for 2026 (280 miles).
Before we get to EV9 pricing, here are some additional updates, per Kia:
New Nightfall Edition available on Land trim
Design and performance enhancements
Exclusive 20-inch gloss black wheels, black badging, and gloss black trim
New Roadrider Brown exclusive exterior color
Exclusive interior seat stitching pattern and design elements
Offered with both 6-passenger and 7-passenger seating configurations at no extra cost
All AWD trims (Wind/Land/GT-Line) gain Terrain Mode (Mud/Snow/Sand), which replaces 4WD
2026 GT-Line gains two new two-tone exterior color options:
Glacial White Pearl with Ebony Black roof
Wolf Gray with Ebony Black roof
Okay, as promised, here’s the 2026 model-year Kia EV9 pricing. For comparison, we’ve included MSRPs for the first three model years of the EV9’s existence so you can see how prices have changed (or held steady). Note that these MSRP’s exclude destination and handling, taxes, title, license fees, options and retailer charges:
Kia EV9 Trim
2024 Price
2025 Price
2026 Price
Light Standard Range
$54,900
$54,900
$54,900
Light Long Range
$59,200
$59,900
$57,900
Wind
$63,900
$63,900
$63,900
Land
$69,900
$69,900
$68,900
GT-Line
$73,900
$73,900
$71,900
As you can see, the Light SR trim of the EV9 held steady at $54,900 for a third consecutive year. The only other RWD option, the Light LR, saw a $2,000 price drop after going up $700 in 2025. The AWD Wind trim once again held steady while the EV9 Land saw a $1,000 decrease.
Last but not least, the 2026 Kia EV9 GT-Line’s pricing dropped $2,000 and is now below $72,000 before taxes and fees. Add the potential for federal tax credits to these drops in 2026 pricing, and now is as good a time as ever to get a shiny new Kia EV9.
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Tesla’s (TSLA) situation in Europe continues to deteriorate, despite electric car sales surging and the new Model Y now being available.
The European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) released the latest complete data for European vehicle sales for April 2025 today, and it confirmed that Tesla’s total sales in EU, EFTA, and UK amounted to 7,261 units – down 49% year-over-year:
Tesla’s deliveries in Europe are now down 38.8% year-over-year for the first four months of the year.
During that same period, battery-electric vehicle sales grew 26.4% in the market and 34.1% in April alone.
As we can see from the ACEA data, that’s not true. The Volkswagen Group, Renault, BMW, and SAIC are all up year-to-date and in April.
Tesla’s problems persist into May. The data coming from European markets that report daily car registration shows that Tesla’s Q2 is still tracking barely above Q1 and significantly below Q2 2024:
In Q1 2025, Tesla blamed its poor performance on the Model Y changeover, but it doesn’t have this excuse in Q2.
The narrative that everyone is having demand problems in Europe is not true, mainly when you focus on battery-electric vehicles.
Sales are way up. Tesla is the exception in BEVs.
It’s true that the Model Y changeover had an impact in Q1, but it wasn’t fair to blame the full decline on it. A significant portion of Tesla’s issues in Q1 was related to brand damage, primarily due to its CEO, Elon Musk, and this is now becoming clear in Q2.
There’s room to get worried as competition is only going to get tougher.
The brand damage occurring just as customers are gaining more options is not positive for Tesla.
At this point, it’s not clear what Tesla can do to turn things around in Europe. Distancing itself from Musk could help, but even then, it looks like Tesla would need a lot more to get out of an almost 50% drop.
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