Winnipeg city Coun. Gord Steeves wants to open the debate on road rules for cyclists. (City of Winnipeg)

Should the traffic rules Winnipeg cyclists follow be different than those for cars?

It's a question Winnipeg Coun. Gord Steeves said he plans to ask Thursday at a meeting of city hall's protection and community services committee, which he chairs.

Steeves told CBC News on Monday he wants to ask officials from the Winnipeg Police Service and municipal staff to survey the road rules for bicycles in other North American cities to see whether Winnipeg cyclists should be treated differently.

Currently, Manitoba cyclists are expected to follow the same road rules that cars do.

But in at least one U.S. state, Steeves said, cyclists are allowed to treat some stop signs as yield signs.

"Different jurisdictions have put in place kinds of parallel regulatory regimes where cyclists are held to a different standard than people on motor vehicles," Steeves said.

The Idaho State code governing motor vehicles allows cyclists to roll through stop signs and run red lights when it's safe to do so.

However, should Winnipeg want similar changes, it would have to lobby the provincial government to get them. The province is responsible for Manitoba's Highway Traffic Act.