And some cyclists think it's safe to jump red lights....

[slowmotion]

Quite a lot of the cyclists that I come across in west London seem to be entirely devoid of any "common sense" at all. The motorists probably notice that too.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

I think we are failing to see the difference between harmless flouting of the law, and flouting of the same law that can have fatal consequences.

Aye, well, in theory no difference should be made, the law is the law.
Still, I am saying on this forum for all to read, that I do jump red lights sometimes while being perfectly aware that I should not be doing it
So, I agree, sometimes it is safe to jump red lights.
The video in the op is an extreme example of cycling silliness.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

I presume you'd be happy for all cyclists to take what they perceive to be a sensible and common sense approach? So what happens to the 10% of cyclists whose perceived common sense approach actually isn't common sense at all but is actually reckless and dangerous?

What I see in my travels is exactly that, I often think other cyclists are more a hazard to me than potholes!

 

[slowmotion]

Nobbishness actually.

 

[Simontm]

Yep, I am aware of the law. I used to enforce it. But it would have been a very sad day for any Police Officer if they had stooped so low as to book a cyclist for going through a red light. Assuming it was done with common sense and taking into consideration the traffic conditions, as outlined in my previous post.
Do you have reflectors on your pedals?

Just throwing this in-would it be acceptable for a car or hgv in the same circumstance?

 

[Simontm]

I'm calling CRIMESTOPPERS right now!

I actually find it hard to believe that any cyclist would sit at a red light in the company of fwuffy wabbits and mean old foxes in the early hours of the morning. Such freedoms are one of the great advantages of cycling IMHO.. If you want to fall in line with motorists, well, just be careful what you wish for folks!

But you are a road user subject to the same expectations of other road users...

 

[Simontm]

Wasn't going to comment much more bout this but this righteous behaviour shite from cyclists really does piss me off.
Yes drivers are peanuts but guess what so are cyclists. You are as much as fault as drivers because you, me, them, we are all road users. Everyone I suspect has broken the rules of the road whichever the vehicle, but to expect exemption because you ride a bike?

 

[PK99]

Wasn't going to comment much more bout this but this righteous behaviour shite from cyclists really does piss me off.
Yes drivers are peanuts but guess what so are cyclists. You are as much as fault as drivers because you, me, them, we are all road users. Everyone I suspect has broken the rules of the road whichever the vehicle, but to expect exemption because you ride a bike?

But you misunderstand how the world works, by definition, cyclists are a higher and more virtuous form of life. We can do no wrong and man made laws do not apply to us.

 

[Simontm]

But you misunderstand how the world works, by definition, cyclists are a higher and more virtuous form of life. We can do no wrong and man made laws do not apply to us.

I would also like to point out how I love the CC correction means that drivers are peanuts!

 

[slowmotion]

The slavish tribal "solidarity" that some cyclists expect from their less militant brethren is pretty unattractive.

 

[jhawk]

You wait for ages to see a collision with a bus, then two come along together.

Brilliant. Fell off my chair.

 

[lee1980sim]

I'll admit I jump 2 red lights almost everyday I commute to work on days, this is because it's daft o'clock in the morning (4am) and the lights in particular don't change for my bike, I've tried, and I believe the highway code says after waiting a reasonable time you can go through, of course I always proceed with caution but I don't wait everyday until I've deemed they're not going to change, they've not done in the last 3 years and I can't see them doing so for the next 3

 

[Brandane]

Just throwing this in-would it be acceptable for a car or hgv in the same circumstance?

Déja vu. No......

No.

Care to explain why some road users should be alowed to exercise judgement regarding red lights and some should not?

Certainly.
I am not talking about Trafalgar Square in the rush hour here, but there are certain conditions where it is perfectly safe to excercise some common sense and pass through a red light, with due care, on a bicycle.

Take my local Tesco for example, where traffic lights were installed solely to control traffic at the T junction where their car park joins the main road. The shop is closed from 10pm to 8am, but the traffic lights are left on 24/7 going through the same light phases as the do during business hours. Crazy, and think of all that CO2 being burnt which Tesco claim to be concerned about - but that's for another day.

So, when I come to the red light on my bike at Tesco, at 2am and it is red; yet I can see for a fact that there are no vehicles, other bikes, or pedestrians anywhere near the junction, am I going to stop and wait for the lights to go through their sequence while I get cold and wet?

No, I am certainly not. I will slow down and carry out sufficient observations to make doubly sure it is clear, and I will ride through the junction. No qualms whatsoever. Would you sit there?

With regards to why I don't think other road users should have the same discretion..... Well in an ideal world I think they SHOULD be allowed to make such judgements (such as in the USA where right turning vehicles can go through red traffic lights if it is clear to do so). The problem being that drivers would abuse it and it would create a whole new problem for the courts to prove that conditions were such that it was not safe to go ahead on a red light. Far simpler to keep things as is; you go through a red light you get convicted. I will admit that on a bicycle I take full advantage of the fact that I have no registration number so I cannot be traced. Further, I have no cycling licence to lose.

There is also the fact that on a bicycle, I am much smaller, more manoeuvrable, and have much better vision of the junction than I do in a car or lorry. In the unlikely event that I have cocked up my risk assessment, it is much easier to get a bike out of the way than a 44 tonne lorry.

HTH..

 

[Brandane]

Aye, well, in theory no difference should be made, the law is the law.
Still, I am saying on this forum for all to read, that I do jump red lights sometimes while being perfectly aware that I should not be doing it
So, I agree, sometimes it is safe to jump red lights.
The video in the op is an extreme example of cycling silliness.

Exactly. I don't do it because of some sort of "self righteousness" as some have suggested, neither do I expect any exemption from the law. On the contrary; I would suggest those that sit at red lights at 2am talking to the owls are the self righteous ones.
If I get flattened by a stealth lorry pulling out of Tesco at 2am, then it will have been as a result of my own stupidity and lack of observation. I will live (or not!) by that.
Similarly, if a Police Officer having a bad night decides to deal with me for carefully proceeding through a red light, then I will face the consequences (of which there won't be many).

 

[summerdays]

I'll admit I jump 2 red lights almost everyday I commute to work on days, this is because it's daft o'clock in the morning (4am) and the lights in particular don't change for my bike, I've tried, and I believe the highway code says after waiting a reasonable time you can go through, of course I always proceed with caution but I don't wait everyday until I've deemed they're not going to change, they've not done in the last 3 years and I can't see them doing so for the next 3

That isn't jumping the lights as it is deemed not to be working properly, however you ought to report it so they could adjust the settings for other cyclists. I had a set which took me about 2 years to get adjusted, and even now I tend to look to see if there are cars coming up behind me that will automatically trigger them out of habit.