Call to toughen law as riders and drivers clash

[Origamist]

TOUGHER policing and "advance" traffic lights for cyclists are needed to defuse tensions between riders and drivers in London, experts said today:

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/stand...en+law+as+riders+and+drivers+clash/article.do

 

[magnatom]

Cyclists do it (RLJ) because it feels safer than waiting for traffic to rush up from behind. If they could pull away sooner, legally, it would help.

Will someone please tell Mr Geffen to stop saying this. It is utter, UTTER guff! Cyclists who run red lights do so, because they can't be ar*ed waiting at them and they know they can get away with it (most of the time).

Statements like this, do not help the cause!

 

[wafflycat]

Will someone please tell Mr Geffen to stop saying this. It is utter, UTTER guff! Cyclists who run red lights do so, because they can't be ar*ed waiting at them and they know they can get away with it (most of the time).

Statements like this, do not help the cause!

+1

 

[HLaB]

With advanced traffic lights, if its not policed you'll just get cars drifting forward into the area, whereas if they can't see the lights they tend to hold back IME. I can only see it shifting the problem forward into a more dangerous place the junction itself.

 

[LLB]

+1

+1

 

[hackbike 6]

I tend to stop at an advanced position at lights but am feeling guilty about doing this now.I only do it to cover the dodgy left turns,so motorists notice me and to get into a defensive position for when said motorist sticks his foot through the floor.I never use it to try and get away early as I check for RLJers of any road user type.

 

[JamesAC]

++1

Quite often I'm content to take my place in the queue at a TL. Consider: I've filtered and fought my way to the front. As the light goes green, I pedal off, with vigour. That puts me in front of a stream of cars, each of which can travel faster than me. So, they're all going to try and overtake me over the next 30-40 yards, putting me at danger. At the next TL, I fight and filter my way to the front .. and it all gets repeated. The exception is if I am turning left or right at the junction, then I will (nearly) always filter through to the ASL.

Cheers

James

 

[Origamist]

I won't put myself in the mindset of every cyclist on the road, but I do believe a proportion of cyclists jump red lights for perceived safety reasons. What's more, I can see why Geffen would want to stress the safety angle, but I doubt Joe Public find him particularly persuasive or credible.

I was more intested in this:

Ms Rainger added: "More policing of all road users would help, drivers are not angels either."

She said training that encouraged cyclists to ride in the middle of the road was "backfiring" as it was misinterpreted by those who needlessly hogged the centre of the road.

 

[magnatom]

....and having advanced lights will continue to encourage cyclists to filter to the front of long queues, when this is not always the safest thing to do.

Early stop zones is the answer (or the closest you will ever get to one). Hatched zones a couple of cars back from the lights which would allow cyclists to filter and slot into the traffic, but keep them away from the junction itself. This would also encourage cyclists to take up a good road position, i.e. to own the road across the junction.

Placing cyclists at the front will irritate drivers. It isn't helpful, in my opinion.

 

[magnatom]

She said training that encouraged cyclists to ride in the middle of the road was "backfiring" as it was misinterpreted by those who needlessly hogged the centre of the road.

When do cyclists needlessly hog the centre of the road! I mean really! The majority of cyclists I see hog the gutter, not the centre. It is not in a cyclists best interest to hog the centre needlessly. This is a red herring.

 

[BentMikey]

My friend witnessed one cyclist crash because another RLJing canht on a bike rode into them. Apparently he was so angry with the RLJer that the police had to follow them a bit afterwards to make sure there was no [more] argy bargy.

 

[Origamist]

When do cyclists needlessly hog the centre of the road! I mean really! The majority of cyclists I see hog the gutter, not the centre. It is not in a cyclists best interest to hog the centre needlessly. This is a red herring.

Cyclists are slowing Ms Rainger down and she doesn't like it.

 

[LLB]

++1

Quite often I'm content to take my place in the queue at a TL. Consider: I've filtered and fought my way to the front. As the light goes green, I pedal off, with vigour. That puts me in front of a stream of cars, each of which can travel faster than me. So, they're all going to try and overtake me over the next 30-40 yards, putting me at danger. At the next TL, I fight and filter my way to the front .. and it all gets repeated. The exception is if I am turning left or right at the junction, then I will (nearly) always filter through to the ASL.

Cheers

James

Would agree with this 100%, but it could be argued that as selfish road user, I would want to be at the front of every queue every time it was stopped by a set of lights - like everyone else on the road!

 

[Funtboy]

Will someone please tell Mr Geffen to stop saying this. It is utter, UTTER guff! Cyclists who run red lights do so, because they can't be ar*ed waiting at them and they know they can get away with it (most of the time).

Statements like this, do not help the cause!

It's both mate.

 

[nickb]

Statements like this, do not help the cause!

What cause? I'm not a member of some cabal of freedom fighters; I'm a guy that chooses to cycle to work for a variety of reasons. I also drive a car. When I see other people doing stupid stuff on the road, whether they're pedestrians, cyclists, motorists - whatever, I don't tar everyone else with the same brush.

I saw one person jump a red light this morning: it was a woman in a car. Do I infer from that that all women and/or car drivers are self-gratification artists? She had a young child in the front passenger seat, maybe it's only women drivers with one teenage male passenger, at 08:10 on a Thursday morning I should be stereotyping