Cyclists - Please stop at red lights

[calibanzwei]

Said already; perfectly legal to filter through traffic and as to RLJ'ing I'd say everyone on here agrees with you, so wrong place to rant

 

[Brandane]

One of my favourite commuting anecdotes: I was level with a council van thing, riding through central London, and we both stopped at a red light, and a couple of suicide cyclists came whizzing past, straight through the red, swerving to avoid oncoming traffic. Light went green, we carried on, and I got ahead, then he got ahead, and we both stopped at a red light, whereupon a couple of cyclists came whizzing past, straight through the red and disappeared. Light went green, we carried on, and we got to a pedestrian crossing, where we both stopped, and a couple of cyclists came straight through, narrowly missing the pedestrians with their superskillz. We carried on, and just as I thought I'd lose him, we both had to stand on the brakes a bit sharpish as a hipster came straight out of a side road without looking and nearly got hit by both of us.

By this time Mr Van had had enough, and since the cyclists who'd upset him were nowhere to be seen, leant out of his window and shouted "****ing cyclists!" at me.

And the moral of this story is...... we are all going to get tarred with the same brush, no matter what. No point coming here to try and educate the cycle nutters, as they probably don't read this forum.

Having said that, there are red lights, and there are RED LIGHTS! Just one example of many: Tescos in Kilbirnie, Ayrshire, where the entrance to the car park was built off a main road and is traffic light controlled. There is nothing else there, apart from Tesco. So why, when the shop closes at 9pm til 8am, do they see the need to keep the traffic lights burning away all night, through the same sequence used while it is open?? Surely in this day and age of technology it wouldn't be too difficult to build in a sensor which can tell when there is traffic present, and adjust the sequence accordingly? Or better still, turn the bloody things off and save all that precious energy that Tesco claims to be bothered about. Not just the energy of the traffic lights, but the fuel used by cars having to stop, idle for a while, then move off again for no good reason!

Also, to quote my reply to one of the other RLJ threads......

Here we go again! I'm sure RLJing is suicidal in places like the centre of London and other big cities. However, there are towns around here where they put up traffic lights for fun. Along our main street there are 4 traffic light controlled pedestrian crossings within about 200 yards. Despite that (or more likely because of that), pedestrians wander across the road at any random point. Often they press the button and then cross the road before the light has changed to allow them to cross. The traffic light then changes to red, but no-one is crossing. Are you really going to sit there waiting for green? Sorry but I don't. Hardly crime of the century, is it? Before anyone asks, no I wouldn't do it in the car; I have a licence that I don't want points on.

What I'm saying is; there is a time and a place where common sense should dictate when it is safe to cross on red. 2am at a deserted junction? If you can't judge when it is safe then you shouldn't be allowed out on your own!

 

[Boris Bajic]

Do these same drivers become infuriated by cars parked on pavements, cars jumping red lights, cars overtaking cyclists, drivers using mobile phones etc etc.?
Infuriated drivers are dangerous drivers, we should be ensuring these drivers get appropriate counselling before driving again.

This (my bold type) is a perceptive observation and applies to all road users, irrespective of their chosen mode of transport at the time.

If I compare the roads of today with those of twenty or thirty years ago, uncontrolled or barely controlled rage on the part of some road users is one of the key differences.

To answer first Snorri's question: Yes, many road users are often equally or similarly infuriated by RLJs, mobile-phone use, inconsiderate or illegal parking, ill-judged passing and a gazillion other things.

Should those road users infuriated by these phenomena get counselling? In my view, no.

I'm not sure how pointing out flaws in the on-road behaviour of Group A ( in this case motorists) mitigates or excuses any of the same in Group B (cyclists).

I am a keen cyclist with a long history of selectively hopping reds. I do it not for any logical reason or to avoid crashes or make a stand. I do it because for all my platitudes and lofty opinions, I am often impatient and am calculating enough to presume that most of the time I'll get away with it. I also quite like a little adrenalin (Oxford Street etc).

Is it excusable behaviour? Absolutely not.

Is it mitigable behaviour? Absolutely not.

I stopped serially speeding in my car because I was constantly counting my current points tally. It wasn't a morally driven choice.

I never hopped the tram or the trolleybus in the old USSR without paying; the plainclothes checkers were everywhere. By contrast, I rarely paid on the trams and trolleybuses in the old SRFJ because there was almost no chance of getting caught.

Cyclists hop red lights for many reasons, but it is wrong and it really does impact negatively on the popular perception of cyclists.

 

[caimg]

I think any of us that love cycling and cycle on our busy roads want to see safer roads for cyclists but the amount of times I see cyclists riding through red stop lights, picking their way through traffic, appalls me.
Do they realise how much this infuriates some motor vehicle drivers. Its dangerous and rude. No wonder cyclists get a bad name.
Anyone reading this that engages in this practice - STOP IT. Your making it worse for ever other road user.

You're absolutely right with every point you've made but by and large you're preaching to the converted

 

[gb155]

Some would argue it's not dangerous and it's not rude.
Some would argue that it's safer sometimes to rlj then to not.

Gotta agree here

While I don't most of the time, sometimes!!!!!

 

[Brandane]

Do they realise how much this infuriates some motor vehicle drivers. Its dangerous and rude.

There are a small minority of car/van drivers who think it is dangerous and rude just to cycle on "their" road, and it infuriates them. I gave up a long time ago worrying about what others think. There are knobs on the road on bikes; motorbikes, cars, vans, HGVs, buses, taxis, and on foot. Why should a few persons actions affect the attitude towards that whole group? It seems strange that cyclists in particular berate other cyclists for breaking the law; yet when you are out driving do you feel the same way when a car driver does something stupid?

 

[Melonfish]

Dude in that last one why the hell weren't those PCSO's on their radio's? un-real!
i was walking down kingsway in widnes the other week, a cyclist shot through the lights at the junction and had to stop on the island next to me, i turned to him and said "Nice way to get yourself killed that m8"
to which he replied.
"Its my life"

but that's such a selfish attitude, what about the people who hit him? how are their lives going to be effected not only by the memory of possibly killing someone but perhaps physically as his ignorant arse flies through their windscreen?

 

[ianrauk]

Sorry i'm late. Have we had everything covered?

Am sure there are a few more stokes of the fire needed....

 

[SquareDaff]

Oh sod it - lets shove a stick in the ants nest and twist!

As someone that ALWAYS stops at red lights I think anybody that jumps them gets what they deserve!

 

[400bhp]

I confess - there are 1 set of lights i usually jump.

 

[SquareDaff]

A quicker journey?

To the Pearly Gates, maybe! Then again, they'd be cyclists and red light jumpers so doubly damned!

 

[mickle]

I think any of us that love cycling and cycle on our busy roads want to see safer roads for cyclists but the amount of times I see cyclists riding through red stop lights, picking their way through traffic, appalls me.
Do they realise how much this infuriates some motor vehicle drivers. Its dangerous and rude. No wonder cyclists get a bad name.
Anyone reading this that engages in this practice - STOP IT. Your making it worse for ever other road user.

Yawn.

 

[Nearly there]

Is this like asking car owners to use indicators

 

[SquareDaff]

And about as likely as getting horse owners to put their animals poo in bags like dog owners have to do!

 

[subaqua]

Is this like asking car BMW or AUDI owners to use indicators

FTFY