Going through red lights

[piedwagtail91]

never go throught them because it's against the law and if you do get knocked off and injured you have no cliam as i doubt any insurance cover you do have will be invalid.you'll also have to stump up any costs your actions have caused.

 

[Danny]

Oh good a "is it OK to jumpg red lights" thread already - just like old times on C+.

We just need a helmet thread to really get people going. In fact if I were being mischeaveous I might point out that in my experience most of the people who jump red lights are non-helmet wearers.

 

[alecstilleyedye]

Oh good a "is it OK to jumpg red lights" thread already - just like old times on C+.

We just need a helmet thread to really get people going. In fact if I were being mischeaveous I might point out that in my experience most of the people who jump red lights are non-helmet wearers.

ahem

http://www.cyclechat.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=199

 

[Danny]

Silly me, I should have known it would have started already

 

[radger]

I note that this one hasn't tempted Theo over yet.

SHH!

He'll hear you. Well, not hear, but you know what I mean. I hope never to have to see one of his pompous rants again.

 

[domtyler]

Don't worry everyone, I have PMed Theo, he should be along shortly!

 

[TheDoctor]

When I was in 'That London' for the tour on Saturday, I saw 2 cyclists RLJ (well, technically it was the same one twice!), about a dozen cars, a few motorbikes and 5 taxis. Oh, and a bus. Which wasn't wearing a helmet.

That was on the ride from Kings Cross to Hyde Park and back. The thing I found most disturbing, though, was a queue of about a hundred yards for a bacon roll.

 

[Danny]

Has anyone noticed that the OP for this thread was actually 24 July 2006, and there was only one response until CP+ers joined nearly a year later.

I suspect the originator of the post has had a bit of a shock about the delayed reation.

 

[ibren]

RED LIGHT JUMPERS

why do it ??? so you gain a couple of mins, and when you get twatted ???? remember a knock isn.t just for Christmas
it's the law, we all know how hard it is already on the roads so why take added risks and confirm steriotypes?

 

[andy_wrx]

It's just a selfish 'I don't give a sh*t about anyone else' attitude.

Do it in a car, there's a chance that a camera will catch you and you'll get a fine through the post.
Do it on a bike though, no number plate, very little chance of being caught. So so many people do it.

It's like nipping onto the pavement to cut round queuing traffic.

It's illegal, it's wrong, it's selfish.

It also encourages drivers to resent all cyclists because of such behaviour.

 

[beanzontoast]

I have been known to get off my bike, push it through the red light, get back on and cycle away.

And no, I was never a Boy Scout!

 

[Cab]

as with the other posters i don't as a rule RLJ but there are some (most) lights that don't recognise that i'm there and so keep letting the other lanes go and i have to sit there like a mug, when this happens i normally press the pedestrian crossing button and when the green man flashes nip across.... am i wrong? i don't think so

When the lights have been implemented in such a way as to exclude cyclists from making progress, you've got little choice. All you can do is go when you can safely do so.

 

[Cab]

It's just a selfish 'I don't give a sh*t about anyone else' attitude.

Do it in a car, there's a chance that a camera will catch you and you'll get a fine through the post.
Do it on a bike though, no number plate, very little chance of being caught. So so many people do it.

I often see Plod in Cambridge warning, even fining cyclists for things like RLJ'ing, going the wrong way down a one way street, etc. I've never seen a motorist pulled up for doing such a thing. I've never heard of a motorist being done for it in this town.

It's like nipping onto the pavement to cut round queuing traffic.

It's illegal, it's wrong, it's selfish.

It also encourages drivers to resent all cyclists because of such behaviour.

I entirel agree with you on those points.

 

[Cab]

I've seen plenty of motorists in Birmingham stopped by the plod for going through red lights. And I've also seen cameras flash them even more.

I'd love to see that here. I can pretty much guarantee at any junction I'll see a motorist jump a red light. Every day, unless the road is completely dead. You know the score, light changes amber, cars accelerate, first two go through at amber the next one/two at red.

I've never seen a cyclist stopped for RLJing.

I've seen it here in Cambridge once in a while, but nothing like often enough. Far more common for cyclists to be stopped going the wrong way down a one way street, for not having lights, etc. I do approve of that, but I feel that a more productive use of police time would be to go after the people committign offenses using more damaging modes of transport; a cyclist on a well lit city street at night poses less of a risk than a motorist speeding on the same road, for example.

I was in a car in London once and we got stopped because my mate was too busy chatting to notice the red light. We tried to avoid getting in when he was behind the wheel.

Can't blame you

 

[orkneyblues]

I ride in Orkney, there are no traffic lights in Orkney at all, however, out for a ride last week with my mate, we came across a set of tempory traffic lights for road works. The road was dead quiet, not even a tractor, and I was not going to stop at the red light :?: untill I noticed a solitary cyclist waiting patiently at the light, he was a young kid acting very responsible and I could not then jump the light, setting what I knew was a bad example to our young cyclists. Another lesson learned for me.