Have you ever been stopped by the police for passing a red light?

[karimali831]

I've been stopped twice by the police in london and one of the times fined £30 for passing the red light. It was green for the pedestrians but there we're none that's why I went through.

They then fined me £30 when I stopped at the next red lights.

The exact questions they have asked:

Approach to red lights... "Pull over"...

"Hello, how are you?"
"Where did you come from and where you going to?"
"So you just travelled here for nothing?"
"Why are you training?"
"How old are you"?
"Do you want a ticket?"
"Why did you pass the red lights?"
"Was that the only reason?"

"A lot of others do it because they are lucky. You should not pass the red lights as it's dangerous and will involve yourself in an accident one day"

 

[Greenbank]

There's a way to avoid this that works 100% of the time...

 

[Dave5N]

There's a way to avoid this that works 100% of the time...

Avoid training?

 

[karimali831]

There's a way to avoid this that works 100% of the time...

Want to share?

Listen to music and pretend you didn't hear anything and just cycle your way until you find the nearest shortcut and then your free?

 

[Rhythm Thief]

Or simply stop at red lights. Although having confessed on this very forum recently to occasionally jumping reds at 2 or 3 am in a sixty foot long articulated lorry, I don't feel as comfortable as I once did proffering that advice.
I wouldn't jump reds on a bike though. Nor in a lorry if they weren't those ridiculous traffic lights on roundabouts, mindlessly going through their cycles even when I'm the only thing on the road.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

I wouldn't usually run reds. It just annoys me that we don't seem to be trusted to do roundabouts any more without "help" from traffic lights (I can understand why they're there in the rush hour, but are they really necessary at 3am?), and every time I have to pull away when I'm loaded the fuel consumption drops to about 1.5 mpg. It seems daft when we're all supposed to be so concerned about unnecessary emissions to stop traffic for no particular reason.
But, as I said, by and large I don't make a habit of it.

 

[karimali831]

Passing through red lights is not what I occasionally do, especially during busier hours of the day. When riding early hours of the morning, surely no one is going to stop every time they hit a red light. (Just for pedestrian crossing only) and even during the peak hours, you will see 'a lot' cyclists passing red lights.

 

[1LegRikk]

That doesn't make it right.

Agreed, no matter what your driving/riding or at what time if it's red stop.

 

[marinyork]

Best of becoming a better cyclist and plain not doing it.

 

[colly]

No.

 

[blazingsaddles]

I do it sometimes. Often at a particular roundabout where the next exit after the red light is onto the motorway and some cars behind me will be taking the motorway exit. (I nearly got wiped out there about four months ago as a car cut across me to join the motorway). I reckon its safer for me to do this than wait for the green light!

 

[Randochap]

The way we do it is, on the route sheet, we have for instance, SO (@ lights)

You will be disqualified though, if you don't stop for a red ....

Oh, sorry, I thought this was the audax and sportives forum ...

Tara

 

[mr_cellophane]

I have been warned once, one weekend in the City I jumped a red at some road works. I got called back and had a slapped wrist. I supose that as I went back went called when I could have just peddaled off he just setteled for an appology from me.

 

[CotterPin]

As has been mentioned many times before, if you don't want to do the time, don't do the crime.

Anyway, to bring this back to the relevance of Audax and Sportive forum, it does annoy me when I see cyclists on these events jumping the lights. Oftentimes the routes are run through rural areas where you are looking to see very few traffic lights all day so why not wait at the one or two you might encounter???

 

[MacB]

I enjoy red lights it gives me an excuse to have a breather