how to be a bad cyclist.

[gavroche]

On my ride this afternoon I caught up with this chap. As soon as I got to his back wheel, he stopped so i carried on and thought nothing of it. At one time i looked over my shoulder and there he was, inches behind me. I ignored him and carried on until i got to some traffic lights. They were on red so i slowed down to stop. He just rode past me, had a quick look to the right to see if traffic was coming and went straight through the lights. Needless to say i did not see him after that as by the time the lights turned green again , he was too far ahead. What an idiot!

 

[Col5632]

Sadly you do get them

 

[MattHB]

I had almost this exact same thing a few months ago. Quite mad.

 

[oilyormo]

for me youve gotto take in the full picture.
was it obviouse nothing was coming? the road was clear?

if the chap in question jumped a red when it wasnt clear that the road was clear then yes he is a numpty.
but if the road was oviously clear and there was no risk crossing then i dont blame him.
i get so annoyed by the highways planners thinking that withought their imput, ie traffic lights roundabouts etc. then we d all run into each other. ok when during rush hours some sort of traffic organisation needs to be in place but ordinarily why cant we be trusted to use our own common sense. why do i get stopped at 5.30 in the morning at traffic lights when it is blatantly obviouse that there is no other traffic around?
why do i have to stop at a railway underpass when lights are red when i can see that there is no traffic for half a mile coming the other way.

sorry just sounding out at being treated like a retard by some of the town/highway planners round here

 

[Cyclist33]

for me youve gotto take in the full picture.
was it obviouse nothing was coming? the road was clear?

if the chap in question jumped a red when it wasnt clear that the road was clear then yes he is a numpty.
but if the road was oviously clear and there was no risk crossing then i dont blame him.
i get so annoyed by the highways planners thinking that withought their imput, ie traffic lights roundabouts etc. then we d all run into each other. ok when during rush hours some sort of traffic organisation needs to be in place but ordinarily why cant we be trusted to use our own common sense. why do i get stopped at 5.30 in the morning at traffic lights when it is blatantly obviouse that there is no other traffic around?
why do i have to stop at a railway underpass when lights are red when i can see that there is no traffic for half a mile coming the other way.

sorry just sounding out at being treated like a retard by some of the town/highway planners round here

Would that be the one on lumb brook road?!

 

[oilyormo]

no, but thats another example. i was refering to the Hawleys lane bridge at dallam, nr. eddie stobbart depot.
at one time the lights were removed, and nobody ran into each other, we all used our common sense. Then it seemed that some official decided that we need looking after and put the traffic lights back in. now we all have to stop at the red light even though the road is clear.

 

[gavroche]

for me youve gotto take in the full picture.
was it obviouse nothing was coming? the road was clear?

You can only see may be 20 metres on the road of the right as it forks away so it is not clear to see if traffic is coming or not so the chap IS an idiot.

 

[oilyormo]

yep

 

[sidevalve]

for me youve gotto take in the full picture.
was it obviouse nothing was coming? the road was clear?

if the chap in question jumped a red when it wasnt clear that the road was clear then yes he is a numpty.
but if the road was oviously clear and there was no risk crossing then i dont blame him.
i get so annoyed by the highways planners thinking that withought their imput, ie traffic lights roundabouts etc. then we d all run into each other. ok when during rush hours some sort of traffic organisation needs to be in place but ordinarily why cant we be trusted to use our own common sense. why do i get stopped at 5.30 in the morning at traffic lights when it is blatantly obviouse that there is no other traffic around?
why do i have to stop at a railway underpass when lights are red when i can see that there is no traffic for half a mile coming the other way.

sorry just sounding out at being treated like a retard by some of the town/highway planners round here

OK, let's just get this absolutely clear 100% . It's OK for cyclists to ignore the rules as and when it suits. Secondly if the jumper makes a mistake and DOES get himself killed are you going to go around to the driver and say yep don't worry mate it wasn't your fault and the cyclists family and say "got what he deserved he was a numpty"? I have seen the result of killing someone in a no fault accident and trust me, not being to blame was NO comfort to the guy involved. He still has dreams several years later.
If the rules don't apply to cyclists _ they don't apply to cars, get over it.

 

[oilyormo]

what i'd ask for is a degree of common sense applied.
If we take cross roads for example, some are controlled by traffic lights and some have no control at all where motorists are required to use common sense and general etiquette to cross.

OK at 5.30 in the afternoon some roads are exceptionally busy and some sort of control is required to enable traffic to flow smoothly at busy crossings.
At 5.00 AM all crossings are genarally the same ie. traffic free. Why are we required to stop at a red light (wasting fuel and increasing emmissions) when it is obvious that there is no traffic and no risk in crossing if we all use our common sense.

an argument exists for turning lights off during off peak hours at SOME junctions and allowing common sense to prevail (some will need controll at all times ie where visibility is poor i know.) Or even allowing rlj's where there is absolutely no risks involved.

The same common sense could be applied where a pedestrian crossing is on red and it is obvious that the only pedestrian for miles can be seen to have already crossed over.
How many cyclists have stopped at a red light on a pedestrian crossing in the early hours of the morning when there is no one there and the person who has pressed the button is now on the other side of the road?

 

[oilyormo]

Lots of examples of lights being innoperative for whatever reason and the traffic does seem to flow a lot better and we dont seem to run into each other although extra care is required.

 

[sidevalve]

oilyomo, I admire you faith in people having "common sense". However nearly 30 years of working on traffic lights and motorway signals has convinced me "common sense" is VERY rare indeed. The problem with switching a junction off is simply EVERYBODY decides that THEY have right of way. I have been called to many accidents caused by exactly this problem [thankfully the police and ambulance services pick up the soggy bits, I just had to check the lights]. I'm afraid the majority of people are like sheep, they need to be told what to do and those of us with more brain cells than teeth simply have to accept it.

 

[oilyormo]

I believe people behave like sheep because in this country they are treated like sheep. especially motorists.

as a cyclist although i may be classed and treated as a motorist i consider myself more akin to a pedestrian.

a pedestrian can walk across a junction on red. most dont have a death wish and will look both ways and only when its safe will cross over, nobody bats an eyelid and no police prosecution. why doesnt a cyclist have that right (he/she can be across that crossing point far quicker).

refering to the original post as has been said there was very poor visibility in one direction and i therefore agree that the red light jumper was litterally playing russian roulette with his life. i just think that all the facts should come to light before anyone is condemned. and no it wasnt me by the way.

 

[Michael8]

I go to work at about 04:45am and find that I can be stuck at lights for some time, with no cars about this can be annoying, so I tend to go over via the pedestrian crossing just to be on the safe side. I went out the other day for couple of hours of leisure cycling on my day off and waited at most traffic lights so it's more down to the pressure of getting to work in time and clocking in.

 

[oilyormo]

i agree michael. its exactly what i do. but the question i ask is why is it deemed to be safer using the pedestrian crossing rather than just riding accross on the road ? theres probably only 10ft difference.

i believe its less about getting to work on time though and more about being stopped by the police officer whos behind or the general public who think that we should all behave like lemmings and shouldnt dream of using our own initiative or thinking for ourselves