I have become a red light jumper...

[GrumpyGregry]

... the lights at the end of Skelbaekgade on the junction with Halmtorvet have not been re-phased to take into account that Halmtorvet is not a two-way street there due to the maa-hoo-sive road works required to build the new metro line. They also don't have any sort of "cyclist light", one of the joys of riding in cph, meaning you sit there in the on-carriageway cycle lane, waiting to turn right (equiv of a left turn in the UK) onto the off-carriageway cycle lane. For ages. Often in the pouring rain.

At the best of time a significant minority of the locals ignore red lights when turning right even though it is technically illegal. At this junction over 90% ignore the red. I have joined them. The lights need sorting/re-phasing as they have been on other places where the metro works affect the roads.

Does this make me a bad person?

 

[MickeyBlueEyes]

Maybe the team who are responsible for the lights do not know of the issue? Jumping the lights will not fix the root cause of the issue. Find a contact name/number and call them.

 

[Supersuperleeds]

I stopped at some lights yesterday and a bloke waiting to cross commented how he thought bikes didn't stop at red lights! Had a pleasant chat with him before he crossed - once his back was turned I jumped the lights - no I didn't!

 

[Lonestar]

I stopped at some lights yesterday and a bloke waiting to cross commented how he thought bikes didn't stop at red lights! Had a pleasant chat with him before he crossed - once his back was turned I jumped the lights - no I didn't!

Typical stereotyping by a dimwit.I get the suspicious looks many a time I run up to a red signal in London by probably the biggest hypocrites going.That's if they are actually looking.BTW.

 

[Tin Pot]

... the lights at the end of Skelbaekgade on the junction with Halmtorvet have not been re-phased to take into account that Halmtorvet is not a two-way street there due to the maa-hoo-sive road works required to build the new metro line. They also don't have any sort of "cyclist light", one of the joys of riding in cph, meaning you sit there in the on-carriageway cycle lane, waiting to turn right (equiv of a left turn in the UK) onto the off-carriageway cycle lane. For ages. Often in the pouring rain.

At the best of time a significant minority of the locals ignore red lights when turning right even though it is technically illegal. At this junction over 90% ignore the red. I have joined them. The lights need sorting/re-phasing as they have been on other places where the metro works affect the roads.

Does this make me a bad person?

I prefer dark red myself.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Maybe the team who are responsible for the lights do not know of the issue? Jumping the lights will not fix the root cause of the issue. Find a contact name/number and call them.

Jeg ikke taler Danske.
-and-
Things don't really work that way here, very different culture. You find you own solutions, you don't turn to officialdom to sort them out for you...

 

[blazed]

If it's dangerous then don't jump it. But, if you can travel through red lights safely, then do so. I've jumped 100's and never came close to causing myself or anyone else injury.

 

[benb]

I strongly feel that at a minimum we should bring a law in like in Paris where (converting for UK) you can turn left on red, or if you're on the main road and a side road joins from the right you can go straight on.

Furthermore, I don't see why we shouldn't make all red lights the equivalent of give way for cyclists.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

I strongly feel that at a minimum we should bring a law in like in Paris where (converting for UK) you can turn left on red, or if you're on the main road and a side road joins from the right you can go straight on.

Furthermore, I don't see why we shouldn't make all red lights the equivalent of give way for cyclists.

I strongly agree.

And the insanity of this particular turn is I'm only turning right (equiv of left in UK) on to an off-carriageway cycle lane/track, not onto the road.

 

[benb]

I strongly agree.

And the insanity of this particular turn is I'm only turning right (equiv of left in UK) on to an off-carriageway cycle lane/track, not onto the road.

There's a T-junction near me where one of the phases has traffic coming from the left only but they just haven't bothered putting in a left filter green. I can really see why cyclists would skip the red there, as there is literally no conflict with other traffic streams. It's stupid.

I was lucky enough to cycle in Paris a few weeks ago, and the "cyclists can skip reds at some junctions rule" really works well.

 

[hennbell]

I cant trigger the mechanism to change the lights. I have to either wait for a car or get off the bicycle and use the pedestrians button. So some times I stop look carefully then proceed.

 

[robjh]

Things don't really work that way here, very different culture. You find you own solutions, you don't turn to officialdom to sort them out for you...

That sounds intriguing, and possibly slightly sinister. Can you give any other examples, other than a mass decision to ignore a red light?

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Jeg ikke taler Danske.
-and-
Things don't really work that way here, very different culture. You find you own solutions, you don't turn to officialdom to sort them out for you...

That sounds intriguing, and possibly slightly sinister. Can you give any other examples, other than a mass decision to ignore a red light?

That sounds more like Italy to me I am Italian btw, so no comments about stereotyping
Wouldn't have thought the Danish are like that: @Rasmus can you comment?

 

[Rasmus]

When it comes to cycling in Copenhagen, lawlesness is commonplace.

@GrumpyGregry if you want to report it the email and phone contact is here. I'm sure they'll be able to manage a report in English.

Incidentally, there is a trial going on of "right on red" for cyclists, but only at a few selected junctions.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

When it comes to cycling in Copenhagen, lawlesness is commonplace.

@GrumpyGregry if you want to report it the email and phone contact is here. I'm sure they'll be able to manage a report in English.

Incidentally, there is a trial going on of "right on red" for cyclists, but only at a few selected junctions.

Whislt not wishing to start a fight...

The vast majority of cyclists in cph are, I reckon, more law abiding than those in London, Horsham, or, dare I say it, Brizzle ime, as you know being generally law-abiding is seen as a very desirable thing in Danish culture, hence why nobody jaywalks on the pedestrian crossings, even in the pouring rain, even when there is no traffic and a 90 second wait...

I'm fairly sure that if I actually filled in a form and submitted it for this situation they would find it hilarious that someone had wasted the keystrokes to "complain" about something which the locals consider utterly unremarkable and obviously broken. Sweating the small stuff by escalating to the powers-that-be is viewed by cph officialdom with the same incredulity as it is by the populace at large, as represented by my work colleagues anyway.

Any idea where in the city these "right on red" junctions are? You are not the first person in the UK to assert this yet no one of my acquaintance here knows about it, nor have I seen any signs indicating such novelties about the place. I know the law was changed in ?2010/ to allow for it but it was left up to the local communes to implement as they wish. They may be few in number and only on certain routes; I've not ridden everywhere quite yet. There are, of course, plenty of 'cyclist only' traffic lights giving priority, and maybe there are green right run arrows permanently on somewhere that I may have not recognised as such.