Interesting article on legalising RLJing

[Mr_K_Dilkington]

What are peoples thoughts on this?

http://www.vox.com/2014/5/9/5691098/why-cyclists-should-be-able-to-roll-through-stop-signs-and-ride

I don't RLJ ever, because it is illegal, can be dangerous and is unpredictable for other road users. If it were legal as described in this article, I don't see how it can be considered dangerous in many of the situations described - especially since half of the red lights I wait at on my Central London commute are pedestrian lights which stay red long after all of the pedestrians have crossed.

Would you want to see this implemented? Would it be dangerous or damage relations with pedestrians and motorists?

 

[sidevalve]

YES !! If you want to stir up resentment go ahead. It would only take 1 [ONE] accident to cause a ton of hatred to come pouring out. Mr normal resposible cyclist would be at the mercy of the "I can't be arsed to wait" muppet. Speed limits are a good example ie 90 on a deserted motorway on a fine day is pretty harmless but it's 20 over the limit, what if we made it ok to do 20 over the limit in certain situations then ? We end up with Mr D -- head racing down a narrow street at 50. Sady the law is mostly there to [try] to control the stupid people

 

[Mr_K_Dilkington]

They do that with speed limits on German autobahns - are they much more dangerous than our roads? (Legitimate question, I don't know)

This doesn't suggest making it an idiot free for all - it suggests prosecuting only those who jump in dangerous situations or don't yield to pedestrians or other cyclists/motorists.

I've spent a lot if time driving in California where, as the article mentions, you can jump a red turning right if there is no traffic or pedestrians. I've never seen that be dangerous and I imagine most accidents related to that are with people who are dangerous drivers anyway. If something like this is good enough for motorists in California (some of the most ridiculous traffic in the world) I don't see why it should be so outlandish for cyclists in the UK.

 

[Brandane]

A lot of common sense has been spoken on that (American) article.
An RLJ can, in certain circumstances, be done without causing risk to the cyclist or any other road user. From my own experience, the enforcement of the law with regards to cyclists who RLJ sensibly is also carried out with a common sense approach. So no real need to change things, other than to rubber stamp what is already happening in the real world.
It only gets up certain drivers noses; mostly those who can't see anyone making better progress than them. They need to get over themselves, or get a bike. They are the same people who try and block motorbikes from filtering perfectly legally and safely past very slow or stationary traffic on a motorway. Nobbers.

 

[Mr_K_Dilkington]

It does still annoy me to see cyclists rlj at any time at the moment, maybe because I'm just a stickler for rules.

I partly agree with you on drivers getting mad at cyclists who 'safely' rlj - partly they are just pissed because the cyclist is making better progress than them (some motorists favourite hobby), but many are legitimately angry at the transgression of rules which so apply to everyone - they'd equally think a driver who skipped a red light to be a daffodil. I think this legitimisation of cyclists safely skipping red lights would certainly take away at least some of this legitimate outrage towards this transgression of the rules and improve attitudes towards it.

Having said that, many motorists attitudes towards cyclists are completely irrational, arbitrary, hypocritical and for want of a better word, bigoted. We shouldn't base our laws on the irrational and bigoted opinions of those who are selectively outraged towards one group of people and who constantly project dangerous behaviours onto a whole group because of the actions of a small minority. We should base laws on facts and safety. This is why I really don't give a toss for this victim blaming crap about 'giving us all a bad name' or 'it will enrage motorists'. If (the small minority of motorists) want to act like petulant, spoiled, sociopathic children towards cyclists because we might be able to legally do something that they cannot, then the problem to be addressed is with their twisted mindset towards this issue, not with the actual laws of the road. Anything less is victim blaming and pandering to irrational rage which won't ever be mollified anyway unless these people choose to change their mindset.