legal advice for running a so called red light

[martint235]

Yes, I'm thinking of one particular set of lights where there's a bike lane, traffic crawling on the right or traffic at a standstill, lights turn red, I keep filtering up the cycle lane - no room to move out into primary as traffic is already nose to tail get to front, find car in ASL safer and causing no harm whatsoever to get in front than sit on his left.
If I'm in moving traffic and the lights change I'll happily move to primary and wait, but that's not the situation I'm describing here.
I'm not impatient or selfish, but if I find myself in a situation where it's safer for me to go over the line that isn't going to harm or inconvenience anyone else then that's what I'll do. It would be stupid not to.

So what does a car do in this nose to tail traffic if it wants to turn right? You DON'T have to be at the front and it isn't an excuse to break the law.

 

[Matthew_T]

I suspect it's reference to your motorbike endeavor.

Which I didnt know was illegal until I came on here. Maybe if people actually read what was said there would be no confusion.

 

[Boris Bajic]

Which I didnt know was illegal until I came on here. Maybe if people actually read what was said there would be no confusion.

We read it. I strongly suggest that you go back and read the whole thread again. including your bizarre comments about not worrying because you cannot be identified from the footage. It does not show you in a good light.

You were unaware that it was illegal to ride an untaxed, uninsured 125cc motorcycle around a car park which is public land and to which the public (pedestrians) have access. You did this at speeds up to 45mph, although you say you slowed down near pedestrians (!).

Juxtapose that quite alarming ignorance with your 'take no prisoners' approach on your Youtube channel. It is a good thing that you have stopped posting your angry, shouty vigilante Judge Dredd stuff on CC. The world's blood pressure has dropped to safer levels.

Trust me, if you did not know that this was illegal and you are a novice driver, you really should not be making driving films about how to brake for an ATS.

 

[Sara_H]

So what does a car do in this nose to tail traffic if it wants to turn right? You DON'T have to be at the front and it isn't an excuse to break the law.

So let me get this right. If I'm filtering past traffic that's at a standstill, if the light turns red you think I should stop, where ever I happens to be in that queue? Be that 10m back, 50m or a hundred? What's the point? The situation I'm describing is that I've just happened to reach the front if the queue whilst filtering. It makes no difference to anyone if I sit just in front of the line (except that it presents lower risk to me) than if I sit to the left of the queue.

 

[martint235]

So let me get this right. If I'm filtering past traffic that's at a standstill, if the light turns red you think I should stop, where ever I happens to be in that queue? Be that 10m back, 50m or a hundred? What's the point? The situation I'm describing is that I've just happened to reach the front if the queue whilst filtering. It makes no difference to anyone if I sit just in front of the line (except that it presents lower risk to me) than if I sit to the left of the queue.

No I'm expecting you to think more about your road position before it becomes an issue. If you're turning right why are you filtering down the left handside of traffic to sit in front of a car that you know is going to be accelerating behind you as soon as red+amber shows. I can't understand how you think that is a safer thing to do? Depending how many cars there are , let's say 3, I'd probably wait my turn at the back. Let's say 10, I'd filter down the right hand side (assuming I've got space to do so) and then probably stop a couple of cars back from the front. If it's not safe to filter on the right then down the cycle lane to two cars back, look at the driver behind you, signal what you're going to do when the lights change and then do it. Simples as @User30090 would say.

 

[Sara_H]

No I'm expecting you to think more about your road position before it becomes an issue. If you're turning right why are you filtering down the left handside of traffic to sit in front of a car that you know is going to be accelerating behind you as soon as red+amber shows. I can't understand how you think that is a safer thing to do? Depending how many cars there are , let's say 3, I'd probably wait my turn at the back. Let's say 10, I'd filter down the right hand side (assuming I've got space to do so) and then probably stop a couple of cars back from the front. If it's not safe to filter on the right then down the cycle lane to two cars back, look at the driver behind you, signal what you're going to do when the lights change and then do it. Simples as @User30090 would say.

I'm not talking about two or ten cars. I'm talking about a mile long that is nose to tail from the junction I join it to where the traffic lights are. Without fail, I have to filter the whole way up to the lights. If it's green I carry on through on the left if its red I sit in the ASL in the way it's designed, but if there's a car there it's safer to go over the line and wait in front than to sit in the left potentially putting myself at risk of a left hook. It causes no harm to anyone else and reduces the risk to me, so whats the problem?
It's uphill so it takes a few minutes to get up.
There isn't enough space to filter on the right due to oncoming traffic and the same problem of not being able to pull back in.
If your filtering along stop-start nose to tail traffic you don't always get an opportunity to get into primary before the ASL, and what would be the point if when the lights change you're still going be filtering once the lights have changed. If I wanted to sit in a queue of traffic I'd buy a car and do it in comfort.

 

[martint235]

There's also a another set of lights where I have to turn right.,

I'm not talking about two or ten cars. I'm talking about a mile long that is nose to tail from the junction I join it to where the traffic lights are. Without fail, I have to filter the whole way up to the lights. If it's green I carry on through on the left if its red I sit in the ASL in the way it's designed, but if there's a car there it's safer to go over the line and wait in front than to sit in the left potentially putting myself at risk of a left hook. It causes no harm to anyone else and reduces the risk to me, so whats the problem?

So if the light is green you carry on through on the left, how does that enable your right turn?
And the problem is you're breaking the law. I thought that had already been explained.

ASLs are for the most part poorly designed and a risk. This has been shown in various videos that show that most ASLs are equivalent to the area of the blind spot in front of a truck stopped at the line, and that's just one of the risks.

 

[Sara_H]

So if the light is green you carry on through on the left, how does that enable your right turn?
And the problem is you're breaking the law. I thought that had already been explained.

ASLs are for the most part poorly designed and a risk. This has been shown in various videos that show that most ASLs are equivalent to the area of the blind spot in front of a truck stopped at the line, and that's just one of the risks.

Those are two different sets of lights. The first one, a right turn is on the way into work. The second set which I am describing to yo latterly is on my way home and I go straight on.
This isn't an area frequented by many trucks, and you're right, I wouldn't position myself there in front of a truck, I'm talking about positioning myself in front of cars, far less risk to be in front than to the left. The same can't be said for trucks, I'd hang back behind and wait for it to clear off in the same position, though if there was a truck on this particular street there wouldn't be enough room to filter anyway as the road is narrow and it would block the cycle lane anyway.
Clearly you don't get my drift as you're talking absolute nonsense. In these circumstances I'd rather be a live law breaker who has caused no one else any inconvenience, distress or risk than pointlessly put myself at risk for the sake of being a few inches over the line.
This is the problem with the vehicularists, they want us to be treated like motorised vehicles and be punished as such as well, but cyclin presents a whole different set of risks on busy urban roads, our laws just don't reflect that in general and there are numerous situations where remaining within the law puts a cyclist needlessly at risk.

 

[Sara_H]

Our laws are pretty much OK. They way in which our courts act on them is what lets us down.

I disagree. Some road rules, don't take into account needs of cyclists and put them at risk.

 

[Pale Rider]

Such as?

The rule that says cyclists cannot run a red light.

Come on Adrian, try to keep up.

 

[phil_hg_uk]

If you did go through a Red Light then its your own fault and I wish they would stop everyone, cyclist or not, who does this. I also wish they would stop people who ride in the dark with no lights and ride on the pavement when they are not supposed to.

 

[martint235]

[QUOTE 2720380, member: 30090"]Why stop two cars back? Why not one or three? And why stop in front of THAT car - MY CAR!. Driver mentality mate is a mofo, and TBH I would probably do what Sara has mentioned regarding a long line of traffic and a full ASL. I would jump the stop line so there's a good gap between me and the car behind and wait for the lights to go green. With your analogy you are relying on a car driver to let you move into their lane, because as you have described presumably (my bold) at the point when the lights are red you are splitting lanes?

I agree about there being three cars in the queue though, take your place in primary and wait for the lights to go green.[/quote]
Two cars lets the nutters out of the way ime. Car number 3 can't really jump on the accelerator as the lights change and so gives me time to move into their lane. So far, although driver mentality is strange at the best of times, I've only had one driver who was willing to get out of his car to discuss it with me.

Each to their own though. I dislike ASLs almost as much as I dislike RLJing cyclists.

 

[400bhp]

[QUOTE 2720380, memit is better in his words.er: 30090"]Why stop two cars back? Why not one or three? And why stop in front of THAT car - MY CAR!. Driver mentality mate is a mofo, and TBH I would probably do what Sara has mentioned regarding a long line of traffic and a full ASL. I would jump the stop line so there's a good gap between me and the car behind and wait for the lights to go green. With your analogy you are relying on a car driver to let you move into their lane, because as you have described presumably (my bold) at the point when the lights are red you are splitting lanes?

I agree about there being three cars in the queue though, take your place in primary and wait for the lights to go green.[/quote]
@gaz will explain.

 

[400bhp]

I am on a tablet and its a pita to write more than a few sentences.

 

[classic33]

Which I didnt know was illegal until I came on here. Maybe if people actually read what was said there would be no confusion.

Ignorance is not a defence.