Red light jumping antics

[Cab]

Its about the common misconception that RLJing is a cycling issue. It isn't, its far too common a phenomenon amongst all classes of road user.

 

[garrilla]

Its about the common misconception that RLJing is a cycling issue. It isn't, its far too common a phenomenon amongst all classes of road user.

A lot of motorised vehicles amber-gamble, but I'd say far fewer it is rare to see a car actually RLJ in the same way that all some cyclists do by deliberately going contra to the lights and edging through gaps in the traffic.

 

[Cab]

A lot of motorised vehicles amber-gamble, but I'd say far fewer it is rare to see a car actually RLJ in the same way that all some cyclists do by deliberately going contra to the lights and edging through gaps in the traffic.

I'd say that at every single red light I've stopped at today I've seen a car go through at red. Its shockingly common. Accelerating through at amber is almost as bad.

 

[humptygocart]

A lot of motorised vehicles amber-gamble, but I'd say far fewer it is rare to see a car actually RLJ in the same way that all some cyclists do by deliberately going contra to the lights and edging through gaps in the traffic.

I'm afraid not, cyclists are far from the worst offenders when it comes to RLJing:

survey by the RAC found that, yes, a lot of cyclists run red lights.

It also found that one in ten drivers in Manchester and London crossed traffic lights more than three seconds after the lights turned red, and one in five bus drivers ran red lights.

There are ten thousand traffic light camera prosecutions annually in London alone, a small part of the 1.5 million prosecutions annually based on camera evidence (I don't know what proportion are speed versus red lights), in turn the tip of the iceberg of twelve million prosecutions and cautions for motoring offences by UK police forces in 2002. Lawbreaking, then, is not restricted to bikes. Motorists break the law in vast numbers.

http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk/wiki/Bloody_cyclists

Pedestrians are being put in danger by road-users who race through traffic lights each time they go red.



The survey for the Evening Standard found one in every 25 - including motorists, cyclists and bus drivers - routinely "runs" traffic lights.

At Trafalgar Square, researchers spotted 117 road-users charging through lights after they turned red over a three-hour period. Fifty one were cyclists, 13 were motorcyclists and 23 were car drivers.
Eighteen vans shot through on red, as well as four police vehicles not on emergency calls, three lorries and five buses.


The survey was repeated at other locations in central and outer London with similar results.

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/stand...o;jsessionid=9E2B299C2BB1B0F28E949B4AEECC944B

Transport Research Laboratory study in 2007 showed that buses are more likely to jump red lights than cyclists. After cyclists came black cab drivers.

 

[purplepolly]

I stoppped at a zebra crossing on the way home and the car coming up behind went straight through. Fortunately he pulled out properly to overtake me and therefore just missed the two pedestrians who were about halfway across the lane.

 

[garrilla]

OK, I used the term 'Amber-Gambler' loosely and this caused some mis-reading of my comment, but I accept this was entirley my error especially considering the content of the OP. To clarify, I meant for the term to cover for those vehicles (motorised or otherwise) that 'run' red, or more specifically tag on to the traffic just after the lights have changed. I pointed that many cars do this but few cyclists.

I was being specific in the sense that RLJing of the kind where the vehicle (motorised or otherwise) arrives at a set of lights which is already set to red, filters through waiting traffic, and proceeds to cross contra to the taffic flow. Only ever seen Emergency vehicles and cyclists do this.

I was largely being faceitious, anyway. I used the strikethrough for irony. I wish I hadn't now.

 

[humptygocart]

I accept your personal experience garilla, but it does not seem to be backed up by any studies I can find.

"At Piccadilly Circus 101 road users jumped red lights in three hours, including 43 cyclists, 27 car drivers, eight motorcyclists, one lorry driver and 22 vans. A similar pattern emerged at the junction of Kensington High Street and Kensington Church Street."

If we take these statistics as representative of the problem, then 57% of red-light jumping is carried out by motorists. There are over 10,000 state-controlled CCTV cameras in London. So why is it that the vehicles involved in these crimes are not being traced and penalty notices not being sent to the owners concerned? Perhaps those paid to enforce such laws can't be bothered. Zero tolerance? That'll be the day.

 

[humptygocart]

Let's accept that RLJing is a (perceived) problem.

Is it dangerous?

A City of London road casualty report from 2007 showed that cyclists jumping red lights did not feature in the top five causes of casualties in the City.


Careless driving by lorry and car drivers is a much more serious issue.


http://www.lcc.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=1057

Note the police lies in that article.

 

[Cedric]

I see cyclists running red light all the time, they tend to do this at pedestrian crossings where they stop and then roll slowly through if there is no one crossing, they are not putting anyone in danger so what's the problem with that? Likewise there are long stretches of virtually unused pavements that run alongside busy roads that I've seen people cycling on, what's the problem with that? If your cycling isn't posing any risk to anyone why is it anyone's business but the cyclist's?

 

[humptygocart]

I see a lot more cars parked on the pavement than cyclists.

Unless the cars were lifted into place by a crane, the driver broke the law.

 

[garrilla]

OK, just to clarify ONE MORE TIME. When you're talking 'jumping' as being going through a red light on the end of a line of traffic - that old "i'll just nip through here and no one will mind" - I accept. No contest.

However, what most motorists complain about is Cyclists going through red lights is when the traffic has already stopped and the cyclist attmepts the junction anyway.

I was trying to make this distiction. Even though I no longer remember why I did. I'm sorry, OK?

 

[Cab]

I was being specific in the sense that RLJing of the kind where the vehicle (motorised or otherwise) arrives at a set of lights which is already set to red, filters through waiting traffic, and proceeds to cross contra to the taffic flow. Only ever seen Emergency vehicles and cyclists do this.

You mean, they get to the light, look carefully, assess that breaking the law will be safe, and do so? I mind that less than rocketing through lights that have recently changed.

 

[hackbike 666]

I see a lot more cars parked on the pavement than cyclists.

Unless the cars were lifted into place by a crane, the driver broke the law.

Well that's up to the bill to sort it then.

 

[Grendel]

I was approaching a junction yesterday and the cyclist in front of me decided to go through the red light.
"HOY!"
"Red lights apply to you as well!" I said.
He looked at me, pointed to the lights and opened his mouth but nothing came out. Priceless. He obviously wasn't expecting to be pulled up by another cyclist!

 

[JiMBR]

I was approaching a junction yesterday and the cyclist in front of me decided to go through the red light.
"HOY!"
"Red lights apply to you as well!" I said.
He looked at me, pointed to the lights and opened his mouth but nothing came out. Priceless. He obviously wasn't expecting to be pulled up by another cyclist!

Sheesh...you would think Chris Hoy would have better sense!