Red light jumping, nicked?

[Dan B]

Neither of those are illegal (good!), at least in the UK.

He didn't say illegal, he said wrong. Not the same thing, though I grant you there's a great big overlap

Usual example of illegal-but-not-wrong: crossing the ASL at red to enter the cycle reservoir other than by means of the cycle feeder lane

Personal opinion time: RLJ is wrong but not very wrong, and the degree of wrongness depends on circumstance. 3am deserted junction? Not very wrong. Edging over the stop line where there is no ASL/the ASL is full/there is a HGV behind you whose driver otherwise can't see you? Barely wrong at all, as long as you're not obstructing pedestrians. Into the path of oncoming traffic? Very wrong indeed.

 

[fimm]

swampyseifer, my experience of RLJ threads is they mostly generate more heat than light... this one actually started out with an interesting question...

As far as I can see there are various groups of cyclists:
1) those who always stop at red lights
2) those who usually stop at red lights, but who occasionally go through one either because it is obviously clear or because they believe they need to be clear of the traffic behind them for their own safety
3) those who appear to believe that they don't need to stop at red lights and just hammer through them regardless.

I don't think that many of group 3) post on forums. Group 2) object to being tarred with the same brush as group 3), and group 1) feel that groups 2) and 3) get all cyclists tarred with the same brush by motorists. Furthermore, drivers of motorised vehicles also RLJ, especially by not stopping at amber, (though I have seen a car merrily drive through a red light at a pedestrian crossing once the pedestrian had crossed) but this doesn't seem to get many people cross at all. Finally, there are no laws at all about where and when pedestrians may cross the road.

 

[Dan B]

Good summary. A lot of the debate is also because there's a wide range of opinion in group 2 as to exactly what constitutes a safe rlj, and some in group 1 would rather it didn't come down to personal opinion

 

[gambatte]

Apart from my own belief that you should stop at red. It is reinforced by personal experience. A few years ago I lived at the start of Ecclesall Road in Sheffield. The local supermarket was straight over the road, which is a dual carriageway.
So I go shopping and start walking back, loaded down with several shopping bags. I get to the crossing and press the button. Cars slow and stop, my light goes green and the beeping starts.
I step out and the next thing I'm facing the opposite direction, with a bruised arm and checking my shopping.
I was lucky. The **** who ran into me was lucky, in that he didn't come off his bike (and he didn't receive a free tin of heinz beans, delivered air mail!) as he rode off into the sunset.

 

[Downward]

The only time I have done it (On a road I have commuted for for 10 years and driven for 15 year) when they installed new lights for a Supermarket (Which was closed)

In my defence It was clear, Downhill and I didn't fancy slamming the brakes on on my road bike in the slippery road conditions and potentially losing control.

Just got a ticking off. If I was on my hybrid with disk brakes I would have stopped in time.

 

[Jezston]

The problem I have with group 2 is them deciding what's safe and what isn't. Just because they don't notice anyone around doesn't mean there isn't.

If the question is "why stop when it's clear?" my question is "why not stop?", and I feel the only answers to that are just impatience or selfishness, which aren't valid.

I'm not going to claim to be a saint, though. I have jumped lights in the past, and the reasons being 1. I was new and didn't event realise I shouldn't or didn't care so was essentially an idiot; 2. The lights were faulty - which I shall continue to do as it's legal, although usually when that's happened I've ended up dismounting and walking because I didn't feel safe proceeding and; 3. Because I was out with a group who all jumped the lights and if I didn't jump them too I would have lost them, which I was pretty pissed off about.

 

[gambatte]

One of my problems is, if they think the law is something that can be bent and they can look at traffic lights as advisory at best... how would they react if all car drivers used the same logic?

 

[Hip Priest]

One of my problems is, if they think the law is something that can be bent and they can look at traffic lights as advisory at best... how would they react if all car drivers used the same logic?

The funny thing is, when traffic lights are go out of order, people seem to rub along just fine. They take more care, go slower and use their eyes more.

 

[XmisterIS]

In a busy place like Portsmouth, RLJ = suicide. I never do it.

Out in the boonies where I live, I need only cycle for about five miles to get out into the boonies of the boonies where one is passed by a car once every half an hour. There are hardly any traffic lights, and when you find them, RLJ is the norm.

 

[2pies]

Damn, just got nicked on the way in this morning. It's actually not something I do that often, unless the junction is completely clear. I was in the middle of a 10 cycle train that was moving quite quickly and the guy who was about 5m ahead of me slammed on the breaks to stop as the light turned yellow and I only just avoided him. With another cyclist right on my wheel I made the split-second decision to slowly ride through the yellow/turning red light. A cop saw it and hauled me over = £30 fine.

I had seen lots of police at that junction (Kensington High St) a couple of times before but didn't realise that that was what they were doing.

I expect I'll be a lot more careful when approaching junctions so I can stop in time. Its just tiring to constantly slow down/speed up at every junction.

 

[400bhp]

Damn, just got nicked on the way in this morning.

Why are you annoyed?

 

[2pies]

Why are you annoyed?

It took about 10mins to process. Annoyed with myself as well, as its not something I do very often.

 

[Arch]

I expect I'll be a lot more careful when approaching junctions so I can stop in time. Its just tiring to constantly slow down/speed up at every junction.

Thing is, "it's tiring" isn't much of an excuse is it? Stopping and starting is just part of urban riding, get used to it. Many junctions in York seem to be on the brows of hills, meaning that in any direction, it's an uphill start, but that's just the way it is.

Approaching any lights on green, the assumption ought to be that they will turn red, unless you've just seen them go green and know the length of the phase. There are lights here in York on very short phases, crossing very wide, blind junctions, and I know that even if I've seen them go green when I'm a couple of hundred yards away, they could turn as I approach them, so I assume I'll need to stop and ease off. "I was going too fast to stop" is another of those excuses that doesn't wash really. If a few seconds are so precious that slowing in anticipation for each set of lights matters, then people need to leave home earlier. Contrary to some ideas, commuting is not an Olympic event...

I quite enjoy perfecting the conservation of energy - approaching red lights slowly enough that I can move on without stopping when they change, freewheeling to a stop with minimal braking etc. It's a little art form.

 

[John the Monkey]

I'm late to this one, but if your red light is jumping, it's probably because you changed it without also changing the cassette.

Either go back to the old red light, or change the cassette, and everything should be fine. You might also want to look at the chainrings if you ran the old red light for a long time.

 

[Jezston]

I'm late to this one, but if your red light is jumping, it's probably because you changed it without also changing the cassette.

Either go back to the old red light, or change the cassette, and everything should be fine. You might also want to look at the chainrings if you ran the old red light for a long time.