Red Lights

[hackbike 666]

Poor attitude lee.

 

[Downward]

So I don't have any supporters! I'm not surprised but there must be other bikers who do this but don't admit to it

Anyway ..I'll humbly take on board your collective advice although I don't think I can retract my V sign to the driving instructor

Strangely enough this incident was after a day on the roads when there was a number of good encounters with motorists - ie patient waiting or a friendly wave etc
I suppose I must keep up the cyclists side of this good will

I jump one set of light all the time. It's one of those Supermarkets and it isn't open till 8am. The lights will change to green if your approaching in a car but don't pick up the bike.
Also Pedestrian lights too - Once they are the pavement I am off.

 

[Downward]

Poor attitude lee.

But true - You can't change the world you can just do what is right. You will never get people not to jump them car drivers or bikes.

 

[wafflycat]

Wafflycat,please read my post and explain how its not necessary given my situation,or are you saying its safer for me to walk across the same junction(in cleats)or carefully go to the edge look both ways and ahead before progressing,BTW this is the only occasion where i do go through a red light and its not everytime,sometimes they are on green for me if the last vehicle through was on the same approach as me,and will remain on green until traffic comes in anther direction i presume.

ps,i always stop regardless and then having waited make a decision on what to do If i see lights in the distance behind me i will wait everytime.

It's not necessary: period. If for some reason you can't wait, dismount and walk. That way you stay legal & don't wind-up other road users. Cleats? Use cleat covers - they aren't expensive. Even without cleat covers it's not impossible or even that difficult to walk. I've not yet come across one red light where I've felt it's necessary to cycle through. I have, however, got off the bike & walked. It's not exactly difficult.

 

[hackbike 666]

But true - You can't change the world you can just do what is right. You will never get people not to jump them car drivers or bikes.

Im not trying to change the world.

Car drivers don't stop their car then suddenly drive through....rarely but yes I have seen that happen.Cyclists just cycle through willy nilly.

 

[Downward]

So, pull up to the 'STOP' line, get off and walk over said stop line with bike. Then get back on bike and carry on pedaling?

Could you scoot ??!

 

[GrasB]

But true - You can't change the world you can just do what is right. You will never get people not to jump them car drivers or bikes.

No but if everyone stops RLJing then it'll be one less reason for the flow of animosity between cyclists & motorists. Every interaction we have with motorists leaves an impression & a cyclist RLJing is a negative interaction to most motorists who see it.

 

[hackbike 666]

I can see why motorists hate us.

That's all I get at work is about rljing and even though I plead my innocence I might as well be talking to a brick wall.It really pisses me off.

But that's life.

 

[wafflycat]

So, pull up to the 'STOP' line, get off and walk over said stop line with bike. Then get back on bike and carry on pedaling?

Is the legal approach if you can't be arsed to wait for a green light.

 

[GrasB]

Tis' a very small piece of the pie you are talking about there though imo.

If it's not RLJing, then it's you don't pay no 'road rax', you shouldn't be allowed on the road - ride on the pavement.......

But how much of that 'road tax' chestnut is just a reactionary because people are getting pissed off with cyclists flouting the law. From experience & observation quite a lot, it's true that you're not going to turn every w**ker into a saint, but that's not what you're trying to do. If you increase general motorist tolerance of cyclists the people who are aggressive & dangerous to cyclists become less socially acceptable & find they have the backlash against them.

 

[wafflycat]

What?! So if I am coming upto a red light and stop on the road before the line, get off and walk over the line with my bike and then get back on and carry on through the junction this is not against the law?

If you dismount - and push your bike across the junction then you are a pedestrian crossing the junction. Red lights are not legally binding on peds. Pushing your bike across the junction is no different to a pedestrian pushing a pram... wheelbarrow.. wheelchair.. If, on the other hand, you dismount, cross the stop line - get back on and cycle over you are taking the p*ss as well as being in cycling mode once more, hence the red light applying and you are RLJing. Discussed at length in ACF & URC over the years. Apparently if you 'scoot' the bike, you are still cycling and not a pedestrian.

 

[kevin_cambs_uk]

The ironic thing is that in cambridge there are so many RLJ's that if the police actually pulled them all up, they would never do anything else !

Anyway, I undertand what the guy is saying, but a red light is a red light.

The clue is in the title as they say, and red means stop.

I have been through one, and only one at a ped crossing when they had pressed the button, but not waited and gone when there was a gap, but I vowed it would be the first and last time for me, and after 2000 miles this year, it still has been the first and last time.

I just think it gives us all a bad name.

 

[dondare]

I (purposely)went through a red light yesteday
I usually stop but in this case the junction was not a cross road and the lights were red to let cars from a road on the right to join the road i was on. So for me to keep cycling did put me or anyone else in any danger nor stop or hamper any of the cars coming onto the raod from the right - ie no affect at all. Plus I was on a cycle lane to the road is quite wide.

Anyhow some guy in a Learner car (Diving instructor I suppose) was really annoyed by this and beeped his horn and gestured etc (which I returned in kind...)

Does anyone else ride through red lights depending on circumstance or is it always a no no?

That would be incorrect use of the horn, which is illegal.

And yes, there are plenty of others who would ride through a red light, but very few of them use cycling forum sites so they won't be the ones replying here.
I wait at red for all the reasons already mentioned.

 

[Downward]

The ironic thing is that in cambridge there are so many RLJ's that if the police actually pulled them all up, they would never do anything else !

Anyway, I undertand what the guy is saying, but a red light is a red light.

The clue is in the title as they say, and red means stop.

I have been through one, and only one at a ped crossing when they had pressed the button, but not waited and gone when there was a gap, but I vowed it would be the first and last time for me, and after 2000 miles this year, it still has been the first and last time.

I just think it gives us all a bad name.

If the police just concentrated on real crime maybe this country wouldn't have lost so much faith in them.

You know pretty much when you see them pulling cyclists they must feel so embarrassed justifying themselves.

 

[simongrant]

It's not necessary: period. If for some reason you can't wait, dismount and walk. That way you stay legal & don't wind-up other road users.

Please try and read first,there are no other road users to wind up thats why the lights dont change.Please try to comprehend