I knew my comments were going to be controversial and while I could simply have kept quiet and said nothing or joined the crowd in tutting, shaking my head and muttering comments like “only an idiot goes through a red light” I have no problem with admitting how I ride and defending my actions with
reasoned argument.
Is what I do legal?
No
Is it annoying to other road users?
Probably, but only the ones that don’t/can’t think for themselves
Am I putting myself or others in increased danger?
No
Almost got broadsided by a car this morning RLJ'ing. There was no room for doubt - I could see his lights on red and mine had been on green for a good 3-4 seconds. I'd already checked once for "amber gamblers" and had just set off
Clearly from the incident described by SquareDaff someone was completely in the wrong and it sounds as though the driver mentioned is one of those ‘that don’t give a F**K’. SquareDaff’s experience bears no relation to the description I gave of my RLJ’ing policy
I often see cars dangerously 'filtering' (In I like Skols terms), occasionally the odd darwin award candidate cyclist too.
Nothing dangerous about what I described but I am sure you do see motorists (not cars, remember they don’t drive themselves) and cyclists going through red lights dangerously and illegally. Do not confuse the two, illegal is not necessarily dangerous. You are right though, there are more than enough ‘Darwin Award candidates’ around as motorists, cyclists and pedestrians, the clue is in the title though and they are not expected to live as long as the fitter, cleverer and more adaptable amongst us.
I think many drivers who do it will use the 'well cyclists always do it and get away with it, why not me.' argument to justify their actions.
Again, these would be stupid people. There are many potentially fatal activities, pastimes and occupations that I would not attempt just because I have seen someone else do it and make it look easy.
Are you suggesting that a cyclist can safely jump a red light, but a car can't?
Anyone that thinks so is either stupid or deluding themselves.
Of course a car can be driven past a red light as safely as a bike can be ridden past. Do not confuse legality with safety and illegality with danger. The act of passing the red light is not in itself the danger, it is not considering other unexpecting road users that create the danger.
Let’s describe a few hypothetical scenarios
1, A motorist approaches a crossroads with traffic lights on a quiet day. They know the light sequence well and as their light has just turned red they know they have quite a few minutes to wait while all the other directions are given their turn. They can see clearly in all directions that there is no one approaching so they decide to cautiously drive through the red light and continue their journey rather than sit with the engine idling for 3 or 4 minutes while the lights give priority to vehicles that aren’t there.
Is this dangerous?
2, A cyclist is riding home from work and filters past a queue of vehicles waiting at a red light during the busy rush hour. When he/she gets to the front of the queue they finds that by pure chance there is no traffic passing the lights in the other directions so rather than wait and join the rush to get away that will occur when the lights change to green he/she decides to set off and take advantage of the vehicle free space and time to navigate the complex junction with all its islands and pinch points.
Who has been put in danger here?
3, A person is running for a bus but has to negotiate a busy pedestrian crossing at a junction to get to the bus stop of the approaching bus. Rather than press the button for the pedestrian crossing and wait for all the traffic to stop the person has a quick look and decides no one is coming their way so runs across the road. A vehicle comes around the corner having passed a green light only to be confronted by a pedestrian in the road and has to brake sharply to avoid running them down.
Is this illegal?
What does any of this prove? Not a lot really. Jumping/passing a red traffic light can be dangerous if not done with care and attention. Passing a red light is illegal, no one is arguing with that. People risk their lives in plenty of ways that are legal but this doesn’t draw much if any comment from the pedants that mutter through gritted teeth “they shouldn’t do that, they’re not allowed” like RLJ’ing does.
I am not condoning RLJ’ing but I am happy with my own actions and I accept responsibility for them. I do not have a problem with cyclists that jump red lights providing they do it carefully with consideration for all other road users and are prepared to accept the consequences should they be caught or if it goes wrong.