Wonderful example of why you don't RLJ this morning. The cyclist checks there's nothing coming from down the road which has the green light before proceeding across... straight into the path of a motorist who's pulling out of their drive into the junction. The motorist pips their horn (not a blaring horn held for many seconds but a quick tap maybe half a second long) which results in a torrent of abuse from the rider towards the motorist.
As a cyclist and a pedestrian if one of these idiots tried to filter past me whilst I was crossing I'd clothesline them! Maybe then they'd learn some patience!
As a cyclist and a pedestrian if one of these idiots tried to filter past me whilst I was crossing I'd clothesline them! Maybe then they'd learn some patience!
why don't more cyclists treat them as discretionary?
outdated traffic laws are giving implicit support to the status quo prioritizing motor vehicles.
To the second point because they're aren't outdated, they are still on the statute books and will be until further primary legislation is brought in to over-rule them.
There's a lot of laws I don't like. There's some I can see the point of. There's some I positively like such as it's illegal for someone to stab me. I think we're all on very dangerous ground once we allow people to pick and choose which laws we obey.
Now start a campaign for cyclists to go the opposite direction down a one way street, or turn left at red, or treat red lights as give way signs and I'm first in the queue to sign up because I believe the rules do need to be changed. But while they are in force, they should be obeyed. It's one of the cornerstones of what passes for civilisation.
I see your point but I just don't see it that way. It seems the most effective way to get silly laws changed is simply for a significant number of people to ignore them without causing problems. There is little benefit to society in criminalizing people's everyday activities if they are not to the detriment of others.
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As an aside, I had a situation back along when approaching a traffic light light controled roundabout. The approach road was gridlocked with cars as was the roundabout itself. Having filtered to the head of the queue, I of course used my discression and did not wait for green to continue filtering through the gridlock. Would others on here honestly have sat there for minutes in the fumes waiting for a green light under these circumstances?
I see your point but I just don't see it that way. It seems the most effective way to get silly laws changed is simply for a significant number of people to ignore them without causing problems. There is little benefit to society in criminalizing people's everyday activities if they are not to the detriment of others.
This is the problem. You get through the red light, no harm done. Every single day at work, I hear "I was nearly knocked over by a cyclist going through red light x" or "I had to slam on my brakes to avoid hitting a cyclist who had gone through a red light". It is causing problems for other people. It is also now so widespread that many people feel they can't use pedestrian crossings in the way they were intended to be used because they really have no idea if that cyclist is going to stop.
The law should be enforced and heavily. If the fine is high enough, it could effectively pay for itself to be enforced.
And if they hit me at speed because they couldn't be @rsed to stop whilst I was legitimately crossing as a pedestrian then that would be OK then?!?!?! Would it still be OK if it was your kids/elderly parents crossing?Yes, because committing an assault gives you the moral high ground.
How many people on here have grumbled because a pedestrian has still used the crossing even though the red man has shown and we've had to wait as a result. And we'd all soon start complaining if they decided to use said crossing because it was ONLY a cyclist heading towards them and we had to slam on the brakes!!This is the problem. You get through the red light, no harm done. Every single day at work, I hear "I was nearly knocked over by a cyclist going through red light x" or "I had to slam on my brakes to avoid hitting a cyclist who had gone through a red light". It is causing problems for other people. It is also now so widespread that many people feel they can't use pedestrian crossings in the way they were intended to be used because they really have no idea if that cyclist is going to stop.