Sometimes you just can't stop at the red light

[campbellab]

That's exactly the situation where powered vehicles justify shooting a red.

It was barely red when you crossed but the Keltbray truck was reasonably spaced behind. I doubt you'd have had a bad outcome if you'd pulled left and stopped even if Keltbray ran the red.

Should you swerve to the left and stop sharply without time to check your (other) shoulder? I think that answers itself.

 

[campbellab]

The truck driver cyclist, as a professional with experience should have without a doubt, stopped at that red light. it would have been possible for him to do so.
I don't refuse to get the point of your post at all.

Gaz doesn't have brake lights, and the truck should have better brakes than Gaz. The lights flash orange at 0:05 (but he's performing a shoulder check), looks back at 0:06 crosses through at 0:08, thats not a lot of time to make a decision either way!

 

[MrJamie]

With that logic you slow down to a stop by the line and start up again if its green?

Nope Skol already explained what I meant, but for clarity...i meant like when you approach a roundabout you don't always have to stop but you should slow down and prepare to do so if something is coming, presumably when approaching a traffic light you should slow so that you can stop if the light changes.

I don't have a problem with Gaz running the light like that either, but it doesnt seem the best thing to make a habit of

 

[stowie]

With that logic you slow down to a stop by the line and start up again if its green?

The amber phase should give someone obeying the speed limit enough time to come to a halt before the red phase.

The law is quite clear on the matter. You cannot pass the stop line on red. Although Gaz did the right thing as he had a lorry close behind him which did, in the end, run the red. Who knows if the driver was alert and decided to run the red, or was simply distracted (texting etc.) and would have ploughed on regardless?

 

[TheLondonCyclist]

You guys on your period? lol chill out

 

[Deleted member 20519]

This is a thing taught to drivers by decent instructors. If you are approaching a green light that has been green for a while then you should prepare for a possible change. This may mean easing off the power, reducing your speed or simply deciding at what point you will brake or continue if the lights do change.

The truck clearly had no intention of stopping. Did the truck ease of the power or reduce his speed? Nope. Even if Gaz had been hard on his brakes, the truck would have been hard on his brakes as well and there is a very real chance that it could have ended in a collision and I'm sure that was a risk that Gaz wasn't willing to take.

Maybe the truck driver thinks 'all cyclists go through red lights, why should this be any different' and he's expecting Gaz to run the light so he'll chance it too but by the time he realises that Gaz is actually braking, he won't have time to react (as he'd only left a one second gap) and make contact with him.

 

[BentMikey]

but it doesnt seem the best thing to make a habit of

Putting the anchors on in front of a tailgating tipper truck is the better thing to make a habit out of?

 

[Deleted member 20519]

Putting the anchors on in front of a tailgating tipper truck is the better thing to make a habit out of?

To each their own

 

[Recycle]

I probably would have done the same thing, and in fact I have in the past. Good practice dictates you should occupy primary when you approach a junction and if a vehicle is sucking your tail you need to make a judgement call.
Sometimes I feel foolish when the vehicle doesn't follow me through the junction but on one occasion not one, but three vehicles followed me through.
I still don't consider myself a RLJ'er. There is a fundamental difference between making a situational judgement call and wilfully jumping lights as a routine practice.

 

[Recycle]

I doubt you'd have had a bad outcome

Doubt? You would trust doubt with a Keltebray truck?
Wow!

 

[thefollen]

Yep, I'd have ran that one too. Generally well behaved on the roads but a marginal (with no eager peds waiting) or deserted ped crossing can occasionally see me going through ;-)

 

[Buddfox]

Adding my voice to those that have remarked on Keltbray - they are up there with Addison Lee etc. as drivers / vehicles to pay extra attention to. They are driven very aggressively around London (per my observations at least).

 

[Miquel In De Rain]

Adding my voice to those that have remarked on Keltbray - they are up there with Addison Lee etc. as drivers / vehicles to pay extra attention to. They are driven very aggressively around London (per my observations at least).

There a lot of this sort though that are driven by dicks.

 

[Bromptonaut]

Should you swerve to the left and stop sharply without time to check your (other) shoulder? I think that answers itself.

I didn't suggest stopping sharply.

As others have said you need to be ready to stop when a light's been green for a while. I know the sequences for most of the lightys on my commute and behave accordingly. That way I'm ready to stop without panic on amber, which is what the law says you should do. Keltbray would have had his brake covered and be ready to stop if Gaz did - with a move left an option for Gaz if he had doubts about that.

The fear of being tailended is real and very common in car drivers too but the actual occurence is pretty rare. It's not a major feature of cyclist /HGV accidents most of which involve left turns or kerb creeping.

 

[Buddfox]

There a lot of this sort though that are driven by dicks.

That's true - and there are a lot of Keltbray trucks on the roads, or at least there have been (where they doing work for the Olympics?), so perhaps it's to be expected they gain a bit of a reputation.