Should cyclists go through red lights?

davidbaker999

Hi all

I am writing an article for the Financial Times on the relationship between cyclists, motorists and pedestrians in towns and cities.

Here in London many cyclists commit what they call "minor" infingements of law because it is safer for them (such as crossing junctions when all the traffic is stopped to let pedestrians cross, cycling on the pavement to avoid traffic etc).

I'd be very interested in any thoughts on this. And in particular if there are UK towns that have managed to get the mix of cyclists and motorists right.

Thanks in anticipation and best wishes.

David Baker (cyclist and motorist)
Financial Times

topcat

Well, if there is a red light and there odvioulsy istnt anyone that's going to cross i go through it, but its so busy here that most of the time you really can't go through them, unless they're pedestrian crossings etc....sometimes, rearley, i go on the pavement if there's a big traffic jam on a one lane road, so i dont have to have the on coming traffic coming the other way, but i don't go on the pavement very often.

spragger

To be honest real cyclists are at war with vehicles. Until someone takes a stand in physically protecting cyclists they will have to adopt whatever tactics to protect themselves
Is there any real cyclist who has not been hit by a vehicle - I doubt not.
Would you recommend your child went cycling on modern roads - I doubt not.
Once again the fiefdom of the car wins and it should not
What we dont want is another chattering class article slagging off cyclists.

Get on yer bike regularly and experience it first hand, It wont take long - believe me!

anderson

What about cyclists turning left to go through a red light?

M. Anderson

Kupe du Monde

Most simply, no. Cyclists are held to the same standards and laws as automobiles with regards to rules of the road. If you can't abide by said laws, you should find elsewhere to ride; maybe a nice trail, but not the road.

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li0scc0

I wait for the light when I am in town, but some areas more outside of town I run the red light. Not sure about overseas, but in the states the light is triggered by somebody going over an underground sensor. A bike with a rider is not enough weight to trigger the sensor, and thus you would have to wait for another car to come along and trigger. At 5:30 in the morning, sometimes you might be waiting for 5 minutes or longer. Thus, I run the light, but I do stop first (too dangerous not to).

Brunswick_kate

Well, I never knew that the "real" cyclist were earmarked thus...having been hit by a car and all. I'd have thought that 5000 km a year commuting might have contributed.

What about cyclist hitting the car? I did that. Do I get any "real cyclist" points for that or does the motorist get credit for it?

Oh yeah, and kid on the roadway...all the time. Under supervision of course.

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Brunswick_kate

Got one of those myself in spite of repeated requests to the Engineering dept to have it changed to a magnetic sensor. I don't know what it is in your jurisdiction, but here, I'm legally entitled to go through such intersections (look both ways, of course) because the traffic control device is effectively inoperative in my case.

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Stealth Hunter

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sjay

Cyclists should abide by the rules of the road, there is nothing worse than an antagonised motorist whilst you are on your bike. In addition, if a cyclist does ride 'by the rules' they behave in an predictable manner, which hopefully the motorist can judge properly and drive safely round you.

One question I would like to put to the forum - Do you ride according to the highway code around an island? Correct me if I'm wrong, but as I understand it, cyclists have to keep left whilst turning right at a traffic island. This, in my opion is dangerous, as you are just asking to be cut up by a driver. Personally I will sit in the middle of the correct lane to go round - much to alot of drivers annoyance.

jaz

I used to go through red lights all the time but now I think the risk isnt worth it (unless its a really quiet time of the day with no cars about) I prefer to take my time & enjoy my ride as just getting on my bike is my favourite thing, I get pleasure just riding anywhere.
I did have a strange experiance the other day at a red light though which shows the total disregard some motorists have to cyclists, I came to a red light & was stopped slightly in the middle of the lane waiting for the light to cycle through to green again when a car arrived behind me & instead of him waiting paitently my bike length away from the junction he just pulled up next to me missing the end of my bars my a couple of cm's forcing me to move over to the gutter & when I looked round & gestured to him "didnt you see me?" he just waved telling me to get out of the way
This was a respectable looking man in his 50's with a suit & tie, I was tempted to get off my bike & twat him one but the side of the road was against a wall so if he decided to ram me or my bike I would have had no where to go so I just told him what I thought of his driving with a one fingered gesture & a few comments
I cant understand what sort of mentality he had to just antaganize me just so he could be 3 feet further down the road than he would have been if he had shown me some common courtesy & stopped behind me, its strange some peoples attitudes when there behind the wheel as they feel safe enclosed in there cars but us cyclists feel so vunerable & they dont seem to understand that, after being hit on a roundabout last year (& still suffering the physical affects of this now) by a driver who couldnt be bothered to follow the rules of the road I wont even ride roundabouts no more.
Since I got my new bike (last one written off in crash above) I dont mind stopping at lights as I have disk brakes on my bike so I can show off doing those front wheel stoppies like the motor bikers do but my attitude has changed towards road riding, I used to be agressive in my riding style as I thought it was better to act like a car & hope drivers took more notice of me but now I play it safe.
Btw there are considerate drivers out there & there not all bad but I wish a few of the inconsiderate ones would be made to ride a bike for a day & see what the rest of us have to put up with.
I also see plenty of cyclists who annoy drivers by going where ever the like & cutting through lights etc & I dont think that helps our image as we could be considered reckless & unpredictable, Im the same sometimes as I have this need to show off by wheelying & manualing down the road when ever I feel like it

sjay

Totally agree.

fondriest

Hi, just got back from a ride on which i nearly got into a fight because of this.

A queue of four or five cars were waiting at a pedestrian crossing with the lights on red. I slowed aproaching the lights hoping they would turn green before i got there and had to stop, and take my feet out of the peddles. Unfortunatley they didnt change in time and after checking that no-one else was crossing the road i decided to run the light. This seemed to really annoy the driver who was at the front of the queue.

He caught me up at the next lights (crossroads rather than pedestrian) and started to give me all sorts of grief through his window "RED LIGHTS APPLY TO YOU AS WELL YOU KNOW!!!" etc etc. I just told him to get f*cked and ignored the rest of his tyrade.

When these lights changed off we went, he was continuing to abuse me as he overtook and went off down the road. I cought him again at the next lights were he was sat in another queue. As i was crawling up the inside of the stationary cars he deliberatly swerved left in an attempt to knock me off my bike!!!

I was prepared to ignore his little tantrum until this point. I was so mad i got off my bike and started banging on his window trying to get him out of his car so i could knock his teeth out. He wasnt so abussive at this point and drove off as soon as he could.


Although i may have been breaking the law by riding through the light, it wasnt exactly dangerous and certainly didnt deserve the kind of abuse i got from this guy.

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