Red-light jumper blackens my name!

JoeSoap76

I was just about to get changed for my commute home this afternoon when a colleague said - actually, more shouted - "I hope you won't be jumping any lights on the way home!"

It wasn't a casual comment, it was almost an accusation.

Turns out the as he was driving in this morning he pulled out of a junction without noticing a cyclist coming down the road toward him. Fortunately the cyclist saw him and managed to avoid him but when they then got stuck in traffic the cyclist rapped on his window and then gave him a lecture about being more observant.

The cyclist then rode off, straight through the red light that my colleague was waiting at, nearly hit two pedestrians and then weaved his way over a busy junction with traffic coming from six directions.

Rather than come away from the situation with a reminder to watch more carefully for cyclists, my colleague came away with what was almost fury at the blatant way the cyclist jumped the red light. He was so incensed that he was convinced we all jumped the lights.

For the sake of a few minutes sitting at the lights this cyclist could have had a totally different impact on my colleague. An opportunity wasted.

always_tyred

Did you say this to him?

Might be worth pointing out that he nearly killed someone, whereas the cyclist nearly startled someone. Not condoning it - I think RLJing should be made illegal - but the opportunity for a responsible cyclist might not be entirely lost.

Unless its your boss, of course, in which case kiss arse because its the way to get ahead.

Nick6891

there are too many idiot cyclist who jump red lights, its them who are going to get killed when a car hits them

nielsamd

Ah well. I was on a bus today (sorry) and it had to brake and swerve to avoid a woman on a bike who had popped out from between parked cars, heading down the street the wrong way, while she drank a cup of coffee in one hand. = one busload of people chirping about `crazy cyclists'. :?

ansbaradigeidfran

JoeSoap76 wrote:

For the sake of a few minutes sitting at the lights this cyclist could have had a totally different impact on my colleague. An opportunity wasted.

Actually, I doubt that he would have had an impact at all: good or average behaviour doesn't stand out anywhere near as much as the bad stuff.

JoeSoap76

Always Tyred wrote:

Did you say this to him?

Oh, absolutely... but whilst he may have gone away with a flea in his ear about keeping an eye out for cyclists the damage was already done so far as his opinion of cyclists.

always_tyred

JoeSoap76 wrote:

Always Tyred wrote:

Did you say this to him?

Oh, absolutely... but whilst he may have gone away with a flea in his ear about keeping an eye out for cyclists the damage was already done so far as his opinion of cyclists.

I fear you are correct.

prj45

Always Tyred wrote:

I think RLJing should be made illegal

Am I missing something here?

always_tyred

prj45 wrote:

Always Tyred wrote:

I think RLJing should be made illegal

Am I missing something here?

Yes. Badly.

Crapaud

JoeSoap76 wrote:

I was just about to get changed for my commute home this afternoon when a colleague said - actually, more shouted - "I hope you won't be jumping any lights on the way home!"
It wasn't a casual comment, it was almost an accusation. ...

You should have said to him, "I hope you'll be paying attention to the traffic, rather than putting on your make-up / using yor mobile!!"

lizro

What about pedestrian crossing lights at red with no-one crossing? Is it ok to slowly sneak through? I do always wait at traffic lights and agree very bad form to jump the lights.

snooks

lizro wrote:

What about pedestrian crossing lights at red with no-one crossing? Is it ok to slowly sneak through? I do always wait at traffic lights and agree very bad form to jump the lights.

Would you do it if you were driving your driving a car?

That's the way I look at things

A couple of minutes here and there, don't mean anything to me. I'm not racing, I'm going home, or to work, nothing important that I don't mind loosing a couple of minutes over....Will jumping a red change my life by saving me 30 secs...no...So I stop, catch my breath, and wait....I don't see what all the problem is.


Chill peeps

gtvlusso

Feel comforted in the fact that I tarnish your good name everyday, as much as I possibly can.

Eat My Dust

Hmm, I think I would have responded with something like. "I hope you don't go down the pub, have a few drinks and then kill someone in a crash on the way home"

Nick6891

the way i see it is all road users should follow the high way code, regardless on whether you are in a car or on a bike, same rules apply, cyclist just dont have a licence to get points on if they dont abide by them.

gtvlusso

Nick6891 wrote:

the way i see it is all road users should follow the high way code, regardless on whether you are in a car or on a bike, same rules apply, cyclist just dont have a licence to get points on if they dont abide by them.

But in the real world......

Eau Rouge

Eat My Dust wrote:

Hmm, I think I would have responded with something like. "I hope you don't go down the pub, have a few drinks and then kill someone in a crash on the way home"

Leave out the pub bit even, just say you hope he doesn't add to the 3000 road deaths a year on his way home. You don't have to be drunk or driving over the speed limit to kill someone, as we well know.

Littigator

I almost got side-swiped by a car pulling out in front of me yesterday, for the next few minutes I was obviously in shock and not really paying proper attention. I suppose I should have pulled over and taken a few deep breaths but I didn't.

Just maybe the cyclist that had almost been knocked off by your mate was in a similar frame of mind?

That said, it really winds me up seeing other cyclists weaving through pedestrians who are crossig the road on a green man :evil:

zero303

I always feel the urge to mouth off to RLJs but end up chickening out and saying nothing - instead I catch them up and rag it past them once the light has changed to prove it didn't hold me up. I fear it proves nothing, that I'm just breaking a sweat for nothing, the message is missed and I end up looking like an over-competitive tw*t. (I'm on my bike too btw)

Sucks being a cyclist - people treat it like it's some kind of 'condition'

Some drivers are ars*holes, so are come cyclists and as a result it's like a bloody warzone out there...

gtvlusso

zero303 wrote:

I always feel the urge to mouth off to RLJs but end up chickening out and saying nothing - instead I catch them up and rag it past them once the light has changed to prove it didn't hold me up. I fear it proves nothing, that I'm just breaking a sweat for nothing, the message is missed and I end up looking like an over-competitive tw*t. (I'm on my bike too btw)

Sucks being a cyclist - people treat it like it's some kind of 'condition'

Some drivers are ars*holes, so are come cyclists and as a result it's like a bloody warzone out there...

Nah, I don't think you'd catch me........But then again, I am not in a terribly busy city and would not RLJ with peds crossing (not that insane). I think I have 5 sets of lights to go through to get home (2 x T junctions - never stop at them, 1 x 4 way junction - I stop at this one as it has an odd light pattern, the rest are for ped crossings - amble through when no one is on it.) - and no lights if I do the longer routes (up to 36 miles).

zero303

Nah, I don't think you'd catch me........

You're a very quick boy if that's the case Although kinda like me saying I'm harder than you having never seen you - I'm generally not harder than most people so I do doubt it

I'm in brizzle too and while not busy it's a horrid place to cycle at times...

My beef with RLJ is not whether it's safe or not - I'm just sick of the abuse cyclists get. Seeing a good half of the people I see when on my bike ride so dangerously and terribly, it's just fuel on the fire and I'd rather be "holier than you" in a hope to balance out the arrogance and lunacy of many others.

lost_in_thought

I think that the problem with RLJ-ing is exactly as zero303 says: it makes car users hate cyclists!!

However, I think Always Tyred once pointed out that the cyclist's approach to RLJ-ing is the same as the car driver's approach to speeding - they feel it's not hurting anyone, and although it's against the law there's a more than sporting chance that you won't be caught.

My theory is that if I want drivers to treat me like proper 'traffic' rather than a seperate entity, I need to behave like traffic, by signalling appropriately, being properly lit, and following road rules.

Behave like a car and be treated like a car! It's a nice theory. One day it will work!

gtvlusso

zero303 wrote:

Nah, I don't think you'd catch me........

You're a very quick boy if that's the case Although kinda like me saying I'm harder than you having never seen you - I'm generally not harder than most people so I do doubt it

I'm in brizzle too and while not busy it's a horrid place to cycle at times...

My beef with RLJ is not whether it's safe or not - I'm just sick of the abuse cyclists get. Seeing a good half of the people I see when on my bike ride so dangerously and terribly, it's just fuel on the fire and I'd rather be "holier than you" in a hope to balance out the arrogance and lunacy of many others.

I see what your sayin' fella - Ultimately, I don't jump every light - and I have so few on my commute that are relevant or at dangerous junctions that I would rather push on - In London and in Brizzle city centre I am a more reserved cyclist - but my daily commute, I basically may have to stop once for a ped or the one dodgy junction I cross - and on the long route, 36 miles, never stop as there is nothing to stop for!

Even in town I am selective - Especially coming out of Baldwin St into the centre, if it is full of buses and cars I will weave through it all - if it is relatively quiet or peds about I will probably stop.....especially at the weekend when the idiots are let loose, depends on mood, traffic and confidence.

gtvlusso

lost_in_thought wrote:

I think that the problem with RLJ-ing is exactly as zero303 says: it makes car users hate cyclists!!

However, I think Always Tyred once pointed out that the cyclist's approach to RLJ-ing is the same as the car driver's approach to speeding - they feel it's not hurting anyone, and although it's against the law there's a more than sporting chance that you won't be caught.

My theory is that if I want drivers to treat me like proper 'traffic' rather than a seperate entity, I need to behave like traffic, by signalling appropriately, being properly lit, and following road rules.

Behave like a car and be treated like a car! It's a nice theory. One day it will work!

Utopia does not exist - car users will always hate anything that gets in the way (bicycles, lorries, caravans). No one will ever do everything in the "correct" manner - someone will always be annoyed by something. I RLJ, selectively, does not bother me - not had much abuse about it (apart from a guy who was also driving in a bus lane!) - Again, I am lucky because my commute is generally not dangerous at all and I have done this for 10 years or so in allot of different cities (including London)....I have also ridden motorbikes at way over twice the legal motorway speed limit in the UK, I have driven cars too fast (although I don't really drive now and am very slow!) - so, I have done allot worse in the eyes of the law! I am sure I break 10 road rules, on every trip, but I probably don't know of 5 of them!!

simple_salmon

gtvlusso - you may not have had much abuse about it but there may be someone else who receives that abuse because someone saw you and wanted to take it out on the next cyclist they see.

IMHO - there are too many people who only think about themselves.

Littigator

simple_salmon wrote:

gtvlusso - you may not have had much abuse about it but there may be someone else who receives that abuse because someone saw you and wanted to take it out on the next cyclist they see.

IMHO - there are too many people who only think about themselves.

Pah...you're a fish, what do you know!

gtvlusso

simple_salmon wrote:

gtvlusso - you may not have had much abuse about it but there may be someone else who receives that abuse because someone saw you and wanted to take it out on the next cyclist they see.

IMHO - there are too many people who only think about themselves.

Thats how I'd feel if I lived in Leicester....like there is nothing else in my life..!

I've been doing this a very, very long time and am pretty comfortable and safe thank you, maybe I am single minded or arrogant in your opinion, I don't really care what people think in reality, I just ride hard and assess as I go - maybe, I'll stop at this light, maybe not....there are far worse things to be thinking about and I won't be lectured.

My pet hate is cyclists who don't look over their shoulder when manouvering and slow queue jumpers...Some people will never stop annoying me about it. In fact, in simple terms, the worst road users are cyclists......get used to it! I have over the last 10 years +!

People ride on pavements (another pet hate), ride very slowly blocking up the road, only ride in fair weather - every morning I see people on bicycles without lights, any safety equipment, bikes that are falling to bits, people not bothering to watch behind them as they manouver, hopping off pavements onto the road, hopping from road to pavement, riding through pedestrian zones....RLJ is way down the list of tarnishing acts. RLJ pisses drivers off, because they are simply stuck there and then have to overtake at a later point....blah!! We also get mixed in with kids who have no road sense at all and people who ride across ped crossings....IT WILL NEVER CHANGE, CYCLISTS WILL ALWAYS BE HATED ON THE ROAD, IT HASN'T CHANGED IN 10 OR 12 YEARS THAT I HAVE BEEN DOING THIS - LIVE WITH IT!!!!

ansbaradigeidfran

gtvlusso wrote:

My pet hate is cyclists who don't look over their shoulder when manouvering and slow queue jumpers...

Is that people who queue jump slow-moving traffic, or people who queue jump in a slow manner?

tailwindhome

Littigator wrote:

Pah...you're a fish, what do you know!

That told him

gtvlusso

ansbaradigeidfran wrote:

gtvlusso wrote:

My pet hate is cyclists who don't look over their shoulder when manouvering and slow queue jumpers...

Is that people who queue jump slow-moving traffic, or people who queue jump in a slow manner?

Apologies - poor lang skills!

Slow pepole that you have scalped, who then queue jump at a light you have stopped at - then you have to overtake again.

Eat My Dust

gtvlusso wrote:

Utopia does not exist - car users will always hate anything that gets in the way (bicycles, lorries, caravans).

lol, I though you were claiming you were fast. I tend to travel at the same speed as the cars, in the centre of the road and I get plenty of respect from the cagers. There's occassionally an idiot, but then again he probably RLJs when he's out on his bike!!