Ignorant $@&%£

amaferanga

So for the last couple of weeks there have been some temporary lights on my commute. Its about 200m from one end to the other on a slight incline. On the way home is fine as its downhill for me. On the way to work (uphill) I'm fine if I pass through the lights soon after they go green AND provided there are cars behind. If there are no cars behind me and there are cars waiting at the other end then the lights go to red as soon as I pass (this I discovered today). Problem....

This morning I passed through, lights on my side straight away went to red and I figured I probably wasn't going to get to the other end before they went green. As it turns out I was only about 20m from the end when they went green. I kept going as I was in full view of the traffic (cateye + fenix torch + flouro jacket so it'd be hard to miss me), but instead of waiting just a few seconds the cars start coming. Basically the first car drove straight at me forcing me to stop by the side of the road. The following cars skimmed past me with every other driver trying to point something out to me (along the lines of 'you should be across there, behind the cones in the road works so you don't get in my way').

What should I have done? What does the law have to say on this? Obviously I have priority or right of way, right?

I'd decided to not swear at anyone on my commute in this morning and I was doing well until this.....

iain_j

Happened to me too in the past. Correct me if i'm wrong but doesn't a green light mean "proceed if safe to do so" not "proceed regardless"?

Ignorant idiots. They probably wouldn't understand if you tried to explain the problem. A few weeks on a bike (while the roadworks are still on) might make them realise.

tarquin_foxglove

Has happened to me in the past and I made them wait. I rode in the middle of the lane so they didn't think they could squeeze past and the cars had to sit by the green light waiting for me.

As I exited the cones the first car waiting to go in got a friendly wave & smile from me despite him sounding his horn and to my surprise I got a friendly wave back.

amaferanga

I'm a fairly assertive cyclist and generally hold my ground, but in this case I had no choice but to yield as I think this person would just have driven into me and blamed me cos his light was green and therefore I must have gone through a red light!

I find myself becoming increasingly angry on my ride to work, hence why I'd decided to try not to swear for a whole week, but the blatant disregard for cyclists safety just makes me so mad :evil: :evil: :evil:

Crapaud

amaferanga wrote:

... This morning I passed through, lights on my side straight away went to red and I figured I probably wasn't going to get to the other end before they went green. As it turns out I was only about 20m from the end when they went green. I kept going as I was in full view of the traffic (cateye + fenix torch + flouro jacket so it'd be hard to miss me), but instead of waiting just a few seconds the cars start coming. Basically the first car drove straight at me forcing me to stop by the side of the road. The following cars skimmed past me with every other driver trying to point something out to me (along the lines of 'you should be across there, behind the cones in the road works so you don't get in my way'). ...

I used to do that - cycle behind the cones - as it seemed safer. Then, one day, a digger had dug a trench, 1 1/2 feet wide by 3 feet deep, across my path. I didn't see it in the dark and the first I was aware of it was when I was suddenly airborne, and then, just as suddenly wasn't. I landed on my back, winded, going through that just-blown-up-Terminator checklist, with traffic shooting by around 2 feet from my head (no one stopped to see if I was OK). I'm inclined, now, to stay in the correct lane and just make them wait. If they don't like it, tough!

Alternatively, if I don't think I'll make it to the other end, I'll wait for the next cycle of the lights and hare off as soon as they're in my favour (with a trail of angry traffic behind me - sometimes you just can't win).

squeeler

Similar situation for me on my commute at the moment, I either don't have time to get past the roadworks before the cars start coming at me from the front or I end up holding up a whole line of cars behind me. I just get behind the cones to get out of the way, I will pay extra attention for trenches from now on though!

always_tyred

The drivers should wait.

However the construction workers who set up the lights should set the duration so as to be safe for all road users.

I've successfully had lights adjusted for this reason. For the most part, I've found that asking nicely works (for this sort of thing and lights permanently on red and so forth).

I once asked the workers at a site to do this and my request was refused because they didn't want to inconvenience motorists (they also invited me to XXXX-off before they made me XXXX-off), so I called the local police about being threatened with a JCB, and the original road safety issue, and they sorted it for me. :twisted:

El Gordo

A few months back there were some temp lights on a 1:7 hill on my commute. Even if I went through at the start of the green I couldn't make it to the other end before they changed. Taking up the whole lane and not given the oncoming cars an option seemed to work though although I was probably lucky to only encounter friendly drivers.

The workers may not be very receptive to requests to change the timing but you could ring or write to the contractor. There's usually a sign up saying who's doing the work and the managers are generally quite keen on not having accidents on their sites.

MrChuck

Sounds like you did about as well as could be expected there. It is your right of way and drivers should wait for you but if they decide not to there's not too much you can do about it except make sure you don't get flattened.

mrchrispy

take the lane and make the feckers wait....i seriously doubt someone would drive into you.

amaferanga

Perhaps not, but it would have resulted in a face off and to be honest I'm doing my best to avoid confrontation now as most drivers seem to turn deaf and/or blind if you try to reason with them. This morning I decided to just jump the red light and get part of the way up while the lights were briefly red at both ends. Quite possibly the 2nd or 3rd red light I've jumped ever, but in this case I think its easily justified. At least I made it through safely and without confrontation....

I meant to get the name and number of the contractor as I passed, but completely forgot.

redvee

I'd go through the roadworkds in the middle of the lane and angle one of the lights up a little for the duration of the roadworks so that it is more in their face.

cee

I agree that green is proceed if safe to do so.....

I agree that the lights should be altered to allow time for traffic to clear the roadworks before the other direction goes green.

I can almost see the car drivers perspective though....they have a green light and can't go because someone (in a car, on a bike, walking, on a bouncy hopper, whatever) is coming toward them.....

Yes they should wait...if it was a a car they probably wouldn't question it. But I see this as poorly set up lights, causing an issue of safety not only for cyclists, but also for car drivers as well.