Shouting at RLJers

Roastie

I am becoming more and more incensed with bleeding RLJers. They are like a cancer. The Numpty Army.

On my way back (Chelsa Embankment) last night I stopped at a light and 7 idiots flew right by in quick sucession. Cars had to take evasive action as this peloton of f*&^wits flew through. One of them nearly hit me, thankfully half-bailed onto the pavement before wobbling off through the red light.

Last week I saw two RLJers narrowly miss each other when they both jumped the lights (one early, one late). At least this provided a comedy moment for peds and other road users alike to enjoy.

This morning, another fool brushed by me to jump a light. I've become so irritated that I shouted at him. At first I thought it was daft and simply got my own blood pressure up, but the appreciative smile & nod I got from the biker at the lights did give me a warm feeling.

My problem is that I battle not to get angry. I think it is the selfishness and stupidity of it. Maybe DD is right, cyclists in general are hypocrites. We expect other road users to treat us with respect, give us space, not cut us off. We expect other road users to obey the rules of the road, we expect pedestrians to know their place - but as a whole cyclists (in general?) somehow seem to believe that they are above things like rules, using excuses like "we are just human" and "but everyone breaks the rules"!

But I don't believe that it is cyclists in general who think like this. I believe it is a stupid festering collection of selfish, blinkered twits that give the rest of us a bad name.

Last night I got chatting to a dude in his 50s who's been riding around London since he was a young 'un. He'd witnessed my near rear-ending by the RLJ peloton. His observation was simply that there are too many idiots who think their helmets make them invincible.

Wallace1492

Agree to a point. I stop at most reds, but there are a few that are a lot safer with a head start on the traffic. I am in Glasgow and commute early, so traffic is fairly light.

I RLJ when safe to do so and I am not going to cause any problems at all for traffic or peds. I am considerate, conscientious and try to be savvy when on the road, I give respect to buses and taxi's though do not get it back.

RLJ when safe to do so is fine, but there are too many that do not care, it is them that you should moan about rather than RLJ in general.

prawny

I was thinking about this the other night, at a T junction I was going stright on but hte light was red so I was slowing down, I guy coming the other way RLJ's turnin across in front of me. I thought, what would he have done if I had RLJd too. I wonder if people think of this when they go through a red? Especially somewhere like london where there are loads of cyclists.

I didn't shout though, I'm too timid :oops:

il_principe

It seems to be getting worse atm, I'm becoming less and less "zen" about it all.

Not sure there's anything we can do though.

Coriander

I agree absolutely with you and, like you, it infuriates me enormously. I've gone through phases of shouting at RLJers, but have decided to just sigh quietly instead. I do feel that ultimately their arrogance makes my life more endangered.

This thread will probably re-ignite the whole RJLing argument, which I can't bear to sit through again. But I am with you on this.

Wallace1492

As I said, I think it is simply poor cyclists than RLJ.

Done properly and safely, RLJ does not inconvenience anyone, and in fact can help in the safetly of the cyclist.

This debate should be about poor cycling manners and awareness not simply RLJ, which is a manifestatiion, be it the most obvious one, of selfishness, inconsideration and arrogance.

mapleflot

It is becoming a bit ridiculous when, as a law-abiding non-RLJer, you have to fear an idiot plowing into you from behind, or barely missing you and then shouting at you for -not- RLJing.
Many of these types will, I suspect, get into a car at first oppurtunity. Or they are late on their way to their taxi, WVM jobs in the first place. But, I don't want to generalize. :roll:

CiB

Shout at RLJers? We don't have traffic round here. I shout at cows instead.

Aidy

Meh, doesn't irritate me enough to shout at them.

I'll just wait for the light and then make a point of overtaking them.

Agent57

Wallace1492 wrote:

RLJ when safe to do so is fine

I assume you think it is also fine if I do it in my car or on my motorcycle as well then. After all, my car or motorbike will get across the junction and out of the way faster than a cyclist anyway.

bluesacs

Boring. Next topic.

Rich158

I agree RLJ seems to be rife at the moment, and it annoys me hugely, having had several near misses with fellow cyclists.

What is worse is that the more serious the cyclist, the worse they seem to get :shock: . I've noticed with my local club that they almost never obey the signals at roadworks etc, and that sends the wrong message to any newbies that happen to be out with them :twisted: I've also nearly been knocked over several times in Greenwich on ped crossings by cyclists on some serious carbon kit, and fully co-ordinated team lycra. They look incredulous that I had the nerve to try and cross at the correct time when they obviously had the right to pile through the crowds that were trying to cross the road at the correct time.

A bunch of wankers the lot of them (unless it's me doing it of course )

always_tyred

I can't imagine that there would be anything more entertaining to motorists than two cyclists having an argument about rljing. Don't bother - just don't rlj yourself.

shoulder_of_orion

Try to hold the rage down, I really don't think it helps. But I do agree with your sentiments.

However, the whole RLJ annoys me as when I talk to non-cyclists that's all they seem to harp on about.

For example, I was at my doctor's the other day and he asked me about how much exercise I was getting, so I told him I cycle commute. He then said:

"So, do you stop at the lights?"
"I stop when the light is red"
"And at pedestrian crossings"
"Yes"

What annoys me about this is its as if cyclists RLJing is the worst crime on the road. I mean, cars, lorries and buses jump red lights all the time. Drivers are on their mobiles. Drivers speed and think that it is their right to break the speed limit. I had a berk in a merc today pull out to the rightwithout indicating as I was safely (until that point) filtering to the right of the traffic.

Cyclists are most likely to hurt themselves when they RLJ. When drivers speed, use their mobile or neglect to indicate they are likely to hurt other road users (as well as themselves).

Wallace1492

Agent57 wrote:

Wallace1492 wrote:

RLJ when safe to do so is fine

I assume you think it is also fine if I do it in my car or on my motorcycle as well then. After all, my car or motorbike will get across the junction and out of the way faster than a cyclist anyway.

Not at all, you are in a vehicle, a cyclist is a glorified pedestrian. Rules of road apply to motorised vehicles, and are open to intepretation by others, RLJing on a bike is like jaywalking, i.e. acceptable when done safely and considerately.

Quite simply you have no choice in a car, you do on a bike. Hence the debate.

Dog Breath

I really cannot understand the argument that it is OK to RLJ even if you have assessed the junction and perceived it to be safe. I would guess that most of us also drive cars. What if we all decided to use the same argument when in our cars and RLJ when we thought it was OK.

One persons assessment of ‘OK’ is another’s ‘suicidal’. The end result would be anarchy on the roads as more and more people decide which rules of the road apply to them and which do not.

I drive to work and don’t see many cyclists. Those that I see RLJ make me angry as when I’m on my bike (obeying the rules of the road), other motorists will see me as RLJ-ing pavement riding nuisance.

We either obey the rules off the road and earn the respect of other road users or we continue to become marginalised.

always_tyred

Wallace1492 wrote:

Rules of road apply to motorised vehicles, and are open to intepretation by others, RLJing on a bike is like jaywalking, i.e. acceptable when done safely and considerately.

Quite simply you have no choice in a car, you do on a bike. Hence the debate.

As I recall from cycling in Glasgow, rljing is an option very much open to drivers.

What is it like on your planet, by the way - are other laws open to interpretation if you feel like it, or just traffic laws?

Coriander

Dog Breath wrote:

I really cannot understand the argument that it is OK to RLJ even if you have assessed the junction and perceived it to be safe. I would guess that most of us also drive cars. What if we all decided to use the same argument when in our cars and RLJ when we thought it was OK.

One persons assessment of ‘OK’ is another’s ‘suicidal’. The end result would be anarchy on the roads as more and more people decide which rules of the road apply to them and which do not.

I drive to work and don’t see many cyclists. Those that I see RLJ make me angry as when I’m on my bike (obeying the rules of the road), other motorists will see me as RLJ-ing pavement riding nuisance.

We either obey the rules off the road and earn the respect of other road users or we continue to become marginalised.

Bravo!

+1

singlespeedexplosif

shouting clearly doesn't work. Frame pump through front wheel might.

Dog Breath

Wallace1492 wrote:

Agent57 wrote:

Wallace1492 wrote:

RLJ when safe to do so is fine

I assume you think it is also fine if I do it in my car or on my motorcycle as well then. After all, my car or motorbike will get across the junction and out of the way faster than a cyclist anyway.

Not at all, you are in a vehicle, a cyclist is a glorified pedestrian. Rules of road apply to motorised vehicles, and are open to intepretation by others, RLJing on a bike is like jaywalking, i.e. acceptable when done safely and considerately.

Quite simply you have no choice in a car, you do on a bike. Hence the debate.

Wallace, you are talking bollox !!

Homer J

Wallace1492 wrote:

Agent57 wrote:

Wallace1492 wrote:

RLJ when safe to do so is fine

I assume you think it is also fine if I do it in my car or on my motorcycle as well then. After all, my car or motorbike will get across the junction and out of the way faster than a cyclist anyway.

Not at all, you are in a vehicle, a cyclist is a glorified pedestrian. Rules of road apply to motorised vehicles, and are open to intepretation by others, RLJing on a bike is like jaywalking, i.e. acceptable when done safely and considerately.

Quite simply you have no choice in a car, you do on a bike. Hence the debate.

What a load of tripe! Tell that to the old bill when they pull you for it

rolf_f

Wallace1492 wrote:

Not at all, you are in a vehicle, a cyclist is a glorified pedestrian. Rules of road apply to motorised vehicles, and are open to intepretation by others, RLJing on a bike is like jaywalking, i.e. acceptable when done safely and considerately.

Quite simply you have no choice in a car, you do on a bike. Hence the debate.

Oh dear :roll:

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTr ... /DG_069837 - note rule 69.
You can try to justify RLJ as much as you like but trying to re-invent the highway code to suit your personal tastes is a bit of a hopeless task.

The worst I do is cross pedestrian crossings as the light is changing (for the traffic - light still firmly red for the pedestrians) and I try not to do that either. I do that on occasion in the car as, seemingly, do most drivers so I'm not being inconsistent.

bigmat

First we get the "cyclists are hypocrites, don't be preachy", then almost straight after we get the preachiest possible debate going all over again - brilliant!

jonginge

MatHammond wrote:

First we get the "cyclists are hypocrites, don't be preachy", then almost straight after we get the preachiest possible debate going all over again - brilliant!

Cosmic balance re-aligned. We rock!

il_principe

Can we stay on topic for once please? We're talking about shouting at RLJers not RLJing itself. We've done this topic to death FFS.

Wallace1492

Dog Breath wrote:

Wallace1492 wrote:

Agent57 wrote:

Wallace1492 wrote:

RLJ when safe to do so is fine

I assume you think it is also fine if I do it in my car or on my motorcycle as well then. After all, my car or motorbike will get across the junction and out of the way faster than a cyclist anyway.

Not at all, you are in a vehicle, a cyclist is a glorified pedestrian. Rules of road apply to motorised vehicles, and are open to intepretation by others, RLJing on a bike is like jaywalking, i.e. acceptable when done safely and considerately.

Quite simply you have no choice in a car, you do on a bike. Hence the debate.

Wallace, you are talking bollox !!

In what way? Motorised vehicles will be stopped by cops for jumping red lights. Cyclists will not, neither will peds that cross on the red man. It is very subjective. There are penalties for vehicle drivers are there not? Not so for cyclists or peds, hence no talking bollox here.

il_principe

Wallace1492 wrote:

Dog Breath wrote:

Wallace1492 wrote:

Agent57 wrote:

Wallace1492 wrote:

RLJ when safe to do so is fine

I assume you think it is also fine if I do it in my car or on my motorcycle as well then. After all, my car or motorbike will get across the junction and out of the way faster than a cyclist anyway.

Not at all, you are in a vehicle, a cyclist is a glorified pedestrian. Rules of road apply to motorised vehicles, and are open to intepretation by others, RLJing on a bike is like jaywalking, i.e. acceptable when done safely and considerately.

Quite simply you have no choice in a car, you do on a bike. Hence the debate.

Wallace, you are talking bollox !!

In what way? Motorised vehicles will be stopped by cops for jumping red lights. Cyclists will not, neither will peds that cross on the red man. It is very subjective. There are penalties for vehicle drivers are there not? Not so for cyclists or peds, hence no talking bollox here.

Try cycling in London Wallace, coppers regularly clampdown on RLJing cyclists.

owenlars

Wallace

You're talking bolloc*s and you know it

jonginge

Wallace1492 wrote:

In what way? Motorised vehicles will be stopped by cops for jumping red lights. Cyclists will not, neither will peds that cross on the red man. It is very subjective. There are penalties for vehicle drivers are there not? Not so for cyclists or peds, hence no talking bollox here.

Where do you cycle? In london it is exactly the reverse of the situation you describe. Only ever seen cyclists stopped for RLJing, never a motorist (though, i'm sure this must also happen occasionally).

rolf_f

Wallace1492 wrote:

It is very subjective.

Real Highway Code not the one made up in Wallace1492 head wrote:

Rule 69
You MUST obey all traffic signs and traffic light signals.

In what way can the above be interpreted as subjective?

As for back on topic - not so many cyclists to RLJ here so opportunities to shout limited. One passed me a few weeks ago and I passed him going on to the next light where he slotted in behind me. I looked over my shoulder to give him a mild rebuke but he gave me a friendly smile and I couldn't bring myself to have a go at him!! Hopefully me passing him made the point anyway!

Aidy

Il Principe wrote:

Can we stay on topic for once please? We're talking about shouting at RLJers not RLJing itself. We've done this topic to death FFS.

Yeah, seriously.
I'm entirely bored of this subject. It's just the same arguments going around and around again.