Gotta Laugh

Wallace1492

I am a lapsed RLJ'er. I used to, but don't anymore. However, I may just slightly anticipate lights changing and get sorted for a quick take off.

This morning in Glasgow City Centre, I started pedalling as the light changed, having clipped in as light was red, it has just changed from the pedestrian green man. A huge overweight lumbering thing wearing a bright yellow high viz tent was still wheezing accross the road as I started off. I passed close to him, but gave him enough room. Just at this point, he shuffled round, as he could not actually turn his girth to face in the other direction and shouted at me "do you always go through red lights?" I pointed to the light in from and told him that it was in fact green. I did question if he had actually taked two Pedestrian Green's to cross the road, and the lights did eventually change, maybe, horror of horrors before he made it across.

So, point is, even though I no longer jump red lights, I get shouted at as if I do. Secondary, in area's of morbid obesity do we need longer green men for the lumbering pedestrians?

(Just to clarify, I only ever jump pedestrian crossing that are at red, and then only when there is nobody about - why do they go red?)

suzyb

Don't you know about the large number of invisible people living in this country. You (don't) see them all the time, making ped crossing change and driving their invisible cars on the motorway so all the other cars have to use the midde lane to overtake.

amnezia

As soon as someone has started crossing, they have right of way, I would have waited. Are you really in that much of a rush? :roll:

cee

hey wallace...yip..technically, you should have waited until they got both feet off the road and onto the path at the other side....no matter if the light was flashing amber or green.

Clever Pun

I'll always go behind them even in this case if it's a mile detour

suzyb

According to my driving instructor you don't need to wait until they are off the road, just off the crossing (and out of your way obviously).

When I was learning to drive there was a crossing where people heading downhill would cut the corner because if was shorter the crossing then heading down. And I remember being stopped at the crossing (in the right lane), the lights change to flashing amber but I sit because the pedestrians are still crossing the left lane. However my instructor tells me to go because the people have actually stepped off the crossing.

Zachariah

Have to agree with Amnezia, zooming off while the lights are flashing and a pedestrian is still crossing is inconsiderate and rude. Would you do it if you were in a car? Does it matter what weight the pedestrian is?

Wallace1492

Zachariah wrote:

Have to agree with Amnezia, zooming off while the lights are flashing and a pedestrian is still crossing is inconsiderate and rude. Would you do it if you were in a car? Does it matter what weight the pedestrian is?

It was not a pedestrian crossing, but normal lights on a crossroads. The pedestrain indicator had gone red, and I only crossed the white line as the red turned to amber. I gave the guy plenty of room - he certainly needed it - and did not invade his personal space (which was huge) or, in my opinion, put any sort of fear into him. In fact if I had somehow crashed into hin, I doubt much if he would have felt anything. In fact, I was lucky not to be drawn into his small gravity field.....

The point I was making is that as a reformed RLJ'r it is ironic that I was shouted at for RLJing when I didn't!

Gypsum_Fantastic

Wallace1492 wrote:

A huge overweight lumbering thing wearing a bright yellow high viz tent was still wheezing accross the road as I started off

I believe the protocol is to treat these things as roundabouts and give way to traffic approaching from your right

I had a similar experience the other morning when one of these behemoths lumbered off a kerb directly into my path and then had the nerve to yell at me for bein in its way! Tubby learned some new swearwords that morning.

greg66_tri_v2.0

Similar thing this morning. Traffic lights at a junction, with a ped crossing. Four lanes wide. I get there for the red. There's a bloke on the island, looking at the lights - I assume he's staring at the green man, and watches it become a red man.

Our lights go red & amber. He's still watching. Then our lights go green. But - no more than a 1/10 second before that, he's decided to cross. He doesn't run, so much as scuttle, bent over, with one hand firmly in his jacket pocket and the other holding his rucksack strap.

I was on the side of the road which meant that he was across my line first, but really, what on earth was going through his mind? Do these people not realise that (a) they p!ss off four lanes of traffic doing stuff like this, and (b) a motor cycle courier filtering fast towards what he sees as clear green will wipe them out in a heartbeat?

It's not as if this is unusual, either. There's a sub-set of mongs who seem to think red & amber is when they should start to think about crossing the road.

Bassjunkieuk

Greg66 wrote:

It's not as if this is unusual, either. There's a sub-set of mongs who seem to think red & amber is when they should start to think about crossing the road.

You should try Kingsway heading south of on evening, get to by Holborn (?) tube and the peds there are suicidal in their need to cross the road, regardless of if they've got a motorcycle with horn blaring bearing down on them!

I appreciate the pedestrians will have right of way when they are crossing the road, but crossing on a red man (assuming they use a crossing and not just step out blindly from the kerb) is surely the same as a cyclist RLJing?

suzyb

Wallace1492 wrote:

Zachariah wrote:

Have to agree with Amnezia, zooming off while the lights are flashing and a pedestrian is still crossing is inconsiderate and rude. Would you do it if you were in a car? Does it matter what weight the pedestrian is?

It was not a pedestrian crossing, but normal lights on a crossroads. The pedestrain indicator had gone red, and I only crossed the white line as the red turned to amber. I gave the guy plenty of room - he certainly needed it - and did not invade his personal space (which was huge) or, in my opinion, put any sort of fear into him. In fact if I had somehow crashed into hin, I doubt much if he would have felt anything. In fact, I was lucky not to be drawn into his small gravity field.....

The point I was making is that as a reformed RLJ'r it is ironic that I was shouted at for RLJing when I didn't!

We got the guy was large (and your distaste about that) from the first post. Do you really need to keep making fun of him

Wallace1492

suzyb wrote:

Wallace1492 wrote:

Zachariah wrote:

Have to agree with Amnezia, zooming off while the lights are flashing and a pedestrian is still crossing is inconsiderate and rude. Would you do it if you were in a car? Does it matter what weight the pedestrian is?

It was not a pedestrian crossing, but normal lights on a crossroads. The pedestrain indicator had gone red, and I only crossed the white line as the red turned to amber. I gave the guy plenty of room - he certainly needed it - and did not invade his personal space (which was huge) or, in my opinion, put any sort of fear into him. In fact if I had somehow crashed into hin, I doubt much if he would have felt anything. In fact, I was lucky not to be drawn into his small gravity field.....

The point I was making is that as a reformed RLJ'r it is ironic that I was shouted at for RLJing when I didn't!

We got the guy was large (and your distaste about that) from the first post. Do you really need to keep making fun of him

It was his attitude that annoyed me.

lost_in_thought

Yeah, I am also a reformed (although for some years now) RLJ-er, quite some time ago, perhaps last year, I stopped at a red on Uxbridge road in SheBu, and a bus pulled up alongside me, opened the window hatch thing, and said 'why don't you just go through the lights?' I replied that that was illegal, and his response was 'well all the other cyclists do it'.

To be fair, in that particular area of London he's right, but still I thought it was a bit daft.

Oh and yeah, I skirt round late starter peds behind them, just every so often they'll ruin my carefully plotted trajectory by stopping to let me pass in front of them, which I have never really found a solution for. If I shout and wave they just look scared, so I try to detour further to get round them. This often results in them moving backwards...

*sigh*

lastant

lost_in_thought wrote:

... just every so often they'll ruin my carefully plotted trajectory by stopping to let me pass in front of them, which I have never really found a solution for

It's like that awkward 'dance' you end up doing on a far too regular basis on pavements and in shop aisles. Only this one's got the potential of being far more embarrassing as you have to keep moving else fall off the bike having subconsciously already clipped in...

suzyb

Wallace1492 wrote:

suzyb wrote:

Wallace1492 wrote:

Zachariah wrote:

Have to agree with Amnezia, zooming off while the lights are flashing and a pedestrian is still crossing is inconsiderate and rude. Would you do it if you were in a car? Does it matter what weight the pedestrian is?

It was not a pedestrian crossing, but normal lights on a crossroads. The pedestrain indicator had gone red, and I only crossed the white line as the red turned to amber. I gave the guy plenty of room - he certainly needed it - and did not invade his personal space (which was huge) or, in my opinion, put any sort of fear into him. In fact if I had somehow crashed into hin, I doubt much if he would have felt anything. In fact, I was lucky not to be drawn into his small gravity field.....

The point I was making is that as a reformed RLJ'r it is ironic that I was shouted at for RLJing when I didn't!

We got the guy was large (and your distaste about that) from the first post. Do you really need to keep making fun of him

It was his attitude that annoyed me.

I know, I was probably being a bit over-sensitive