Chasing down "offenders"

kipper1972

Now I've been a bike commuter in London for 8 years now and only recently have I taken real umbridge with other cyclists' behaviour.

Recently I was coming into town through the old kent road and tower bridge road when a mountain biker chappie kept overtaking me - jumping lights and then I'd catch up with him again, pass him, only for him to repeat that trick.

The biscuit was taken when he flew up the inside of traffic on the path, not an amble, not a walking pace in case ladies stepped out of Sainsbury but a good 15-20 mph.

I managed to catch up with said clown on the middle of Tower Bridge, nice public setting :-) and gave him some disdainful words - and went on my merry way. Happily he sat at the red light ASL on the north side of the bridge with the rest of us like a good boy.

I've not been interventionist before, but this i think is the start of a new me.

That being said, another clown who *almost* knocked me off while i waited at red lights on monday was just too damn fast to catch - and I did not fancy those words being said in the peckham backstreets!

Anyone else feel compelled to keep the manners of the cycling public in check?

Wise thing to do?

jonny_trousers

kipper1972 wrote:

Anyone else feel compelled to keep the manners of the cycling public in check?

Wise thing to do?

I don't think I would have a word unless someone was endangering me or someone I cared about. Apart from the fact that you never know what kind of a reaction you are going to get (people in London can get defensive and aggressive far too easily), I've never been much of a fan of people being busy bodies. On occasion I will ride through a red light if it makes things safer for me or anyone else on the road and I wouldn't take kindly to someone (other than a policeman) telling me off for doing so. That's not to say that the bloke you had issue with was not being a complete tool, however.

Forgive me, but I cannot resist...

Buckled_Rims

I don't say a word. So long as they don't pose a threat to me!

Cyclists should be careful in traffic. It's their life and if they think a few seconds is worth the risk then let them, I'm not going to be their cycling nanny.

Clever Pun

Umbridge.. excellent word that

Anyway I'll have a word if they're likely to endanger themselves or others around them... just a little "that wasn't very clever"
"don't cycle on pavements it makes us all look like tw@ts"
"it's better if you stop at lights where you can actually see the lights didn't save you any time did it?"
etc

Ginjafro

Yeah, but its nob heads like the "other Cyclist" that gives us all a bad name whether we like it or not. I'm all for not giving the Daily Mail reading misery guts any excuse for slagging cyclists off....so behave!

davmaggs

I've told people off in non-cycling situations, but on the roads I find that I don't get the chance.

Case in point, an idiot scattered some pensioners RLJing about 2 weeks ago. I really wanted a word, but every time I got near he RLJ'd again. I thought that this occasion merited it as it wasn't just a minor annoyance.

I need Judge Dredd powers.

il_principe

Clever Pun wrote:

Umbridge.. excellent word that

Not as good as 'umbrage' though...

I used to have words. Now I just scalp the offenders, repeatedly if necessary. As I did this am in fact, to 2 roadie tw@ts. They should be f@cking ashamed frankly as I've only been back on the bike since Monday following a 3 week layoff. RLJ'ing pansies.

ilm_zero7

kipper1972
excellent. may you ride, far and fast abusing the cyclists who give the majority such a bad name

milan_ns

IMO it's OK to RLJ as long as you do not cause ANY inconvenience to other road users (inc pedestrians) and are being careful about it.

In C London, even TFL buses RLJ (they often pass after lights turn red e.g. busy cross-road near Bank station).

nich

Clever Pun wrote:

"it's better if you stop at lights where you can actually see the lights didn't save you any time did it?"

This is starting to annoy me so much lately!

a) They often don't have another set of lights ahead so can't tell when it changes
b) They are usually slow off the mark and everyone either bunches up behind them until they get some speed up, or manoeuvre around them - which is more dangerous when drivers are behind us all!

grumble

s1lko

I pull RLJ'ers up regularly in central London. Mind you, Ithe uniform helps. Seeing the impatience on their face as you keep them by the roadside is more effective than any fines. That and the cheers from law-abiding cyclists as they ride by.

As a cyclist myself, it is a major irritation. All too often it's people like me who have to pick up the pieces at the car/bus/lorry vs cyclist, or cyclist vs pedestrian collisions. I cringe whenever I can see it's the cyclist at fault. I cringe even more when I hear their life pronounced extinct...

No amount of time savings or average speed is worth that much

prj45

s1lko wrote:

I pull RLJ'ers up regularly in central London. Mind you, Ithe uniform helps.

Can you concentrate on people in motorised vehicles using mobiles phones/eating/ drinking/smoking instead please?

If I had powers of arrest I'd be bringing in about 15 a day on my two hour trip across London and back.

Spoken as a cyclist who's never gone through a red light (except under police instruction).

jonny_trousers

prj45 wrote:

s1lko wrote:

I pull RLJ'ers up regularly in central London. Mind you, Ithe uniform helps.

Can you concentrate on people in motorised vehicles using mobiles phones/eating/ drinking/smoking instead please?

If I had powers of arrest I'd be bringing in about 15 a day on my two hour trip across London and back.

Spoken as a cyclist who's never gone through a red light (except under police instruction).

Well said that man!

s1lko

prj45 wrote:

s1lko wrote:

I pull RLJ'ers up regularly in central London. Mind you, Ithe uniform helps.

Can you concentrate on people in motorised vehicles using mobiles phones/eating/ drinking/smoking instead please?

Don't worry, I do. Kamikaze pedestrians too...

Mind you, you'd be surprised how many cyclists text on the move. Although the last one I saw very nearly slammed into a National Express coach, having ridden right through a red light.

Don't get me wrong, I'm pro-cycling.

prj45

s1lko wrote:

Don't get me wrong, I'm pro-cycling.

I understand. I've not got too much of a problem with people on bikes getting pulled for jumping red lights, but how many people do they KSI compared to motorised vehicles running red lights?

Seems a bit upside down to me.

cjcp

I do get a little miffed when a member of Chod Squad CC rolls ahead of the lights and then crawls - I mean, is literally geting blown along with the prevailing wind - down the bike lane when there's a queue of traffic.

Like on the NKR, for example.

milan_ns

s1lko wrote:

I pull RLJ'ers up regularly in central London. Mind you, Ithe uniform helps. Seeing the impatience on their face as you keep them by the roadside is more effective than any fines. That and the cheers from law-abiding cyclists as they ride by.

I like your enthusiasm. If you can spare some, can you please sort out kamikaze pedestrians crossing Tooley St and King William St ?

I have seen plenty of cyclists pulled over for RLJ, but interestingly, I have never seen a pedestrian stopped.

If the police were to start charging pedestrians a standard £30 RLJ penalty, country's budget deficit would likely disappear.

prj45

milan_ns wrote:

I have seen plenty of cyclists pulled over for RLJ, but interestingly, I have never seen a pedestrian stopped.

Er, that's because jumping a red light is illegal, and crossing the road is not.

nyanza

I don't say a word. So long as they don't pose a threat to me!

but they do pose an indirect threat to you - they wind up the general public who become so tetchy about cyclists as to make the life of a law-abiding one an absolute misery.

The Rookie

On a similar vein, stopped in a queue of traffic yesterday at a red light (in my car) with the front car clearly in the cycle box (ASL junction) plod on his MTB cycles up to the front and says/does NOTHING.

What a waste of time.

Simon

itsbruce

prj45 wrote:

Can you concentrate on people in motorised vehicles using mobiles phones/eating/ drinking/smoking instead please?

milan_ns wrote:

If the police were to start charging pedestrians a standard £30 RLJ penalty, country's budget deficit would likely disappear.

The Beginner wrote:

On a similar vein, stopped in a queue of traffic yesterday at a red light (in my car) with the front car clearly in the cycle box (ASL junction) plod on his MTB cycles up to the front and says/does NOTHING.

It really isn't useful, when a genuinely aggravating problem behaviour of a section of our community is raised, to start pointing the finger at others. It sounds as if you are making excuses for the RLJers. Why would you want to do that?

nyanza wrote:

I don't say a word. So long as they don't pose a threat to me!

but they do pose an indirect threat to you - they wind up the general public who become so tetchy about cyclists as to make the life of a law-abiding one an absolute misery.

This.

WesternWay

s1lko wrote:

I pull RLJ'ers up regularly in central London. Mind you, Ithe uniform helps. Seeing the impatience on their face as you keep them by the roadside is more effective than any fines. That and the cheers from law-abiding cyclists as they ride by.

Well done that man. I work by bank and more people seem to jump than stop

scrumpydave

Clever Pun wrote:

Umbridge.. excellent word that

Isn't that where The Archers is set?

gaz545

I spoke to someone yesterday about there behaviour on there bike, jumping red lights, filting quickily up the inside of traffic, filtering on the right and then cutting across to the left as the lights change green to take a left turn. And what was on the back of there bike? a small child. Absoulutly disgraceful behaviour imo!

zrazzle

@Gaz - your videos are brilliant. For a newbie London cyclist like me they are VERY useful! Good stuff.

biondino

I had a word this morning. A dude on a MTB veered across the lane when I was coming up alongside him. Fair enough, I thought, so hung back a bit, but it wasn't at all clear what he was doing. He then sways in mid-lane before veering further over, into the middle lane, making me brake - didn't bother looking for cars, let alone me - and I ask him to tell me where he's going. No reaction. He then overtakes a car in the left lane and swings back in front of it - still staring straight ahead and causing the car to brake.

Although the above looks fairly mundane, the way he did it, which doesn't really come across was a mixture of selfishness and idiocy that it really wound me up and as I cycled past him I said "let's not ride like a c***, eh", to which he growled/spat "f*** off" - woke him up, I guess.

prj45

itsbruce wrote:

It really isn't useful, when a genuinely aggravating problem behaviour of a section of our community is raised, to start pointing the finger at others. It sounds as if you are making excuses for the RLJers. Why would you want to do that?

Talk about missing the point.

Right, let's imagine you're a policeman.

You can stand on a street corner all day nicking cyclist jumping red lights.

Or be out looking for drivers using mobile phones whilst driving their cars.

Which would you prioritise?

All I'm asking is for some perspective.

It's like the commenters on the mail/standard websites etc... who say things like :

Cyclists, they don’t deserve the (cycle super]highways & they are more dangerous on the road than cars.

- James, London, 13/05/2010 17:31

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/ ... ighways.do

A total lack of perspective, and in my book asking police officers to spend time booking cyclist for red light jumping rather than vehicle misuse is again, a total lack of perspective.

Petethebogmonster

Re the OP. Chances are you'll only get some moronic reply, or possibly violence in the worst case scenario. I am now on a mission to ignore the general incompetance/ignorance displayed by a large number of cyclists using the roads/pavements, unless said cyclists are in my care, instruction or I inadvertantly punch them in the face whilst they try overtaking on the inside as I'm signalling left (gutted I didn't actually make contact with the idiot who scared the c**p out of me!).
Enjoy your ride and try to keep safe, use your skills to your advantage, keep smiling

itsbruce

prj45 wrote:

A total lack of perspective, and in my book asking police officers to spend time booking cyclist for red light jumping rather than vehicle misuse is again, a total lack of perspective.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2 ... red-lights

litwardle

If I was a big bloke then i'd feel a bit more confident. I did blast my airound at a group of chavs that thought it may be fun to not move a out of my way on a cyclepath (head the bell but just laughed at me) They soon scattered though! haha!

I live in North Devon and ther are always scores of people riding on the pavements. They usually hop off the road at the lights then back on after. Cycling at night without lights wind me up. If i'm out in the car I will always stop and "give advice" although I did see a police car drive past an offender the other day. Maybe he didn't see him!

As far as cyclists moaning at drivers using mibile phones etc. yes it's dangerous but unless they endangered me I wouldn't say anything.

Lee

prj45

itsbruce wrote:

prj45 wrote:

A total lack of perspective, and in my book asking police officers to spend time booking cyclist for red light jumping rather than vehicle misuse is again, a total lack of perspective.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2 ... red-lights

Yup. Local neighbourhood ward forums have a lot to answer for.

I pulled up at the lights outside Holland Park a few weeks back; two coppers there. Five or six cyclists queued up behind me, I said to coppers, "I bet you think all cyclist stop at red lights" knowing full well I'd probably be the only one that would've stopped had there been no police presence.

"It's our number one priority given to us by the residents" one said. Sarcastically I think.

I mean, there can't be a lot going on in K&C right if cyclists riding over a stop line is the police's number one priority?