Red lights

PolyphonicBoy
PolyphonicBoy Posts: 68
edited April 2011 in Commuting chat
I've started commuting by bike this week. Just wanted to gage the etiquette on red lights.

I obviously stop at red lights, but if there's a green man, all pedestrians have crossed, and I know my road is about to go green, I'll cross the junction.

Having done just that this morning, another cyclist shouted "Red light mate!" at me.

So I understand I'm probably braking the highway code, but I'm I going to be looked down upon by other cyclists? Am I giving cyclists a bad name? Or was this guy just pissed I'd overtaken him a while back?

What do you guys do at red lights?
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Comments

  • pianoleo
    pianoleo Posts: 135
    You'd be giving cyclists a bad name and breaking the law by crossing a junction before the green light. In 99.9% of cases (certainly including the one you've just mentioned) that's the end of it.
  • EKE_38BPM
    EKE_38BPM Posts: 5,821
    You know its wrong, otherwise you wouldn't have asked us for absolution.

    However, if there is absolutely no-one around (cars, peds, cyclists), who is there to say you did jump a red light?

    If a tree falls in the woods and all that.
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  • tailwindhome
    tailwindhome Posts: 19,451
    Nodders
    Hi Viz
    Helmets

    and now Red Lights all on the first page

    Excellent work!
    “New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!
  • pianoleo
    pianoleo Posts: 135
    Ah but there wasn't no-one else around, was there? :wink:
  • asprilla
    asprilla Posts: 8,440
    At a ped crossing, if there is no-one in the road you can go on amber. If it's a junction you can go on green.

    Simple.
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  • Pufftmw
    Pufftmw Posts: 1,941
    PolyphonicBoy wrote:

    What do you guys do at red lights?

    STOP
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  • DonDaddyD
    DonDaddyD Posts: 12,689
    Pufftmw wrote:
    PolyphonicBoy wrote:

    What do you guys do at red lights?

    STOP

    Brilliant!
    Food Chain number = 4

    A true scalp is not only overtaking someone but leaving them stopped at a set of lights. As you, who have clearly beaten the lights, pummels nothing but the open air ahead. ~ 'DondaddyD'. Player of the Unspoken Game
  • PolyphonicBoy
    PolyphonicBoy Posts: 68
    EKE_38BPM wrote:
    You know its wrong, otherwise you wouldn't have asked us for absolution.

    Hmm. That's exactly what I wasn't doing! :lol:

    I'm by no means defending my actions or saying I'm right. I'm new to commuting and wanted to know if this is a big no-no.
  • gtvlusso
    gtvlusso Posts: 5,112
    Nodder....

    I don't really give a damn if you are hit by a car when jumping a light, your problem....
  • Wallace1492
    Wallace1492 Posts: 3,707
    Red Light Means Danger..... Can't hold out much longer...
    Cos red light means warning.
    Cant hold out i'm burning.....

    You took my heart and turned me on
    And now the danger sign is on

    Never thought the day would come
    When I would feel alone without you
    An' now I'm like a child again
    Calling out his mama's name.......
    "Encyclopaedia is a fetish for very small bicycles"
  • bails87
    bails87 Posts: 12,998
    Pufftmw wrote:
    PolyphonicBoy wrote:

    What do you guys do at red lights?

    STOP
    Hammertime
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    MTB/CX

    "As I said last time, it won't happen again."
  • greg66_tri_v2.0
    greg66_tri_v2.0 Posts: 7,172
    PolyphonicBoy wrote:
    EKE_38BPM wrote:
    You know its wrong, otherwise you wouldn't have asked us for absolution.

    Hmm. That's exactly what I wasn't doing! :lol:

    I'm by no means defending my actions or saying I'm right. I'm new to commuting and wanted to know if this is a big no-no.

    Look at it this way. If you had just started commuting by car, you'd consider what you did a big no-no, right?

    Same rules on a bike...
    Swim. Bike. Run. Yeah. That's what I used to do.

    Bike 1
    Bike 2-A
  • DonDaddyD
    DonDaddyD Posts: 12,689
    OK here's a humdinger.

    You're approaching a red light. You stop. Everyone who is likely to cross has crossed. The crossing is clear. The light is still red. 7seconds go by you think about sex. More time goes by. You take a sip of water from the water bottle, fiddle with the nipple that lets you sip the water you do this a bit too many times and start thinking about what you've done. The light is still red. You attempt to put the water bottle back into the cage fluff it up completely and then have to look down to see where you are sliding it in. This in itself takes you back to the 7 seconds. The light is still red.

    If after that the light is still red - as is the case with thr lights on Kennington road just after Oval tube and before Kennington tube - can you then jump the red light and is it OK?
    Food Chain number = 4

    A true scalp is not only overtaking someone but leaving them stopped at a set of lights. As you, who have clearly beaten the lights, pummels nothing but the open air ahead. ~ 'DondaddyD'. Player of the Unspoken Game
  • sketchley
    sketchley Posts: 4,238
    TailWindHome wrote:
    Nodders
    Hi Viz
    Helmets

    and now Red Lights all on the first page

    Excellent work!

    All we need now is insurance, licencing and pavement cycling and we'lll have the full set.
    --
    Chris

    Genesis Equilibrium - FCN 3/4/5
  • Kieran_Burns
    Kieran_Burns Posts: 9,757
    edited April 2011
    Sketchley wrote:
    TailWindHome wrote:
    Nodders
    Hi Viz
    Helmets

    and now Red Lights all on the first page

    Excellent work!

    All we need now is insurance, licencing and pavement cycling and we'lll have the full set.

    You forgot Road Tax
    Chunky Cyclists need your love too! :-)
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  • greg66_tri_v2.0
    greg66_tri_v2.0 Posts: 7,172
    DonDaddyD wrote:
    OK here's a humdinger.

    You're approaching a red light. You stop. Everyone who is likely to cross has crossed. The crossing is clear. The light is still red. 7seconds go by you think about sex. More time goes by. You take a sip of water from the water bottle, fiddle with the nipple that lets you sip the water you do this a bit too many times and start thinking about what you've done. The light is still red. You attempt to put the water bottle back into the cage fluff it up completely and then have to look down to see where you are sliding it in. This in itself takes you back to the 7 seconds. The light is still red.

    If after that the light is still red - as is the case with thr lights on Kennington road just after Oval tube and before Kennington tube - can you then jump the red light and is it OK?

    No. You still have to adjust your bag, rearrange the boys (twice) and lift the back end of the bike with the foot that is still clipped in to spin the rear wheel for no good reason.

    Only then, if the light is still red, can you go.

    It's in Cycling Proficiency (Advanced).
    Swim. Bike. Run. Yeah. That's what I used to do.

    Bike 1
    Bike 2-A
  • sketchley
    sketchley Posts: 4,238
    edited April 2011
    DonDaddyD wrote:
    ....If after that the light is still red - as is the case with thr lights on Kennington road just after Oval tube and before Kennington tube - can you then jump the red light and is it OK?

    Are you talking about big Junction, left turn to Kennington Road / Waterloo, straight on to Kennington Lane / E&C?

    If so and you're intent on going straight on but the light is red, you can turn left, do a U turn, then turn left and carry. Green all the way :D
    --
    Chris

    Genesis Equilibrium - FCN 3/4/5
  • PolyphonicBoy
    PolyphonicBoy Posts: 68
    Sketchley wrote:
    TailWindHome wrote:
    Nodders
    Hi Viz
    Helmets

    and now Red Lights all on the first page

    Excellent work!

    All we need now is insurance, licencing and pavement cycling and we'lll have the full set.

    Well, how about writing a good FAQ thread which can be sticky-ed to the top of the forum and save us noobs bothering you?
  • shouldbeinbed
    shouldbeinbed Posts: 2,660
    Kieran_Burns wrote:
    Sketchley wrote:
    TailWindHome wrote:
    Nodders
    Hi Viz
    Helmets

    and now Red Lights all on the first page

    Excellent work!

    All we need now is insurance, licencing and pavement cycling and we'lll have the full set.

    You forgot Road Tax

    and a mandatory driving test for cyclists
  • sketchley
    sketchley Posts: 4,238
    PolyphonicBoy wrote:
    Sketchley wrote:
    TailWindHome wrote:
    Nodders
    Hi Viz
    Helmets

    and now Red Lights all on the first page

    Excellent work!

    All we need now is insurance, licencing and pavement cycling and we'lll have the full set.

    Well, how about writing a good FAQ thread which can be sticky-ed to the top of the forum and save us noobs bothering you?

    A link to the highway code might do the job.....
    --
    Chris

    Genesis Equilibrium - FCN 3/4/5
  • Clank
    Clank Posts: 2,323
    EKE_38BPM wrote:
    If a tree falls in the woods and all that.

    Yeah, it still sounds like a dozen screaming squirrels. :lol:
    How would I write my own epitaph? With a crayon - I'm not allowed anything I can sharpen to a sustainable point.

    Disclaimer: Opinions expressed herein are worth exactly what you paid for them.
  • shouldbeinbed
    shouldbeinbed Posts: 2,660
    PolyphonicBoy wrote:
    Sketchley wrote:
    TailWindHome wrote:
    Nodders
    Hi Viz
    Helmets

    and now Red Lights all on the first page

    Excellent work!

    All we need now is insurance, licencing and pavement cycling and we'lll have the full set.

    Well, how about writing a good FAQ thread which can be sticky-ed to the top of the forum and save us noobs bothering you?


    *cough* search facility *cough* :wink:


    It's all good natured banter, the old stagers like these that are what keep this place going on the slow news days.
  • Ian.B
    Ian.B Posts: 732
    I nearly didn't bother reading this, but you can always rely on DDD to liven thing up by bringing sex into it :)
  • Agent57
    Agent57 Posts: 2,300
    Greg66 wrote:
    lift the back end of the bike with the foot that is still clipped in to spin the rear wheel for no good reason.

    No good reason? I thought it was to show the driver behind that I was all clipped in, and therefore a srs cyclist, while he marvels at how I'm attached to my bike by some manner of dark magics.
    MTB commuter / 531c commuter / CR1 Team 2009 / RockHopper Pro Disc / 10 mile PB: 25:52 (Jun 2014)
  • il_principe
    il_principe Posts: 9,155
    Agent57 wrote:
    Greg66 wrote:
    lift the back end of the bike with the foot that is still clipped in to spin the rear wheel for no good reason.

    No good reason? I thought it was to show the driver behind that I was all clipped in, and therefore a srs cyclist, while he marvels at how I'm attached to my bike by some manner of dark magics.

    :lol:
  • The Rookie
    The Rookie Posts: 27,812
    PolyphonicBoy wrote:
    So I understand I'm probably braking the highway code,
    Actually its breaking the law and that makes you a criminal -a bit like this threads very existance really.

    Oh and Amber portrays the same message as red, that is STOP (until it starts to flash on a ped crossing when you can proceed if it's safe to do so).

    All in the TSRGD.

    Many on here hate red light jumpers, it gives motorists the excuse to treat us with no respect and endangers every other cyclist.

    Simon
    Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.
  • bigmat
    bigmat Posts: 5,134
    The Beginner wrote:

    Many on here hate red light jumpers, it gives motorists the excuse to treat us with no respect and endangers every other cyclist.

    Simon

    Yes, if it wasn't for red light jumpers, we would have the unconditional love of all motorists.
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  • John Stevenson
    John Stevenson Posts: 962
    BigMat wrote:

    Yes, if it wasn't for red light jumpers, we would have the unconditional love of all motorists.

    This.

    The argument that trivial breaches of the Highway Code arm cyclist-haters is nonsense.

    Cyclist-haters will hate us whatever we do. We could all behave perfectly on the road at all times; we could hand them flowers and chocolates as we (legally) filter past them at junctions; we could hire attractive young people of the appropriate sexes to entice them out of their 4WDs and frottage them to complete satisfaction -- they'd still hate us.

    All we can do is smile, ride past them and wait for evolution and heart disease to take them out of the picture.
    John Stevenson
  • DonDaddyD
    DonDaddyD Posts: 12,689
    THE EDITOR IN CHIEF HAS SPOKEN

    CLOSE THE THREAD!
    Food Chain number = 4

    A true scalp is not only overtaking someone but leaving them stopped at a set of lights. As you, who have clearly beaten the lights, pummels nothing but the open air ahead. ~ 'DondaddyD'. Player of the Unspoken Game
  • notsoblue
    notsoblue Posts: 5,756
    John Stevenson wrote:
    BigMat wrote:

    Yes, if it wasn't for red light jumpers, we would have the unconditional love of all motorists.

    This.

    The argument that trivial breaches of the Highway Code arm cyclist-haters is nonsense.

    Cyclist-haters will hate us whatever we do. We could all behave perfectly on the road at all times; we could hand them flowers and chocolates as we (legally) filter past them at junctions; we could hire attractive young people of the appropriate sexes to entice them out of their 4WDs and frottage them to complete satisfaction -- they'd still hate us.

    All we can do is smile, ride past them and wait for evolution and heart disease to take them out of the picture.

    Well said.
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