Red Lights
Comments
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Phil_D wrote:I once read somewhere that if you push your bike across a pedestrian crossing you are still breaking some law or other (RLJ perhaps). To be classed as a pedestrian you have to pick your bike up so neither wheel is in contact with the road.
Not the case. If you start crossing on your feet and stop crossing on your feet you are a pedestrian regardless if whether you are pushing a bike, a buggy or a shopping trolley. You don't need to be carrying it. However, if you stand on one pedal and scoot over, then you are no longer a pedestrian. What that makes people on little micro-scooters, I'm mot sure...0 -
Greg66 wrote:I think it is only fair to point out that what a lot of the anti-RLJ'ers are missing is that RLJ'ing is completely safe, provided you are wearing a helmet.
In fact, it's so safe that it is perfectly plain that helmet-wearing and RLJ'ing should be made compulsory.
And riders should be taught how to use their helmets to maximise head rotation in the event of a crash.
And bikes should have number plates too. So that the riders who refuse to RLJ or rotate their heads can be fined by PCSOs.
And Campag is best.
And hybrids are smelly.
Did I miss anything?
Mostly true. You must also be wearing hi-viz. Lots of lights preferably to the point of being 'lit up like a Christmas tree' will also help.
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iPete wrote:ooooF. A college has just informed me that they watched a boris bike RLJ this morning at elephant only to be taken out by a motorbike at speed (who wasn't doing anything wrong)!
Apparently the cyclist got away relatively unscathed but the biker who wasn't wearing boots may lose his foot and as the least of his worries, has a destroyed motorbike. I realise BR doesn't do anecdotal evidence but f*ck me, talk about timing for this thread to appear.
I bet mr nodder thought he was doing no harm..
Ouch thats crazy. Its always the nodders though. Middle aged chaps on hybrids and boris bikes always seem to be the worst offenders when running red lights in my experience.
/generalisation0 -
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notsoblue wrote:iPete wrote:ooooF. A college has just informed me that they watched a boris bike RLJ this morning at elephant only to be taken out by a motorbike at speed (who wasn't doing anything wrong)!
Apparently the cyclist got away relatively unscathed but the biker who wasn't wearing boots may lose his foot and as the least of his worries, has a destroyed motorbike. I realise BR doesn't do anecdotal evidence but f*ck me, talk about timing for this thread to appear.
I bet mr nodder thought he was doing no harm..
Ouch thats crazy. Its always the nodders though. Middle aged chaps on hybrids and boris bikes always seem to be the worst offenders when running red lights in my experience.
/generalisation
Oooooh, while nodders are guilty i see more roadies do it overall out of all rljumpersLe Cannon [98 Cannondale M400] [FCN: 8]
The Mad Monkey [2013 Hoy 003] [FCN: 4]0 -
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MonkeyMonster wrote:notsoblue wrote:iPete wrote:ooooF. A college has just informed me that they watched a boris bike RLJ this morning at elephant only to be taken out by a motorbike at speed (who wasn't doing anything wrong)!
Apparently the cyclist got away relatively unscathed but the biker who wasn't wearing boots may lose his foot and as the least of his worries, has a destroyed motorbike. I realise BR doesn't do anecdotal evidence but f*ck me, talk about timing for this thread to appear.
I bet mr nodder thought he was doing no harm..
Ouch thats crazy. Its always the nodders though. Middle aged chaps on hybrids and boris bikes always seem to be the worst offenders when running red lights in my experience.
/generalisation
Oooooh, while nodders are guilty i see more roadies do it overall out of all rljumpers
Oh man, I think I just confirmation biased all over myself
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JZed wrote:
Old fella's probably still waiting for his bed bath from nurise. This Southern Cross stuff is really hitting the inmates hard... :twisted:0 -
King Jeffers wrote:I never normally jump red lights... except... for one on my commute home. Its a big stonking roundabout covered with lights where impatient motorway drivers join. You can clearly see the other traffic flow lights turning to red, it then takes a couple of seconds for our lane to go green but if I'm at the front and can see the other flow has the red I'll go. That 2 seconds gives me enough time to blast through a dangerous pinch point and hook up onto a poorly placed cycle path back into safety. If I'm at the front and wait for green invariably I'll have a car/van revving behind trying to pass or at worse try to nip through and push me into the metal railings at the side of the road.
I guess guilty as charged
Your approach sounds very sensible to me and I'm sure any right-thinking motorist would view it that way too.0 -
Have to say most cars are happy for me to take primary at heavy-use junctions. I think all but the neanderthals appreciate cyclist's vunerability.
You will get the occasional burst of abuse from VWM and their chavvy friends, but that's just part of being on a bike I'm afraid.FCN 4 - BMC CX020 -
I definitely feel safer taking primary in the lane at large/fast traffic light controlled junctions than I would if I RLJed. Pulling away with traffic and choosing when to start allowing faster traffic to overtake is preferable to it all blatting past you once it's built up speed and has no intention of braking.0
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Mouth wrote:One thing I have learnt is that there is no such thing as an accident, only collisions from one or more of the parties not planning their actions appropriately. I'm not pointing fingers at either motorists or cyclists here, but if you do your bit properly it surely means less chance of any kind of altercation?
Unintended consequences resulting from actions not being planned appropriately is surely pretty much the definition of "accident"?0 -
richVSrich wrote:woodford2barbican wrote:I jump them. Gets me to work quicker.
by 30 seconds right?
no, given that I do 16.5 miles from one side of london to the other, I have in excess of 100 sets of lights to navigate. It knocks about 10 minutes off my commute.0 -
woodford2barbican wrote:richVSrich wrote:woodford2barbican wrote:I jump them. Gets me to work quicker.
by 30 seconds right?
no, given that I do 16.5 miles from one side of london to the other, I have in excess of 100 sets of lights to navigate. It knocks about 10 minutes off my commute.
Given my 20 miles across London, I very very rarely see someone jumping lights make any better progress, odd, or I'm just quick 0 -
woodford2barbican wrote:richVSrich wrote:woodford2barbican wrote:I jump them. Gets me to work quicker.
by 30 seconds right?
no, given that I do 16.5 miles from one side of london to the other, I have in excess of 100 sets of lights to navigate. It knocks about 10 minutes off my commute.
Yeah, I reckon if I had no traffic lights I'd be about 10 - 15 minutes quicker in (for about a mile more).
I'm not sure that merely jumping them would see such an improvement though, as I'd have to slow/stop for some of them to make sure it was safe.0 -
iPete wrote:Given my 20 miles across London, I very very rarely see someone jumping lights make any better progress, odd, or I'm just quick
On the other hand, I see people who I'm a lot faster than make similar progress to me by jumping lights. (They jump the light, I wait, I overtake, get stuck at the next light, which they jump, etc.).
I'm not advocating jumping lights, I'm just saying, there's no denying that it is going to be faster.0 -
woodford2barbican wrote:richVSrich wrote:woodford2barbican wrote:I jump them. Gets me to work quicker.
by 30 seconds right?
no, given that I do 16.5 miles from one side of london to the other, I have in excess of 100 sets of lights to navigate. It knocks about 10 minutes off my commute.
Why don't you just leave the house 10 minutes earlier?0 -
kelsen wrote:Why don't you just leave the house 10 minutes earlier?
WARNING: DANGER WILL ROBINSON
USE OF LOGIC WILL CAUSE THIS THREAD TO SELF DESTRUCT IN T-MINUS 5Le Cannon [98 Cannondale M400] [FCN: 8]
The Mad Monkey [2013 Hoy 003] [FCN: 4]0 -
kelsen wrote:Why don't you just leave the house 10 minutes earlier?
WARNING: DANGER WILL ROBINSON
USE OF LOGIC WILL CAUSE THIS THREAD TO SELF DESTRUCT IN T-MINUS 5Le Cannon [98 Cannondale M400] [FCN: 8]
The Mad Monkey [2013 Hoy 003] [FCN: 4]0 -
iPete wrote:ooooF. A college has just informed me that they watched a boris bike RLJ this morning at elephant only to be taken out by a motorbike at speed (who wasn't doing anything wrong)!
Apparently the cyclist got away relatively unscathed but the biker who wasn't wearing boots may lose his foot and as the least of his worries, has a destroyed motorbike. I realise BR doesn't do anecdotal evidence but f*ck me, talk about timing for this thread to appear.
I bet mr nodder thought he was doing no harm..
I passed the aftermath of an incident involving a cyclist and motorcyclist this morning at the E&C. It was at the juction of St George's Road (an arm of the E&C) and Princess St (the CS7 bypass) - is this where the above collision took place? Both parties looked in a bad way.0 -
iPete wrote:woodford2barbican wrote:richVSrich wrote:woodford2barbican wrote:I jump them. Gets me to work quicker.
by 30 seconds right?
no, given that I do 16.5 miles from one side of london to the other, I have in excess of 100 sets of lights to navigate. It knocks about 10 minutes off my commute.
Given my 20 miles across London, I very very rarely see someone jumping lights make any better progress, odd, or I'm just quick
Congratulations, yes you are quicker than other people.
When you say 'better progress' that is only in relation to your progress and not their progress if they had not jumped the lights.
So a pretty pointless comment overall.0 -
kelsen wrote:woodford2barbican wrote:richVSrich wrote:woodford2barbican wrote:I jump them. Gets me to work quicker.
by 30 seconds right?
no, given that I do 16.5 miles from one side of london to the other, I have in excess of 100 sets of lights to navigate. It knocks about 10 minutes off my commute.
Why don't you just leave the house 10 minutes earlier?
I don't have the time to leave 10 minutes earlier. I get up at 6am and am out at 0740. I have two children 4 & under who I need to get ready etc and a widfe who also works full time.
10 minutes is valuable at both ends of the day.0 -
When I am stopped at a red light and someone comes whoozing past I feel a mental finger wagging in my brain in disgust and indignation.
However, when I click up through the gears and smash through a red past all the bozos waiting like obediant puppy dogs that same mental finger is flipping the bird back at the stationary peloton.
Only kidding. I'm only the first one. Ever. OK. Promise.0 -
woodford2barbican wrote:iPete wrote:woodford2barbican wrote:richVSrich wrote:woodford2barbican wrote:I jump them. Gets me to work quicker.
by 30 seconds right?
no, given that I do 16.5 miles from one side of london to the other, I have in excess of 100 sets of lights to navigate. It knocks about 10 minutes off my commute.
Given my 20 miles across London, I very very rarely see someone jumping lights make any better progress, odd, or I'm just quick
Congratulations, yes you are quicker than other people.
When you say 'better progress' that is only in relation to your progress and not their progress if they had not jumped the lights.
So a pretty pointless comment overall.
No no, most the people I see doing daft things at traffic lights get stuck at the major junctions regardless, the majority would catch themselves up, making it a rather pointless exercise but hey, works for you on your route.
Anyway, see below, would mr boris rider RLJ if other riders obeyed the rules of the road? Would the incident have happened if the cyclist obeyed the rules of the road, I'm certain the second part is no.Origamist wrote:I passed the aftermath of an incident involving a cyclist and motorcyclist this morning at the E&C. It was at the juction of St George's Road (an arm of the E&C) and Princess St (the CS7 bypass) - is this where the above collision took place? Both parties looked in a bad way.
I'd assume so! It didn't sound particularly pleasant, my colleague is somewhat distressed about seeing it happen.0 -
Hooray - this thread is turning out well
- I used to jump regularly
- Then I just jumped "when it was safe"
- Then I just jumped "if there were no pedestrians on the crossing"
- Now I sit there and obey the law and tut at the others. It doesn't appear to have affected my commute times but has certainly increased my sense of "Zen" on the commute.
I think the general mood in london is pushing people towards stopping at lights, but for whatever reasons there are plenty of people who don't. Everyone is just going to have to get used to it until the police take exception and beat people up and chuck them in the Thames.
To answer the OPs question:Are you legally allowed to skip these on a bike? What do people feel about it?
It is illegal but some people justify it nonetheless. It often also antagonises other road users, both cyclists and drivers. It's your choice - fill your boots FCN 4 - BMC CX020 -
woodford2barbican wrote:kelsen wrote:woodford2barbican wrote:richVSrich wrote:woodford2barbican wrote:I jump them. Gets me to work quicker.
by 30 seconds right?
no, given that I do 16.5 miles from one side of london to the other, I have in excess of 100 sets of lights to navigate. It knocks about 10 minutes off my commute.
Why don't you just leave the house 10 minutes earlier?
I don't have the time to leave 10 minutes earlier. I get up at 6am and am out at 0740. I have two children 4 & under who I need to get ready etc and a widfe who also works full time.
10 minutes is valuable at both ends of the day.
ok, i dont have kids so i do find it hard to relate to the 10 mins at each end of the day...but if you got hit by a vehicle coz you were RLJ-ing..and someone had to tell your family, how would that make them feel?
"kids, your dad isnt coming home tonight because he didnt want to wait at a traffic light" ... ?0 -
Greg66 wrote:Did I miss anything?
I'm sure you could have got an Airzound in there.0
This discussion has been closed.
