Red light jumpers - am i getting old and crotchety?!

richardspooner

My view is that if you decide to jump a red light regardless of your mode of transport, then you have to accept you are both breaking the law and taking a risk. I'm not sitting in judgment of anyone who decides to do so (I have in the past as a cyclist). Every other road user simply has the right to shake their head in disapproval at those that do so and you have to accept that negative perception of you is one of the prices you pay in doing so.

Do it by all means, but don't moan if Plod pinches you for it, you cause injury to others and get prosecuted for it, or you get injured yourself. The red lights are there for a reason and there has to be realisation that what one person feels to be horrific risk in jumping a red light will be an acceptable calculation by another and it is each to their own. Do it yeah, but you have to do so knowing that the risk is all yours to shoulder, you'll have little to no justification in law, people will be pissed off at you for doing so, and don't be surprised if circumstance comes to bear on you to a greater or lesser degree.

As with helmet use, it is about choice. Just own the choice you make and be realistic about the environment we cycle in these days. That’s my view anyway.

mcj78

Evil Laugh wrote:

Try cycling through Dalston. Cross roads are like a game of Russian roulette with iPod wearing, charge riding graduate media job types and wannabe cycle couriers flying at you from all red lighted directions. Nearly been hit at full speed going through a green many times while both riding and driving.

I do fear that it's only a matter of time before one of these idiots gets killed by a perfectly innocent and responsible driver, if it hasn't happened already.

Yeah, people like that do themselves no favours on the road - thankfully there aren't too many folks matching that description in Glasgow (although there are a few) & unfortunately when people talk about red light jumpers it's these people who everyone remembers careering through a pedestrian crossing at top speed without a care in the world, if they instead waited until the crossing was clear then pootled through at walking pace (as i'll admit I do) I reckon there would be less of an outcry from pedestrians & road users about cyclists jumping the lights.

mcj78

Headhuunter wrote:

Exactly. Slow crossing through reds is safer than waiting for whacky races that follow green lights. What we really need is designated filter lights for cyclists at major junctions. Forget all this fannying around with pointless strips of green paint in the gutter (AKA "cycle lanes"), let's address the real problem - dangerous, complex junctions designed for cars with little or no concession to people on foot or on bikes. Until this is properly addressed I will do what is safest for me.

However I think you may have made a mistake with your weight. If you really weigh 160kg you are most definitely not a small guy! You weigh twice as much as me and I'm 6'3" and not excessively skinny...

Haha, well spotted - should have been 160lbs of me + 10kg of bike, if I was 160kg I would actually have more in common with a small car :oops:

Ben6899

Am I allowed to offer my 2 penneth even though this has been covered at length previously? Let's be honest; EVERYTHING is already covered somewhere on the internet, so we may as well just sack off these forums and go riding.

Anyway... there are only one set of lights I consider jumping. On a narrow bridge about 15m long. If they're on red, but there are no cars in sight on the other side, then I proceed with caution (5mph).

I have 2nd hand experience of red light 'jumping' going wrong. There are some other red lights near me, which are a bleeding nuisance. They change red against the main road as a matter of course and not in line with traffic flow - to regulate speeds on a country road just outside a village (Darrington for anyone who knows it). I always stop here, but on one occasion my dad decided to remain clipped and edge forward to see if in fact we could proceed despite the red. A VW Golf appeared from the side road, my dad slammed on, failed to unclip and broke his wrist.

Some of you will say he deserved it. I was sympathetic, but I had chastised him in the past for doing this at these lights. Judge each case on its merits - I see riders RLJing at Lambeth North/Westminster Bridge Road and I think they're absolute nutters!

shm_uk

:roll:

Not this again ...

BOOOOORRRRIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNGGGGGGG

Ben6899

Yet you still clicked and typed. Things quiet at shm_uk Towers?