"It's become a culture thing"

chrisc2151

Those are the words used by a traffic cop on a motorbike to me today when I passed through a Red pedestrian traffic light(slowly) with not a pedestrian in site, using the Red light as an opportunity to get over to the right on a dual carriageway safely, it would not be so bad if I was a regular Red light jumper and got caught. "We are going to stamp it out by issuing tickets, NO warnings NO excuses". That's £30 in the Xmas fund for Old Bill. So be warned, they are out to get you. :roll:

Dmak

I am repeatedly amazed by idiot pedestrians pressing the button for the green man, late at night, when there is virtually no traffic. Just to stop me on my bike or in my car. :roll:

CambsNewbie

But did you or did you not go through a red light???

Red lights mean stop. No ifs or buts.. STOP! Unless something has changed I'm not aware of... The fact that you went through it 'slowly' is neither here nor there..

Personally I'd have offered 'words of advice' in the circumstances you have described but you have still committed a traffic offence.

And as for '£30 in the Xmas fund'.. I won't even bother commenting!

meanredspider

Yup - no sympathy for shooting a red light.

That said, I'm really pissed off with the one crossing I use. It broke and, since they fixed it, there's a half minute wait to cross. 95% of the time there's an opportunity to cross safely before the lights change. Result is that the cars are often stopped for no reason. I've phoned twice to get it changed back to the almost instant change that it was. Much safer and the cars get stopped for a reason so less tempted to jump the light.

thescouselander

Good, I'm glad to see the plod are doing their job. Slightly different topic but it's a pity they aren't a good round here as there are so many people riding round in the dark with not a light to be seen - a clamp down is well overdue.

Tom Dean

Dmak wrote:

I am repeatedly amazed by idiot pedestrians pressing the button for the green man, late at night, when there is virtually no traffic. Just to stop me on my bike or in my car. :roll:

Just to stop you so they can cross the road safely. Yes what idiots.

Blue Meanie

Lights on A8 (right turn on a filter) can only be triggered by a car/van/bus. I've waited 3 cycles of the lights before venturing forth against the Red, using appropriate observation and due care. Tell me I'm wrong.

chrisc2151

"Oh to be so perfect" The point was there is to be No advice, I'm not complaining, it's a fair cop, just a warning for others that I was not afforded, and from his comments nobody else will be either.

Dmak

I have absolutely no problem with running red lights on my bike. Late at night, on deserted roads, no cars or people in sight....it would be stupid and pointless to stop.

During the day on the other hand, you can't even trust the green light let alone run the red.

Peddle Up!

As others have said, it was a red light. Do I take it that previous policy was based on warnings and has escalated to giving tickets?

sungod

personally i don't run lights, so tbh can't offer much sympathy, but...

cyclist running red light - offence

driver exceeding speed limit - offence

i wish the police would devote as much attention to the latter, on some roads almost every car is over the limit, but seems that is not an issue for the police

ooermissus

sungod wrote:

cyclist running red light - offence

driver exceeding speed limit - offence

Don't know whether the 2000 ACPO guidelines on speeding are still in force, but they emphasized 'proportionality' in enforcing the speed limit (the need to balance any action with the risks) and the importance of not wasting police time on trivial offences. They also set a margin below which action would generally not be taken (e.g. 35mph in a 30mph zone).

None of this applies to RLJ-ing, of course, where the main priority is to stop cyclists annoying motorists.

STEFANOS4784

chrisc2151 wrote:

Those are the words used by a traffic cop on a motorbike to me today when I passed through a Red pedestrian traffic light(slowly) with not a pedestrian in site, using the Red light as an opportunity to get over to the right on a dual carriageway safely, it would not be so bad if I was a regular Red light jumper and got caught. "We are going to stamp it out by issuing tickets, NO warnings NO excuses". That's £30 in the Xmas fund for Old Bill. So be warned, they are out to get you. :roll:

I totally agree!!! Last week a knifed a bloke in the throat for brushing past me in the street and a policeman saw me and arrested me :shock:
It's starting to get ridiculous :P

walsht1105

Nothing wrong with going through a red light if it is safe to do so and it doesn't affect any other road users/pedestrians, simple common sense.. If you going through the red light means someone has to avoid you, when they have the right of way then you shouldn't do it..

If running a red light doesn't affect anyone what's the problem?

STEFANOS4784

There was obviously people around, otherwise he wouldn't have been caught :roll:

Peddle Up!

walsht1105 wrote:

Nothing wrong with going through a red light if it is safe to do so and it doesn't affect any other road users/pedestrians, simple common sense.. If you going through the red light means someone has to avoid you, when they have the right of way then you shouldn't do it..

If running a red light doesn't affect anyone what's the problem?

"Victimless crime" like the odd bogus insurance claim OK then?

thescouselander

walsht1105 wrote:

Nothing wrong with going through a red light if it is safe to do so and it doesn't affect any other road users/pedestrians, simple common sense.. If you going through the red light means someone has to avoid you, when they have the right of way then you shouldn't do it..

If running a red light doesn't affect anyone what's the problem?

Ooh, let me think:

1) Its illegal
2) When people see you doing this it damages the reputation of cyclists
3) What starts as running the odd light could lead to RLJing in more dangerous circumstances.

walsht1105

thescouselander wrote:

walsht1105 wrote:

Nothing wrong with going through a red light if it is safe to do so and it doesn't affect any other road users/pedestrians, simple common sense.. If you going through the red light means someone has to avoid you, when they have the right of way then you shouldn't do it..

If running a red light doesn't affect anyone what's the problem?

Ooh, let me think:

1) Its illegal
2) When people see you doing this it damages the reputation of cyclists
3) What starts as running the odd light could lead to RLJing in more dangerous circumstances.

1. It's illegal because, if it wasn't, car users would just jump them all the time regardless of whether they were going to affect another road user that has the priority.. because it seems when some people get in their car they feel invisible in their little bubble and lose all consideration for other people. I would see no problem with allowing anyone to jump a red light if there was no way it would affect another road user, but in reality it wouldn't happen because mutual respect for each other has been lost in society.

Like another person has said in this thread, I have been sat at lights that are triggered by pressure sensors in the road, these sensors don't work well for cyclists. So while nothing was coming the other way, I was sat at red lights that wouldn't change.. I can normally get the sensors to work if I bounce the back wheel on the part of the road that I think the sensor lies under..

2. How does running a red light that affects no other road users cause a bad reputation. I drive a car and a lot of my friends don't ride a bicycle, but I agree with them when they all say they think it's good that a cyclist will run a red light if it doesn't affect any other road user and means the cyclist can get off before they start to pull away in the car (i.e. it means the flow of traffic is better because the car gets to a decent speed to over take the cyclist with ease.)

3. If someone is prepared to risk their life to run a red light when it's not safe, making it illegal isn't going to stop them because they value the speed of their journey over the safety of their own life, so £30 fine isn't really gonna stop them

Cleat Eastwood

where I live theres a set of lights at a junction that are set on green permanently through the night so traffic can flow and only go red when triggered by a car. I've done really early morning rides (5.30 - 6am) from the side where they are on red and you have to wait for a car to trigger them .....or go through. Technically breaking the law, but with no one about it's not much of an issue. Wouldnt do it anyother time of day though.

STEFANOS4784

You could get off the bike, walk the bike across the road. No harm done, no fine. Job done. If I can grasp that then I'm sure you can.

desweller

Jesus Christ. Have we not done this topic to death a million times over on this forum? We're not so much flogging the dead horse as trying to beat the bloody strips of shredded horsemeat into the turf.

velvetytoast

traffic lights aren't triggered by weight - they weren't 20 years ago when I worked on them and they aren't now - try reading:

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/car-driving-safety/safety-regulatory-devices/question234.htm

STEFANOS4784

So?

If there are people there, especially police, then get off and push :idea:

If It's completely deserted (and I mean completely and you sure) then go through.

I know what you mean about weight limits but i also have known lights that must use a different system ( turning by harvester, London road, Bath) that changed as soon as I approached them so.......

BillyMansell

velvetytoast wrote:

traffic lights aren't triggered by weight - they weren't 20 years ago when I worked on them and they aren't now - try reading:

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/car-driving-safety/safety-regulatory-devices/question234.htm

Ssssh! Don't tell them the reality of all this modern electrickery.

There's a certain naive charm in watching people waving at infra-red sensors or bouncing their bikes over mystical pressure sensors, and didn't they used to suggest hanging magnets under the bottom bracket of carbon frames to trigger induction loops?

STEFANOS4784

So why, in the past have i sat at lights for an age and decided just to go through because they weren't going to change :? Probably needed new batteries in my lights.....potentially....moving forward....for the good of the business...it does and it doesn't...ultimately.

sloppyschleckonds

DesWeller wrote:

Jesus Christ. Have we not done this topic to death a million times over on this forum? We're not so much flogging the dead horse as trying to beat the bloody strips of shredded horsemeat into the turf.

Just some gentle trolling by the mtb'ers :roll:

MountainMonster

velvetytoast wrote:

traffic lights aren't triggered by weight - they weren't 20 years ago when I worked on them and they aren't now - try reading:

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/car-driving-safety/safety-regulatory-devices/question234.htm

Except for the lights that have weight plates built in just before the white line to see if a car is waiting. Those don't have anything to do with weight.

And did the OP really create an account to post his warning of "running red lights with Mr. Jonny Law next to you will get you a ticket, so be careful"?

BoydD

Lights on A8 (right turn on a filter) can only be triggered by a car/van/bus. I've waited 3 cycles of the lights before venturing forth against the Red, using appropriate observation and due care. Tell me I'm wrong.

same problem for me a at a set of lights on my regular run. Its the only red I run, always have a quick check for the busies before doing it though.

As for the plod....didn't want to know when I had three bikes nicked from my garage. Although this would require a degree of effort and not simply writing out tickets for targets.

racingcondor

Blue Meanie wrote:

Lights on A8 (right turn on a filter) can only be triggered by a car/van/bus. I've waited 3 cycles of the lights before venturing forth against the Red, using appropriate observation and due care. Tell me I'm wrong.

You're not. The highway code does have rules to cover this (although interestingly I can't find them in the online version).

Muffintop

I feel the need to say that if we want any change on use of the roads in our favour we have to be whiter than white. That includes sitting at a red light with the rest of the traffic. People complain louder than they applaud and no one will ever applaud a conscientious cyclist,we are the unsung heros of the road, woe is us.

smurfylicious

BillyMansell wrote:

and didn't they used to suggest hanging magnets under the bottom bracket of carbon frames to trigger induction loops?

An aluminium rim is just fine for triggering induction loops (aluminium is a much better conductor than the steel that most cars are made out of). Also, contrary to what a lot of people think, the most sensitive place to position your rim is directly over the wires, rather than in the middle of the parallelogram-shaped box. Works for me everytime

Slight thread hijack here, but has anyone else recorded spurious speeds when riding with a wireless speedo over traffic sensors buried in the road? I recorded a maximum speed of over 70mph once after riding over buried wires :?