RLJ who shoulda known better.

[glueman]

I followed a rider last week through the village on his commute. He adopted the 'primary' position, quite correctly as a road joined at an acute angle from the left and drivers have trouble seeing you and those coming the opposite way wait to bear right and will ignore you given the opportunity.

He filtered confidently between cars toward the lights, made plenty of rear observations and I was thinking how well the bloke was riding, taking similar lines to myself and exuding an air of competence.
Then, when he got near to the front of the queue of stationary traffic with the RH lane going right and the LH going straight on, he swung onto the wrong side of the road on a red light, cut back across the face of the waiting cars and continued to ride on his way without a moment's hesitation.
This was a bloke who knew what he was doing, had excellent positioning, the right gear and bike but simply chose to ignore the rules of the road. As I sat waiting for the lights to change I wondered who was the bigger chump. I can see newbies and the easily influenced thinking, 'so that's how it's done' and drivers thinking t*ss*r!

I should say that if he'd got his timing of the light sequence slightly wrong he'd have been crossing the front of two rows of traffic trying to move off. Daft.

[Auchmill]

Get rid of traffic lights, which cause congestion, and adopt filter-in-turn.

[glueman]

Get rid of traffic lights, which cause congestion, and adopt filter-in-turn.

Yes, I'd abandon lights too, especially at the place talked about. The roads would grind to a halt in half an hour and people would find other ways to get to work. It was still a dumb thing to do.

[Dondare]

Get rid of traffic lights, which cause congestion, and adopt filter-in-turn.

That's not quite the point, tho'.

[james01]

Get rid of traffic lights, which cause congestion, and adopt filter-in-turn.

OK, sometimes this can be appropriate in certain circumstances. But what about the small matter of pedestrians wishing to cross an unregulated junction?

[glueman]

To elaborate slightly, the road is a T junction with set back stop lines to enable articulated lorries to make a left turn without colliding with the front of the other queue. An effect of this is that neither side of the T can see the other line of traffic. Anticipating what's happening around the corner is pure guesswork.
The flow is interrupted by a pedestrian crossing another 100 yards further on with its own stop-start cycle, adjoining another double T junction. When lights are out of action, as they were a month ago, the system instantly locks up. Solid.

What I found disappointing was this wasn't the action of a twit but someone who either didn't care less about the legality of the situation reasoning he was unlikely to get caught, or he was making a point of some kind. He also rode across a 'green man' without anyone crossing at the time. If it was a one-off, who cares, if RLJing is becoming endemic (as I suspect it is) there may be consequences for all of us.

[Auchmill]

Get rid of traffic lights, which cause congestion, and adopt filter-in-turn.

That's not quite the point, tho'.

In a way it is. I'm not condoning breaking the law (it gives cyclists a bad name) but one of the reasons for RLJing must be congestion, which is exacerbated by traffic lights (and the amount of unnecessary car journeys). I believe there's a town in Holland which has ripped out all the traffic lights.

[john4703]

I admit that I ignore, well almost ignore red lights at times. I work shifts so often hit a red light at about 05.45 in the morning, this is a tee junction where I am going straight on and if the road to the right is clear I'll ignore the red light as that is the only danger to me.
In the same way if I am coming home after a late shift and the roads are free of traffic I'll run slowly through red lights rather than wait for them to change.
I never run a red light if it is a busy road or if pedestrians are crossing.
Does this make me a bad person???

[glueman]

I never run a red light if it is a busy road or if pedestrians are crossing.
Does this make me a bad person???

Not necessarily. I've been known to slip the odd road works signal when nothing's about, or jump a light in the wee small hours on the same basis as the tree falling in the forest when no-one can hear it.
Our chap made a unilateral, high profile decision that traffic rules didn't mean him and by implication all cyclists. He'd likely suggest I should get off my high horse but I'd throw the same back.

[john4703]

i agree, if it is a busy time then we all should obey the lights etc. My pet hate is adult cyclist's who terrify pedestrians by cycling on the pavement.

[reohn2]

Not enough police,more of them with a zero tolerance approach until the (all to large)minority of road users,cyclists and motorists alike get the message by way of a stiff fine.

[Tynan]

I used to rlj whenever safe when I was younger, if it's your route and you know the lights timings and sequence you can cross most junctions perfectly safely most fo the time, rider's choice

I stop for almost everything these days, I like the mildly surprised looks i get from drivers sometimes

[glueman]

Cyclists often get accused of being self-righteous, pompous and arrogant. It's 99% nonsense but when riders sail through lights hackles are bound to rise. People can weave all the backstory they like to justify it but there isn't one, apart from getting to work 30 seconds quicker. Here's one - get up half a minute earlier and obey the law.

[Auchmill]

Maybe we need a campaign to clean up our act, as well as that of other road users?

[glueman]

Other road users are lousy by and large. Speeding, phone calling, aggressive with a few high points of consideration and largesse. I'm not dissing cyclists, I'm annoyed at an individual. With some exceptions (can't speak for London) we're a well behaved lot who would gain much from resisting the temptation.