red lights

[cranky1]

After a good day out on the Yorkshire moors I was returning home yesterday and passed through a set of red lights at a light controlled tee junction. I was on to thel eft of the road going straight on, the junction was from the right. I slowed saw that there was no traffic entering from the junction and proceeded on my way. Completely safe.

At the next busy junction I came too, a cyclist came past me at a speed and shouted abuse that i shouldn't have passed the red light and that I would get all cyclists a bad name. The type of comment you would expect from an irate motorist.

Do you think he was correct? or do you think he sould keep his opinion to himsef.

By the way if you are that cyclist and you are reading this then I think you should keep your opinions to yourself in future.

[kwackers]

Hurrah! A red light thread!

[thirdcrank]

Do you think he was correct?

IMO he was 100% correct.

or do you think he sould keep his opinion to himsef.

IMO He's entitled to his opinion but he was obviously wasting his breath

(Just as well he wasn't muttering 'These cyclists get away with murder' in a Scots accent )

[Richard]

I believe one should ride to the standard that one would expect from other road users. I personally would not condone a car passing through a red light nor would I want other road users, particularly motorised ones, to be given a good reason to become resentful of cyclists.

I wasn't there so it's not possible to say whether I'd have done it. However, I can see that in certain circumstances a dose of common sense should be applied.

Ultimately you broke the law. You can't complain if you're prosecuted in a situation like that but if you feel your actions were justified then that's fine.

Should the other cyclist have mentioned it? You might not like the fact that he did, but he's got the right to do so.

[Dean]

I can never see what the big deal is about cyclists going through red lights. I don't do it*, but it's hardly the greatest crime you can commit on the roads, is it?

Personally, I'd be more annoyed that somebody caught up with me. Call yourself a cyclist?

The irate cyclist sounds like an officious bloke who enjoys telling people what to do. Somebody once approached me in the park while my dog was doing its business - he said that he hoped I was going to pick it up, and offered me a bag to put it in. Naturally, being a responsible dog-owner, I had the means to do the job myself, but I quite enjoyed the look on his face when I told him to do it himself, if it mattered that much to him.

*anymore

[kwackers]

As a non-rlj'er I'd say it's up to you. If you checked and the way was clear who am I to say you should or shouldn't go through.

Traffic lights are congestion control devices, cyclists don't cause congestion.

If however you were caught, I'd expect you to pay up and shut up.

I don't however take the view you represent me, just as I don't feel I represent other cyclists or rlj'ing/speeding car drivers represent the average car driver.

From his pov he was right, however I reckon he should keep his advice to himself unless asked.

[stewartpratt]

Do you think he was correct?

Assuming the area wasn't deserted then yes, absolutely.

I'm sure we're all capable of assessing the situation, but it's a PR exercise. Jumping red lights is one of the most-cited reasons motorists hate cyclists.

The rules are there for everyone. Pragmatism's all well and good, and in a mediterranean culture no-one would bat an eyelid, but in Britain the culture is that one plays by the rules or be damned.

Cyclists are renowned and reviled for collectively occupying the moral high-ground with some zeal - best not to dig holes in that ground and still try standing on it ;)

[kwackers]

I'm sure we're all capable of assessing the situation, but it's a PR exercise. Jumping red lights is one of the most-cited reasons motorists hate cyclists.

It might be the most oft-cited, but it isn't the reason they hate us.
Remove it, pavement riding and every other thing you see that's often quoted and they'll still hate us.

You're riding a wobbly machine slowly on a public road that they claimed ownershop of some time ago and just getting in the way.
You'll be damned if you do and damned if you don't. If it's appeasement you want, put the bike in the shed and never get it out.

[Hector's House]

Anything we do that's against the law as a cyclist will help to reinforce the idea that cyclists are plonkers who shouldn't be on the road. What he said, therefore, was correct.

Was he right to tell you? Was it my right to tell an older commuter one morning that his wheel was nearly completely flat?

I am a firm non-RLJ, purely because I feel too guilty if I do! I even feel guilty if I start moving at amber!

[XxxBFGxxX]

i must admit i do go thro red lights after i make sure ts save be it right or wrong. if i am up to speed there si kno wway i am slowing to a stop and getting cold. this is why i go thro reds.

[paulah]

I slowed saw that there was no traffic entering from the junction and proceeded on my way.

I'm sure what you meant to say was that there was no traffic and no pedestrians about to cross

[ianr1950]

After a good day out on the Yorkshire moors I was returning home yesterday and passed through a set of red lights at a light controlled tee junction. I was on to thel eft of the road going straight on, the junction was from the right. I slowed saw that there was no traffic entering from the junction and proceeded on my way. Completely safe.

At the next busy junction I came too, a cyclist came past me at a speed and shouted abuse that i shouldn't have passed the red light and that I would get all cyclists a bad name. The type of comment you would expect from an irate motorist.

Do you think he was correct? or do you think he sould keep his opinion to himsef.

By the way if you are that cyclist and you are reading this then I think you should keep your opinions to yourself in future.

so you think he should have kept his opinion to himself but you want to put your opinion on here.

[stewartpratt]

You'll be damned if you do and damned if you don't. If it's appeasement you want, put the bike in the shed and never get it out.

There'll always be people who'll hate cyclists, certainly. But if no-one stuck to the rules then everyone would hate us. I would. Probably.

It's not appeasement to obey the law. It's just respecting a level playing field on the road.

[drossall]

Some motorists don't understand why it's important to me that they obey the rules on speeding, overtaking and respecting cyclists' priorities at junctions. Basically, although they are right that they can ignore these rules without harming me on many occasions, in the long term my chances are better if they follow them.

Some cyclists don't understand why it's important to other road users that they obey the rules on red (and amber) lights. Basically, although they are right that they can ignore these rules without harming others on many occasions, in the long term the chances of avoiding collisions are better if they follow them.

I can't see how to advocate obedience in the first case without giving it in the second. Well, actually, I can. I just have to claim that I have a unique ability to judge when to obey the rules that is not present in any other road user, so I am exempt and they aren't.

Of course, if I truly believed that the rules were wrong, I'd campaign to get them changed.

[meic]

It seems alright to break a law in a safe and victimless way. I too would do it if I was sure no-one would know. If seen I would confess that I thought I could get away with it.
The problem comes when people start to break laws in this way, then they get used to doing it, then they start to AGRESSIVLEY EXERT THEIR RIGHT TO DO SO. Then we have a problem.