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Red light ‘hoppers’

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  • April 10, 2014 at 11:50 am #21140
    Leviathan

    Not a new phenomenon, but it seems to be on the rise and very erksome. I am getting very sick of red-light hoppers, not jumpers. The fact is a lot of red-lights at main junctions can’t be jumped because of crossing traffic and the very real chance of being squished. So I am riding to work and overtake another biker, but get to the next junction and stop at the light. Same biker comes cruising past and stops at the corner in front of me. Not looking at the light or the line but looking at the traffic to see if he/she can pull away as soon as there is a gap or they stop coming. They pull away and so do I but now I am stuck behind their slow moving ass. I can’t overtake them because they are moving so slowly and overtaking cars are moving too quickly to move out and the road is too narrow, I am boxed in! I have no choice but to wait for the road to change or a gap in traffic. If I do get to move out a few hundred yards down the road I just get to the next set of lights and the whole maneuver repeats. Thankfully I can often put some distance between myself and them if I catch the end of a green.

    I know this isn’t a piece of etiquette anyone ever gets taught but if I get overtaken by another rider (this rarely but inevitably does occur) who then stops at the next lights I don’t put myself in front of them. There are a lot of new people cycling, which is good, but by-heck some of them are knobs.

    Feel free to criticize my don’t-get-in-my-way/holier-than-thou attitude, or my use of run-on sentences.

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  • April 10, 2014 at 5:36 pm #785859
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    bikebot

    I’d recommend keeping a
    I’d recommend keeping a couple of elastic bands in your jersey pocket, but practice your innocent face first.

    Oh, and make sure you’re not the only one waiting at the line. That would be a bit of a giveaway 😀

    April 10, 2014 at 5:06 pm #785857
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    FluffyKittenofTindalos

    bikeboy76 wrote:
    If you don’t

    bikeboy76 wrote:

    If you don’t know what I am talking about you must be one of them. 8|

    Bit presumptious there.

    Its simply because you didn’t make clear you were talking about those who go beyond the stop line. Breaking the rules (indeed, the law) in order to get in front of cyclists already there and who are obeying the rules is inconsiderate, I agree. I was just thinking If you aren’t at the front of the ASL then you can’t object to others using the available space. If you are, then fair enough, its just that the law already agrees with you.

    April 10, 2014 at 4:49 pm #785855
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    Scoob_84

    I’m with bikeboy here – It’s
    I’m with bikeboy here – It’s annoying. You overtake a wobbler and arrive at the red lights before them, you take most advanced position available making sure there’s plenty of space behind you in the bike box, only to find that same person you just overtook rolls through the empty bike box and through the red and stop a few meters ahead of the line (technically this is going through a red) and stopping in the middle of the road. When the light turns green, said person wobbles off slowly getting in everyone way only for them to all have to over take them again…..and breath

    If anything its just bad manners. Wait behind the line like everyone else.

    April 10, 2014 at 4:49 pm #785853
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    Scoob_84

    I’m with bikeboy here – It’s
    I’m with bikeboy here – It’s annoying. You overtake a wobbler and arrive at the red lights before them, you take most advanced position available making sure there’s plenty of space behind you in the bike box, only to find that same person you just overtook rolls through the empty bike box and through the red and stop a few meters ahead of the line (technically this is going through a red) and stopping in the middle of the road. When the light turns green, said person wobbles off slowly getting in everyone way only for them to all have to over take them again…..and breath

    If anything its just bad manners. Wait behind the line like everyone else.

    April 10, 2014 at 4:37 pm #785851
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    surly_by_name

    Is it OK to criticise you for
    Is it OK to criticise you for misspelling irksome?

    I do this all the time (roll past people who have stopped at the back of/in the ASL “box”). I think it has become a habit because I tend to commute at a time when the ASL box looks like a scrum and most of the people on my commute – especially the ones on bicycles – make me feel nervous for my personal safety so I want to get away from them as quickly as possible. I don’t recall having any complaints but then I don’t hang around to take views from other road users, so maybe there’s a whole crowd of aggrieved individuals behind me.

    My strong advice would be to drop the self righteous adherence to a pointless rule and get as far forward as you can at intersections. Or was the point of your of your “question” to explain just how much quicker you are than everyone else?

    April 10, 2014 at 4:20 pm #785849
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    KiwiMike

    “at the next set of lights i
    “at the next set of lights i set off as fast as possible and damn near cleared him out with a shout of ‘hold you f£$king line’…he seemed to get it then”

    …just…er…wow.

    This was a *public* road, right?

    For god’s sake don’t let the Daily Mail see this thread.

    (steps away)

    April 10, 2014 at 3:42 pm #785847
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    Jack Osbourne snr

    Step away from the thread,
    Step away from the thread, people. Step away from the thread.

    There’s a lot of knicker-twisting going on here, so why doesnt everybody just go read something else for 10 minutes?

    That’ll give the rest of us time to try to understand why there’s so much knicker-twisting going on.

    April 10, 2014 at 3:39 pm #785845
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    Leviathan

    FluffyKittenofTindalos

    FluffyKittenofTindalos wrote:
    I don’t understand the description of the problem.

    If you don’t want anyone stopping in front of you why not just stop just behind the forward-most stop-line? I presume you aren’t saying you stop right at the back of the ASL and then object to anyone else entering it, but I don’t understand what you are saying is the problem.


    Have you been reading KiwiMike’s muddled posts because it is pretty obvious what I am talking about. Nowhere does it say I am stopping in the wrong place. I am at the forwardmost line. I am talking about people weaving around you and stopping ahead of the lights [which FYI is nothing to do with adopting a legal primary position, Mike]
    If you don’t know what I am talking about you must be one of them. 8|

    April 10, 2014 at 3:38 pm #785843
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    md6

    I have had similar and think
    I have had similar and think that there is a basic ettiquette issue. If you want to go to the front of a crown of waiting bikes, do it. But don’t then block the bloody way because you want to amble along at 10 mph. If you are in a hurry and want to ride off quickly, fine, otherwise stop being a c**t and wait you turn.

    There was one guy on my old commute who regularly combined rolling just a bike length through the stop line and then as the lights turned green and everyone went he would veer left back across the path of all the people he just hopped past at the light. We had some words after he did it a 4th time in the same morning on one stretch of road. He didn’t seem to understand what was wrong or unsafe about that…so at the next set of lights i set off as fast as possible and damn near cleared him out with a shout of ‘hold you f£$king line’…he seemed to get it then.

    April 10, 2014 at 3:27 pm #785841
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    oozaveared

    FluffyKittenofTindalos

    FluffyKittenofTindalos wrote:
    I don’t understand the description of the problem.

    If you don’t want anyone stopping in front of you why not just stop just behind the forward-most stop-line? I presume you aren’t saying you stop right at the back of the ASL and then object to anyone else entering it, but I don’t understand what you are saying is the problem.

    I think the problem is that sometimes some slower cyclists make their way to the front ie in front of cyclists that are already waiting. In this case placing themselves in front of a cyclist that has already overtaken them and whom they know is likely to cycle more quickly than they do. In so doing they are trapping other cyclists behind them in moving traffic. It’s a common courtesy thing that probably most sensible people wouldn’t do.

    I can suggest several courses of action but am not prepared to write them down on a public blog. One I am prepared to offer is to stop them passing you in the first place firstly by bike position or failing that by verbal prediction. By which I mean predicting that the effects of karma are strong in that location they may find themselves blocked in or treated discourteously by another cyclist one day. Maybe today. Maybe soon.

    April 10, 2014 at 3:21 pm #785839
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    FluffyKittenofTindalos

    bikeboy76 wrote:These guys

    bikeboy76 wrote:
    These guys are riding past me, through the lights and stopping on the edge of the junction just as far as the traffic will allow.

    OK, so they are jumping the red. OK, agreed, that (in the circumstances you describe) is a bad thing.

    April 10, 2014 at 3:12 pm #785837
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    FluffyKittenofTindalos

    I don’t understand the
    I don’t understand the description of the problem.

    If you don’t want anyone stopping in front of you why not just stop just behind the forward-most stop-line? I presume you aren’t saying you stop right at the back of the ASL and then object to anyone else entering it, but I don’t understand what you are saying is the problem.

    April 10, 2014 at 3:05 pm #785835
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    KiwiMike

    bikeboy76 wrote:KiwiMike

    bikeboy76 wrote:
    KiwiMike wrote:
    I wasn’t taking anything out of context – I can envisage your setup exactly. So you’re right on the second white line of the ASL, and your gripe is with them riding a meter or so beyond then stopping. OK, that’s a £50 fine if the light is red. You are actually talking about RLJ. Different discussion.

    Jeez you really are trying to be obtuse. Nowhere have I said I am at a ‘second’ line. I am at the stop where I should be. I specifically distinguished between these ‘hoppers’ over RLJs because they can’t get through the junction but still put themselves ahead of other cyclists even if they have just been overtaken by the same. It is this blocking behaviour I am talking about. You still seem to be under the illusion that it is something I am doing that makes people act like this.

    OK, fair point – let’s just call it ‘the line’ – whether there’s an ASL behind it or not is irrelevant. It’s a line you are not allowed to cross if the light is red. The people you describe are red light jumpers. £50 fine. The fact they then decided not to go much further is kinda irrelevant. If there’s no ASL it would explain their behaviour even moreso – they want to get away from the cars and into a primary position.

    (noting you did say ‘Feel free to criticize my don’t-get-in-my-way/holier-than-thou attitude’ – this is exactly what it is. The infrastructure is crap (otherwise you’d have room to safely pass), and people are just doing what feels right/justifiable)

    April 10, 2014 at 2:57 pm #785833
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    Leviathan

    KiwiMike wrote:I wasn’t

    KiwiMike wrote:
    I wasn’t taking anything out of context – I can envisage your setup exactly. So you’re right on the second white line of the ASL, and your gripe is with them riding a meter or so beyond then stopping. OK, that’s a £50 fine if the light is red. You are actually talking about RLJ. Different discussion.

    Jeez you really are trying to be obtuse. Nowhere have I said I am at a ‘second’ line. I am at the stop where I should be. I specifically distinguished between these ‘hoppers’ over RLJs because they can’t get through the junction but still put themselves ahead of other cyclists even if they have just been overtaken by the same. It is this blocking behaviour I am talking about. You still seem to be under the illusion that it is something I am doing that makes people act like this.

    April 10, 2014 at 2:24 pm #785831
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    KiwiMike

    bikeboy76 wrote:KiwiMike

    bikeboy76 wrote:
    KiwiMike wrote:
    ”Same biker comes cruising past” <- explicitly states OP was occupying a section of road wide enough for others to pass. There is no obligation to not utilise all space available, particular to then obtain primary position ahead of motorists - which is the purpose of ASL's that TfL et al instruct cyclists to use.
    Nice try at a quote out of context. I said "get to the next junction and stop at the light. Same biker comes cruising past..." Why would I not have already stopped at the appropriate stop line? Why would I not have already stopped in a ASL if one is available? I don't know if you ride in the UK much KiwiMike but the lights are always set back from the junction. These guys are riding past me, through the lights and stopping on the edge of the junction just as far as the traffic will allow. If your argument is 'let them get on with it' then fine, others have said that already, but you are attempting to dress this up as my mistake. I suspect you regularly get out dragged by roadies at the lights. See you next Tuesday.
    Heh. No need to get personal there petal. I do about 6-7,000km a year in the UK and cycle in London semi-daily. Am I allowed to comment now? 🙂 I wasn't taking anything out of context - I can envisage your setup exactly. So you're right on the second white line of the ASL, and your gripe is with them riding a meter or so beyond then stopping. OK, that's a £50 fine if the light is red. You are actually talking about RLJ. Different discussion.

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