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Stopped by the Police, did I break the law?

  • This topic has 90 replies, 54 voices, and was last updated 11 years ago by Anonymous.
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  • May 29, 2015 at 2:24 pm #24113
    untakenname

    Rode my commuting bike into work today and came up on some red traffic lights at Dulwich so dismounted and walked it across the junction (green man was showing) as it sometimes takes upto 3 minutes for the lights to change again then hopped back on and carried on my way.

    A little while later some dick in an undercover bmw 1 series sounds his sirens and lights at me making me stop and then starts berating me saying how it’s illegal to go through a red light, I said that I was walking across so there was no issue as I was a pedestrian at the time and then he has the audacity to tell me that I’m still wrong and that “this is a one way conversation” even though imo I wasn’t breaking any laws.

    Video here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnvPMXq3XoI

    Just wondering if what I did was illegal and if so what laws I’ve broken?

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  • May 29, 2015 at 5:33 pm #847953
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    Anonymous

    Sorry mate!
    I’d love to be
    Sorry mate!
    I’d love to be able to defend your actions but I can’t. Your guilty as charged.

    In future if you don’t want a repetition of this incident then you must make your transitions between being a cyclist and being a pedestrian clear and unambiguous.
    Stop – Dismount- Move onto footpath – Use crossings clearly – Return cycle to the road – Remount – Continue as a cyclist.

    Or alternatively get up earlier, set off on your journey earlier and stop for red lights. It really isn’t rocket science. đŸ˜€

    And yes I do know that there is no legal difference between a pedestrian in the road and a pedestrian on the footpath.

    May 29, 2015 at 5:29 pm #847951
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    Must be Mad

    hmm, interesting. if you are
    hmm, interesting. if you are walking, then you are not riding across, and I don’t see what law you are accused of breaking.
    However walking up the road was a little OTT – in future hop onto the pavement while walking and you should be OK

    May 29, 2015 at 5:21 pm #847949
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    mrmo

    i do think that what you did
    i do think that what you did is against the spirit of the law, you were on the carriageway after all and never left it.

    BUT,

    there is no law against jay walking so i guess you could walk along the road and the police could only advise you to use the pavement. As you can walk a bike on the pavement it doesn’t take much of a leap to state you can walk along the road with a bike, and as traffic lights don’t apply to pedestrians, which a person pushing a bike is.

    May 29, 2015 at 5:10 pm #847947
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    untakenname

    I honestly didn’t expect
    I honestly didn’t expect these types of replies, if I was to wait at every set of lights then I’d be quicker on a motorbike, it must add at least 10-15 minutes to my commute in rush hour. I’m just wondering if I’ve broken any laws?

    The police wouldn’t stop a pedestrian from running across the road whilst the green mans flashing so does it change anything if I’m wheeling a bike across at the same time?

    I stop for lights when I’m on my road bike as I’m clipped in with time expresso cleats and carbon soles and also on my commuting bike when the light changes don’t take the piss (anyone else commuting through Dulwich will know about the excessively long wait times at the lights).

    I commute in from Kent into London each day (must have ridden thousands of miles over the past couple of years) and have had some serious accidents but none of them have been my fault (as proven in magistrates court twice and crown court once when drivers have been sentenced).

    Tbh I thought the policeman put the lights and sirens on to get the massive piece of tarpaulin out of the road not to berate me, the rider that had stopped at the lights spoke to me as well later on and said the police drivers driving himself was substandard when passing him and didn’t see anything wrong with what I had done.

    May 29, 2015 at 5:07 pm #847945
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    Malaconotus

    The rules of the road
    The rules of the road relating to pushing a bike on the road and on the pavement are not clear, and there aren’t many test cases. Lengthy diiscussion here – http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=71982&start=15 – is directly relevant.

    From that discussion, though, it does seem the OP’s actions are illegal. Had he hopped onto the footway first and crossed to the footway the other side it is much less clear.

    May 29, 2015 at 4:44 pm #847943
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    consciousbadger

    Hilarious. If you haven’t got
    Hilarious. If you haven’t got the message already then please go on a cycling proficiency course and learn the rules of the road.

    May 29, 2015 at 4:20 pm #847941
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    rnick

    I rather enjoyed this…..the
    I rather enjoyed this…..the absolute indignation on your part for being caught out and refusal to accept you were wrong. Did you get a fixed penalty notice :))

    May 29, 2015 at 4:11 pm #847939
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    Kadinkski

    This is the equivalent of
    This is the equivalent of someone arriving at a red light in their Ford Escort, slamming it into neutral, jumping out and pushing it through the intersection. Totally out of order.

    May 29, 2015 at 4:00 pm #847937
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    BarryE

    You basically ran through a
    You basically ran through a red light, across a junction with your bike. That was clearly dangerous and obviously not a OK thing to do. Follow the rules of the road, just cause you area a cyclist doesn’t mean you get special treatment at red lights.

    May 29, 2015 at 3:49 pm #847935
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    peted76

    Yes, I’d say you’re in the
    Yes, I’d say you’re in the wrong here and if you still can’t see it, you need to stop commuting by bike as you’ll probably cause an accident.

    May 29, 2015 at 3:36 pm #847933
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    brooksby

    Sorry, but I’m with the other
    Sorry, but I’m with the other commenters on this one – yes, you got off and scooted, but you scooted across the junction, on the road. No wonder the Men in Black went after you đŸ˜‰

    May 29, 2015 at 3:04 pm #847931
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    lbuch

    No wonder cyclists get a bad
    No wonder cyclists get a bad name

    May 29, 2015 at 2:41 pm #847929
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    Leodis

    Duplicate
    Duplicate

    May 29, 2015 at 2:40 pm #847927
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    Leodis

    What three minutes was too
    What three minutes was too long to wait?

    Edit:

    Just checked the video and you didnt leave the road, you basically got off your bike approaching the lights and ran across the junction and then remounted. No better than RLJ

    May 29, 2015 at 2:31 pm #847925
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    HarryTrauts

    Perhaps, if you’d crossed
    Perhaps, if you’d crossed using the pedestrian crossings he would have left you alone. Pushing your bike across the junction in the way you did does look like you jumped a red light.

    It’s a fair cop.

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