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Red light jumper

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  • August 11, 2017 at 2:52 pm #27492
    SurreyHiller

    Is it ok to have a word with red light jumpers?

     

    I live, and do the majority of my riding, around the hilly part of the Ride London course.   With it having just happened and the resultant frothing from the general public about the roads being closed, am I a twunt for mentioning it’s not a great idea to sail through a red light on a pedestrian crossing to a chap at the weekend?

    I’d stopped, the rest of the traffic had stopped, but he shot through and off to the next set of red lights which was a road junction.  He wove through the stationary cars to the middle of 2 lanes before being overtaken on both sides as the lights changed before he got to the line.  Result was him trying to get back to the left causing other cars to brake.  200m of terrible riding…

    I caught him after a bit and mentioned that amongst car drivers our reputation as cyclists was already at a low, and his actions just reinforce the stereotype and make close passes and abuse all the more frequent for local riders like myself.

    Don’t know whether I was being sanctimonious or justified.   It only takes a few cyclists to reinforce what prejudices people may have and the rest need to then suffer…

     

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  • August 12, 2017 at 9:46 pm #899711
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    Anonymous

    Jimmy Ray Will wrote:

    Jimmy Ray Will wrote:
    As above… have a go if it bugs you, but as for any feelings that one person’s behaviour should have a k ok on affect to you or other cyclists… yeah, that has to be forgotten.
    Out of interest, were people using the crossing when he ran through it?

    Were there even any pedestrians within 100 yards of the crossing?

    As an aside, there is one set of traffic lights that I jump every time – it is a Toucan crossing and the route take requires joining the shared path on the right-hand side of the road. I suppose I could join it legitimately, in the left hand side of the road and then use the crossing – but that would mean tackling the kerb and the lights would probably change in the meantime.

    August 12, 2017 at 8:48 pm #899709
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    Jimmy Ray Will

    As above… have a go if it
    As above… have a go if it bugs you, but as for any feelings that one person’s behaviour should have a k ok on affect to you or other cyclists… yeah, that has to be forgotten.
    Out of interest, were people using the crossing when he ran through it?

    August 12, 2017 at 8:39 pm #899707
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    Roadie_john

     

     

    No – you’re buying into the “collective responsibility” bollocks that needs fighting at every turn.

    cannot agree more with this. He is a problem. You are part of the problem. 

    August 12, 2017 at 4:45 pm #899705
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    crazy-legs

    Quote:

    I caught him after a bit and mentioned that amongst car drivers our reputation as cyclists was already at a low, and his actions just reinforce the stereotype and make close passes and abuse all the more frequent for local riders like myself.

    Don’t know whether I was being sanctimonious or justified.   It only takes a few cyclists to reinforce what prejudices people may have and the rest need to then suffer…

    No – you’re buying into the “collective responsibility” bollocks that needs fighting at every turn.

    What someone else riding a bike does or does not do in no way reflects on YOU as a cyclist.

    What someone else driving a car does or does not do in no way reflects on YOU as a driver.

    No-one says that all doctors have a bad reputation becasue of Harold Shipman. No-one says that all drivers have a bad reputation because on average they kill 5 people a day on the roads. No-one says that all shoppers have a bad reputation because some people shoplift.

    Stop perpetuating the myth, you’re part of the problem. If he’s riding badly, leave him to it, he’ll fall off and learn a lesson. I bet you’d been driving and the driver in front had jumped a red light you wouldn’t have gone chasing off after him, caught him up and “had a word” telling him that his actions impacted on the overall perception of drivers? No, thought not…

    Concentrate on your own riding – do it safely, assertively and obey whatever road laws you feel are necessary at any given moment. Personally, I go with: 1) my safety, 2) my convenience, 3) the convenience of other road users, 4) the law when I ride but whatever works for you.

    August 11, 2017 at 10:47 pm #899703
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    ChrisB200SX

    Nothing wrong with pointing

    Nothing wrong with pointing out their mistake. But it depends what you say and how you say it. I just point out it was red when I overtake them. I like that go faster between the greens suggestion though 🙂

    I’ve rarely seen a cyclist jump a red light and actually put anyone, including themself, in danger. The ones I’ve seen do that look like crack addicts who will break all the rules all day long.

    August 11, 2017 at 8:57 pm #899701
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    cyclisto

    It is ok if …you do the
    It is ok if …you do the same for pedestrian red light jumpers.

    August 11, 2017 at 8:21 pm #899699
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    madcarew

    “Is it ok ?”

    “Is it ok ?”

    That’s an entirely subjective question. I think it’s perfectly ok, and you’re not being a twunt. It sounds as though you’re after a defnitive answer though, i.e. from the Velominati or the hideously difficult to find and even more hideously difficult to understand The complete guide to the general rules of Life and other Commonsense. You won’t find that answer here. 🙂

    August 11, 2017 at 7:34 pm #899697
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    Nat Jas Moe

    What if a car drver goes

    What if a car drver goes through a red light after looking and seeing no traffic but the T bones a cyclist would it be ok. That’s what your saying everytime you sail through a red light and you see it’s clear. The Rules are there for ever road users safety. Stick to them and you will be safer. Oh and by the way most of the red light jumpers are caught by me before the next set of lights. yes. So it doesn’t get them very far, and they missed the opportunity to take a breather.

    August 11, 2017 at 3:50 pm #899695
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    SurreyHiller

    Was lunchtime on a Saturday,

    Was lunchtime on a Saturday, so busy…

    When I caught him he was having a word with a car which had passed him badly (I didn’t see what had happened) so I mentioned it was probably because of the red light he jumped earlier…

    Was nicely passive aggressive about it, said car drivers already hate us and think we’re w nkers there’s no point proving them right… 

     

    Reminds me of the other guy I saw at the side of a busy roundabout casually peeing into a bush in full view…    At least go behind the bush!

    August 11, 2017 at 3:34 pm #899693
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    Alessandro

    RLJs in busy areas piss me

    RLJs in busy areas piss me off and clearly causes irritation to drivers. I tend to go with something teeming with passive aggressiveness like “that was a red back there by the way” when I go past them but a friend uses a far better comment: “if you go faster between the greens then you wouldn’t need to jump the reds”. 

    August 11, 2017 at 3:27 pm #899691
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    sergius

    Being honest with myself, at

    Being honest with myself, at 7am on a  weekend there are a few red lights I’ll jump when it’s clear and there are no cars about.  I always stop if cars/people are about though; as you say nothing annoys motorists more than cyclists ignoring traffic signals which they are obeying.

    The filtering at traffic lights is a situational one, I tend to always pass on the left slowly until I get to the front.  If the traffic starts moving before I get to the front I then just filter in as the car next to me pulls off.

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