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Do we challenge red light jumpers/green man means cyclist

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  • November 18, 2013 at 7:03 pm #20224
    NIrish

    I was on my usual commute home and I tend to be the type to track stand at every light, when a guy bombs up the inside and away. I caught up with ease (he was older than me) and gently reminded him that green man is for pedestrians. I got an earful along the lines of “…you gonna tell every cyclist…” I got to the top of a hill and more lights, eh whiz zed past on the path to the lines of “…take you to the road,…back to the school run”

    Am I stupid putting myself out there, am I alone in wanting to maintain that roadies/commuters obey road laws.

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Viewing 15 replies - 76 through 90 (of 92 total)
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  • November 19, 2013 at 12:24 pm #763167
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    pauldmorgan

    tomisitt wrote:
    And how sad

    tomisitt wrote:

    And how sad is this: I got the thumbs-up from a truck driver while out riding yesterday…for stopping at a pedestrian crossing to let someone cross.

    I got an enthusiastic (and possibly sarcastic) round of applause from some builders in a van when I got off and walked across a junction the other day. I chose to take it positively.

    This morning’s RLJ score: Bikes 4 Cars 2.

    November 19, 2013 at 12:02 pm #763165
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    BikeBud

    Yep, RLJ’s give us a bad
    Yep, RLJ’s give us a bad name. If “cyclists” don’t respect the rules of the road, why should drivers? We’ve all “experienced” drivers who don’t respect the rules of the road!

    Shouting, swearing or sarcasm will always get a negative reaction. If you can manage to make a point politely you might at least make them think about it.

    November 19, 2013 at 12:02 pm #763163
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    Neil753

    I have a simple solution but,
    I have a simple solution but, as usual, it’s a little radical.

    Does anyone remember the inovative scheme, a few years ago, whereby anyone who “shopped” a drunk driver received a “Community Action Trust reward” of 500 quid? Certainly a lot of cash, back in the day.

    It’s not illegal to film people in a public place, so why not set up a website (or maybe a Youtube channel) where people can upload footage of RLJs, and then split the reward money (for a successful proscecution) between the person who posts the video and the person who identifies the miscreant. A fixed £90 fine could be split three ways (poster, spotter, admin).

    The concept could obviously be applied to drivers too and, with money involved, could become very effective at reducing all manner of bad behaviour on the road. But a pilot scheme for red light jumpers is ideal, because of the objective nature of the offence.

    “Crowd sourcing” evidence gathering in this way, by providing a financial incentive to those involved, could precipitate major improvements in road behaviour, for both cyclists and drivers.

    November 19, 2013 at 11:31 am #763161
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    Colin Peyresourde

    vbvb wrote:In every city
    [quote=vbvb]In every city where cycling is popular and safe, on a par with walking – and I’m thinking of Amsterdam, Bordeaux, Copenhagen etc – there’s no such thing as “our reputation” with drivers. If you are worrying about “our reputation” with drivers, then the problem is that cycling is not popular enough to have outgrown this idea of having a reputation. The goal is to make cycling safer and more enjoyable by making it more popular, making it bigger than being the activity of an outsider “other” group like skateboarders or goths or whatever. Shouting at people does not help. Shouting at them is not about safety, as every study shows.

    http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/dec/15/cycling-bike-accidents-study%5B/quote%5D

    I think it has out grown the reputation of an outsider sport. It is hugely popular, both as a sport and a means of transport. The problem is that people pick it up without any sense of responsibility and legality. It becomes safer when people are aware of the law and cycle craft/etiquette.

    Going around claiming that people do you wrong by having the wrong perception really doesn’t deal with the issues out there. People curse football fans, but most of them don’t worry about that, most people who like football do it in a reasonable and polite manner…..people will always have a tendency to pigeon hole you. Anyway, if you are right about that, cycling will grow if its reputation is better with non-cyclists. I don’t dispute that there are some issues with bigoted characterisations, but you can’t stop them, and you can’t rework time and decide that it is the chicken that came before the egg.

    The problem with RLJ is that it is contagious. If two cyclists are at a red light and one doesn’t stop the other can be tempted to do likewise. And then it becomes endemic. I realised this when I started riding in London. I was tempted to jump every light because people kept jumping them too. I talked with a friend about it soon afterwards, and they put me straight, and he was right. Now I stop at all the lights, and actually I think (purely anecdotal) that other cyclists seem to stop if I stop too.

    November 19, 2013 at 11:13 am #763159
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    Raleigh

    Skip red lights if it makes
    Skip red lights if it makes you feel safe.

    Nothing else will

    November 19, 2013 at 10:24 am #763157
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    bashthebox

    If ever the urge does come to
    If ever the urge does come to berate another road user – be it another cyclist, a motorist or whatever – I try to remain calm and friendly. I think at least then it has a small chance of the other person listening. If you go in angrily or sarcastically, people will tend to react with aggression without considering the argument.
    It’s really, really hard to do that sometimes. Especially after near death experiences.

    November 19, 2013 at 10:02 am #763155
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    farrell

    You should get capes
    You should get capes too:

    http://lmgtfy.com/?q=knight+warrior

    November 19, 2013 at 10:00 am #763153
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    harrybav

    In every city where cycling
    In every city where cycling is popular and safe, on a par with walking – and I’m thinking of Amsterdam, Bordeaux, Copenhagen etc – there’s no such thing as “our reputation” with drivers. If you are worrying about “our reputation” with drivers, then the problem is that cycling is not popular enough to have outgrown this idea of having a reputation. The goal is to make cycling safer and more enjoyable by making it more popular, making it bigger than being the activity of an outsider “other” group like skateboarders or goths or whatever. Shouting at people does not help. Shouting at them is not about safety, as every study shows.

    http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/dec/15/cycling-bike-accidents-study

    November 19, 2013 at 9:51 am #763151
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    jason.timothy.jones

    I agree, they need to know
    I agree, they need to know they are giving US a bad name, we do need to take the high ground.

    Also I need to rest and catch my breath at red lights 🙂

    November 19, 2013 at 9:51 am #763149
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    NIrish

    Good to know I’m not alone,
    Good to know I’m not alone, normally I bite my tongue out of self preservation.

    Last night didn’t go down well with the wife though.

    November 19, 2013 at 9:06 am #763147
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    nellybuck@msn.com

    I’m with OldRidgeback on
    I’m with OldRidgeback on this, the more sarcastic the better (rather than outright aggressive). I do it to people without lights too. Maybe we can turn the tide one rule-breaker at a time.

    November 19, 2013 at 8:59 am #763145
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    timbola

    Yep – in agreement, folks …
    Yep – in agreement, folks … commuting through London, a women cyclist went through 4 red lights in a row. Each time I burned her before the next set. After the fourth red light, I actually rode beside her and explained (without expletives) that she had just ridden through 4 red lights and, apart from being potentially dangerous, gave cyclists a bad name. What did I get for my troubles ? You guessed it – an earful of expletives which were unrepeatable. So I just tore up the road again in disgust.
    (P.S. I accept some cyclists may have a different approach to red lights – I just have my own rules and when I calmly point them out to people, I do not expect castigation)

    November 19, 2013 at 8:29 am #763143
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    PJ McNally

    I usually shout.
    Something
    I usually shout.

    Something like –

    “RED! It’s RED! That means we STOP!”

    It helps that i often have an infant in the trailer behind me – i can pretend I’m telling her how junctions work.

    Also it’s fun to pass the RLJ idiots, towing a child trailer.

    November 19, 2013 at 7:08 am #763141
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    sm

    I think every RLJ should be
    I think every RLJ should be shouted out by their fellow cyclists and shamed into obeying the law. RLJ would soon stop. Unfortunately I’ll just have to watch them wobbling off and through pedestrians until I’m joined. No lights on bikes too is one worthy of your wrath. I love the fact they all get so angry but then I guess when you realise you’re an idiot, then you you’d be angry with yourself too.

    November 18, 2013 at 9:54 pm #763139
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    Colin Peyresourde

    Well done lads. If no one
    Well done lads. If no one tries nothing changes.

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