Are the fines still means tested?
Bike Forum
[closed]
£700 fine for Brighton cyclist.
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Posted 2 years ago #
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What you are doing is red light jumping by crossing the stop line when on red.
You think there's no difference between waiting 1m across the line and sailing through a red light and carrying on with your journey?
Posted 2 years ago # -
From a motorists point of view, creeping over the stopline is wrong and illegal, if cars did it they would be in trouble. There's simply no need if you take the proper road position, and it may get you in the way of pedestrians crossing at that point and puts you legally in the wrong in the case of an accident. Creeping over the line just puts you 1-2m ahead of the traffic meaning you clear the junction before they overtake you - fine, but if you'd take your rightful place in the middle of the lane they wouldn't pass you either, until you pulled over to let them past.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Not legally no there isn't. Both are against the law.
Posted 2 years ago # -
No defence for the RLJ cock, but then there is no defence for cyclists generally apparently !
Posted 2 years ago # -
Not legally no there isn't. Both are against the law
But morally there is. Also practically, since you would never get picked up for crossing the line by 1m.
Your point is?
but if you'd take your rightful place in the middle of the lane they wouldn't pass you either
In order to do that you'd have to wait in the queue of traffic. You are allowed to move up to the front. So it's either wedge your way in between two cars or sit infront of the line.
Posted 2 years ago # -
The whole point (for me at least) is not how leniently would a driver have been treated in the same situation, but is it fair to expect Cyclists as a group of Road users to obey the Law? The simple answer is yes, it’s far easier to effect change from the moral high ground than, a position of “I only break the law because it’s crap” just doesn’t wash when you reverse the argument and apply it to drivers it has to cut both ways…
The fact is he wasn’t in a car he was on a bike and has contributed to the increasingly poor image of urban cyclists; he deserves to be £915 out of pocket…
Posted 2 years ago # -
Come on.
Its not like he bumped into anybody..
Posted 2 years ago # -
Offence - junction of Dyke road and old shoreham road, about 11:15pm ignored a red light, bunny hopped onto pavement while riding without lights.
I just hope I can still do half decent bunny hops, in the dark when i'm 53
Posted 2 years ago # -
TandemJeremy - Member
The big fine is not for the red light jumping - its for failure to stop
+1 and the other 'offences'.
The rider can't have been paying that much attention not to see a uniformed officer and police car/van (assumed the PO was not 'on the beat').
Posted 2 years ago # -
Today, while commuting, I...
Rode on a footpath
Rode the wrong way down a one way street
Rode on several pavements
Rode the wrong way down a dual carriageway
Rode the wrong side of a keep left bollard
Rode through a red light
Rode in a bus lane
Exceeded 30mph in a 30mph limitI'll probably do the same tomorrow because I don't trust car drivers and I don't live in a fantasy world where cycling within the rules gets rewarded with safe roads.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Posted 2 years ago #
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Saw this on TV last night. Apart from jumping the red, riding on the pavement etc, the guy was really obstructive. He was given the opportunity to have a fixed penalty notice but got really aggro with the police, so they basically said "Right mate, you're choice". And the guy said he wanted to go to court. D'oh.
Posted 1 year ago # -
That'll be why his fine was so big! I imagine he'd have got a £30 fine otherwise .. whoops.
Posted 1 year ago # -
If the idiot had just stopped his lips from flapping, he would have been sent on his way with no penalty, but no, he talked his way into trouble.
Self-righteous, sanctimonious bell-end are words that spring to mind.
Posted 1 year ago # -
This thread needs a link to the thread I started after I saw this pillock on TV last night.
He really was a total arse and deseved all he got.
http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/traffic-cops-on-bbc1-just-now-not-ot
Posted 1 year ago # -
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00v8lys/Traffic_Cops_Wheels_of_Fortune/
Skip to 42 mins 15 seconds - they make your decision on that
Some might say is all in the editing
Posted 1 year ago # -
51:51 Check out the coffin dodger cycling past with no lights too
Posted 1 year ago # -
yeh with the carrier bag
Posted 1 year ago # -
Lol at MidlandTrailquestsGraham!! Deviating somewhat from the OP, the debate of RLJing on a bike - do any of those that dont ever RLJ actually cycle regularly in a busy city? Its fairly common and I dont give a hoot if I see someone doing it in Portsmouth, as long as its not a large junction and can clearly see the entrances/exits.
It would interesting to have a poll
Posted 1 year ago # -
That clip on iPlayer is priceless! The cops were actually very nice in the circumstances to ignore the "drunk in charge of a pedal cycle" charge too.
RLJers do annoy me (edit: I cycle through the centre of Edinburgh daily), especially the ones that sail past slowly and then prevent me getting past further down the road. Having said that a lot of the near misses I have on my commute are with pedestrians stepping off the kerb randomly without looking (including at crossings with a red man showing).
It is mostly just annoying though, not dangerous (well, dangerous for anyone else, most of the time). Drivers who cut cyclists up are on a whole other level of intimidation and scaryness and potential to kill you.
Posted 1 year ago # -
do any of those that dont ever RLJ actually cycle regularly in a busy city?
Not regularly nowadays, but I did at one point, and somehow managed to avoid RLJing whilst I was doing so. Cycling in a big city isn't that good a reason to RLJ even if everybody else is doing it - is just an excuse.Posted 1 year ago # -
I'm totally baffled why people think it's OK to go through a red light when they're on a bike. I've had people whizz past me as I've stood in the ASL box and it would appear that they haven't even checked to see if there's anyone coming from either side. I doubt very much that they'd be able to stop if a vehicle was coming at the normal speed.
Harrumph!
Incidentally the answer for me at least is that because otherwise my commute would take about 20 times as long - for no good reason. I never run a run if it will do anyone any harm, i.e., 0% of situations
Posted 1 year ago # -
Second situation is traffic lights triggered by induction loops in the road. No chance of triggering them with a carbo road bike. Again due to road works there were no cars in my lane so after seeing the lights cycle several times before I jumped the lights.
Strictly speaking that's perfectly legal. However unless you have carbon rims you should also be able to trigger such lights with a carbon frame - certainly there are some sets of lights I happily set of with my carbon bike and alu rims, but not the one with carbon rims. That is of course assuming they're adjusted properly - my local set normally won't trip for a completely metal bike, hence I (legally) pass the lights on red when it is safe to do so (every now and then I report they are faulty and get them adjusted, though they always seem to go back - I find it hard to believe the settings drift, so presumably somebody is setting the sensitivity higher to prevent false tripping).Posted 1 year ago # -
Incidentally the answer for me at least is that because otherwise my commute would take about 20 times as long
Not 100 times as long or 1000 times as long? You're sure it's only 20? That seems a very small factor for having to stop at all those red lights.Posted 1 year ago # -
the guy was a tool of epic proportions. he deserved the fine IMO. he thought he was above the law when in reality he was just a pissed middle aged man on a bike who happened to be in contravention of the law!
Posted 1 year ago # -
Degree of hyperbole admitted.
Would make my commute about 1.25 times longer. Would make the particular stretch of road on which there are 3 lights in 30 metres for no apparent reason take 100 times longer!
If I actually had to stop at every traffic light (i.e. if the consequences were worse than a bit of stick from some STW grumps), I wouldn't bother cycling in at all. The whole thing would generally be sh1t, and in financial terms, the likely increased maintenance cost alone would make it uneconomic (i.e., brake pads and chain wear from all that stopping and starting).
I am overstating the case a bit but it's the internet, that's allowed.
Posted 1 year ago # -
That guy had the look of someone who'd got a speeding fine dropping through his door in the morning and had gone out for a few beers with mates to rant about it. I was just waiting for the phrase "police oppression" to come out.
I don't like RLJs but to be fair on the man he did slow down and take a decent look for any traffic coming. Not that I'm condoning that.
Still, makes interesting reading the old posts of people who had no idea of the actual situation slagging off the cops. He had plenty of opportunities to step down and get his ticking off.
Posted 1 year ago # -
?Aracer - are you sure that is legal? I am fairly certain it is not. if there is no light you can go thru but a red light even if it is malfunctioning you have to obey
However that is one of the situations where I will go thu a red light
teh other one is in some situations it is safer to do so as it keeps you out of the way of traffic. This is contentious and some folk say it never happens but I know two sets of lights I use regularly where this is so.
Posted 1 year ago #
Topic Closed
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