Some cyclists make my blood boil…

at the end of the day, all shes done is piss you off.
shes only endangered her own safety. (and maybe the safety of your paintwork)

I agree with you, she sounds like a **** moron, cutting up traffic that hasnt seen her, running reds etc,

but then again, when im on a bike, im a right ****t,
one has to be, because you can guarantee the one driver you give an inch, hasnt seen you, or more realistically hasnt looked for you.

raising the pulses of a few innocents a little, keeps mine (pulse) in working order, not reliant on a machine.

**** em’

It never fails to amaze me the number of cyclist that pass me while I’m stopped at a junction and who I later pedal past.

If you’re in such a hurry – PEDAL HARDER!!!

This has become a very interesting thread and I can honestly say that I cannot believe for a second that anyone could think her riding was in any way acceptable and condone riding in that manner. I can only assume that those that think that riding in that manner is sensible are the ones that further add to the bad image cyclists have with the general public.

And yes, I do admit to riding on a footpath, but that particular circumstance is VERY different to the one I outlined in my OP – it is part of a network of bridleways and footpaths on private land and one that cannot be avoided if I want to link up the bridleways. Harrogate Council admit it is not ideal but they are currently powerless to change the access on it. They have done so on other footpaths in the network. And for what it is worth, on that footpath I do not ride with disregard for other users unlike the woman yesterday.

Ohh, and running red lights is safer in some circumstances? Think about what you have just said and consider WHY the light is at red will you. It might save your life one day.

Mastiles – its easy.

The couple of places where I sometimes run a red light are where there is a bottleneck shortly after the lights and another set of lights not far away. If you set off 20 seconds early you get to the bottleneck ahead of the cars thus are not squashed into the kerb as cars try to get past you and arrive at the next set of lights ahead of them as well thus can change lanes in more safety.

Basically going early keeps you out of the way of cars, going on green gets you in the way of the cars. Both sets you are not going on green for cars any direction but on the end of the green man – so after the pedestrians have cleared the junction. You can also see the whole junction and the feeder roads so can see if there are any cars on the side roads.

I don’t always do it – it depends on the traffic around and whether there are illegally parked cars making the bottlenecks worse

What are traffic lights for? To control the movement of cars not to make it safer for cyclists.

Oh, I thought this was taking place somewhere of interest. I’m not really interested in stuff happening in other countries.

What are traffic lights for? To control the movement of cars

No, they are to control the movement of vehicles, not cars. But good on you if you think it is safer to ride through a red light totally unprotected on a bicycle. You had just better hope that there is no-one thinking it is okay to do take a similar chance coming from the other direction of traffic in a big heavy metal car-type thingie…

Mastiles – can you read? AS in my post above at these junctions that I know well I am not crossing when it is green for any cars but on the end of the green man and I can see hundreds of yards in the direction any car could come from. So if there is a car that could put me in danger I don’t go. However due to very poor road layout it is usually safer to go thru ahead of the cars.

Two points:
Riding through a red light when there is clear visibility and no vehicles approaching is clearly safer for a cyclist than getting embroiled in the green light drag race.
Riding without lights at night is no more dangerous because the injuries caused by people not seeing you are compensated for by those you avoid because they find it harder to aim at you.

Having read all the above with interest, it’s a good job MF didn’t take her out as approx half of you would be on his case as a murdering car driver. I am truly amazed at the way people condone cyclists that ride like that and also the typical ‘i’m so tough’ comments about windscreen wipers etc

The whole world needs a big **** off chill pill

Tandem and Onewheel – I give up – if you think it works for you then go for it.

Ride safe.

Mastiles – can you read? Please try reading my post. It is clearly safer in some circumstances to jump lights.

I like to observe what I am doing and the vehicles around – not just blindly follow rules.

If I can see all the roads feeding into the junction and know all the cars are at red lights and stationary where is the danger coming from?

I do not ride on pavements getting into arguments with pedestrians. I ride defensively and safely. Only 40 yrs of urban riding with no significant accidents

I must say I’m dissapointed that so many here seem to think it’s OK to ride like a complete idiot on the road. I agree that you need to ride defensively on the road, but if we randomly ignore the highway code then we’ll just re-enforce the generally anti-bike feeling of many other road users.

I like to observe what I am doing and the vehicles around – not just blindly follow rules.

And when everyone else takes the same approach to using traffic lights? **** it, let’s just get rid of them all. Actually, that might not be a bad idea in many circumstances, but that is another story…

Crossing a junction on red light is no more dangerous than crossing a normal crossroads.

As long as in jumping the red you do not have any impact on the speed or position of any other road user or pedestrian then I see no problem if its a safer alternative than riding with the traffic.

In london however IMO, there are few traffic light junctions that it is neccessary to jump on red for safety reasons. And so its better to wait for the lights rather than give angry motorists more fuel to their ire.

This must be the most exciting thing to happen in Harrogate for years. Gosh, I envy you.

Mastiles are you thick? Or just incapable of understanding? Or incapable of reading what others have written

At these two junctions I can see every car and every approach to the junction for at least 100 yds.

Both junctions have pinch points shortly after them often with illegally parked cars. If you wait until the lights go green no matter what your road positioning you get put in danger at the pinch points.

If you go 20 seconds early while the traffic lights are red for all cars and after I have checked that there are no moving cars in any direction then you arrive at the pinch points before the cars. Thus it is safer for me. I will be turning right at the next junction

So I am left with a choice – follow the rules of the road to the letter and be put in danger or maximise my own safety at no inconvenience or danger to to others by breaking the law.

By doing what I do I not only avoid the cars attempting to overtake at the pinch points but can get into the correct position to turn right at the next junction without having to cross a line of moving traffic

You have previously admitted to riding on footpaths – so you do not obey all laws either. Stop being such a sanctimonious hypocrite

Running a red light on a bike is like crossing a road with no pedestrian crossing.

Yes it can be done dangerously, but if you’re careful it is no more dangerous.

I’m not talking about travelling full pelt through a red light and hoping to be able to swerve through the traffic, and hoping that they can avoid you. That’s like running out into the road without looking (which many pedestrians do, but you get few rants in the Daily Mail about).

At the end of the day if that makes your blood boil you need to get a life. No offence.

Ohh how I like it when people resort to being offensive – it shows them in their true colours.

Love to all, I am not going to add any more to a thread where the level of discussion has resorted to schoolyard name-calling.

x

You must’ve gone to a pretty posh school for “sanctimonious hypocrite” to be schoolyard name calling!

I agree with phil, Tandem and onewheelgood.
SOMETIMES it is safer to jump a red light. I don’t do this often, in fact TandemJeremy described exactly the situations where I do jump lights, to avoid green light log jams. My judgement is that in certain instances this is the safer option. On a bike my concern is for safety over and above the highway code.
In fairness to Mastilles, it is entirely possible the girl was cycling like a nutter. But not everyone who sometimes jumps red lights or path hops is an evil cyclist.

philjunior – Member

You must’ve gone to a pretty posh school for “sanctimonious hypocrite” to be schoolyard name calling!

he called him thick too. I’m telling sir.

I thought “sanctimonious hypocrite” was a statement of fact 🙂

Certainly Mastiles tone was sanctimonious IMO

– if you think it works for you then go for it.

Ride safe.

And this is clearly hypocrisy

And yes, I do admit to riding on a footpath,

so its OK for you to break traffic law when you feel its the right thing for you to do but anyone else doing it is an idiot?

back away from the thread TJ

OK

back away from the thread TJ

LOL

I run a cpl of reds similar to TJs example, greenlight drag races are not nice, but it IS breaking the law/HW code whatever so I won’t get on people cases about RLJ in general other than to not be stupid about it.
It does piss me off when I’m sat at a redlight and another cyclists rides straight passed me, it’s bad manners IMO but as I said cant get too hypocritical about it.

As for the “giving cyclists a bad name” that argument was, is and always shall be BS. I regularly have near misses with idiots who don’t look where they are driving but I don’t walk into work moaning about all car drivers being bloody incompetant **** (admittedly my riding style is based on that assumption) that would just be stupidity on my part.

so its OK for you to break traffic law when you feel its the right thing for you to do but anyone else doing it is an idiot?

He didn’t break a traffic law, he rode his bike on a public footpath.

I jump one red light on the way home a left turn cars coming out of that road turning right so no chance I can be hit by anything.
If I wait i then get cars going mental at me down a B road as they cannot overtake as I am out wide(overgrown hedge and thorny) in the road. If I go on red i clear it before they catch may. If it is Green I wait for it to change as it is a bit of a death alley IMHO
If a cyclist was waiting at a set of lights I would stop and chat …clearly NOT if it was DONK I would need the head start.

Apart from that I dont jump them …anymore

this incident and your previous incident (on the footpath) have one thing that makes them very similar in my opinion.
the cyclist, on both occasions, was behaving in a way that a large proportion of the general public would deem to be wrong. you seem to think there were some mitigating circumstances in your favour. maybe you should allow the same priveledge to other cyclists.

did you have your indicator on?

i know you can only say yes, whether you did or not, but it really racks me off when people dont indicate.

did you have your indicator on?

No I didn’t – I was going straight on – the road just beared to the right.

And it was on a one-way street.

If I had indicated left people would assume I was going immediate left (or possibly going on the second left which is immediately after the first left). If I was indicating right I would have been given a very wide berth by anyone watching where they were going and thinking about the circumstances 🙂

And if I HAD been indicating left she really would have been **** stupid!

My take on it and it and it’s the way I ride/drive, is if the person in the other vehicle had time to react then there was obviously enough space for me to move into.
Don’t be afraid to use the brakes. That’s why they fitted them in the first place.

All this talk of left, right, left has got me really confused………………….

ap – become a nationalist then you don’t have to worry about the left right thang.

I think any person, of licensable age, who wishes to ride on a public road should have to pass a basic competence test before they go near a road. They should also have to pass an advanced cycling test, within 6 months of the first test, to prove competence before being issued with a cycling licence, which would be endorsable just like your driving licence is.

Of course insurance would also be compulsory, approved helmets compulsory and some kind of identification clearly displayed on the rider.

With cyclist accountable like any other road user they may not be in such a rush to ride recklessly and break the law.

I think i shall run for local government with this as my prime policy, i will then be free to screw the general public in any way i wish.

I always stop and allow ladies on horseback to pass.

This gives me the opportunity to observe their posteriors posture.

Ooh.. jodhpurs….

Your take on it is simply wrong Muggomagic. Please start riding and driving with a bit more courtesy towards others. I don’t want to run you over or drive into the back of you thanks, and my reactions might not be as good as yours.

Ohh, and running red lights is safer in some circumstances? Think about what you have just said and consider WHY the light is at red will you. It might save your life one day.

It can be.

How about this one?

I’m in a single lane side street and want to turn left (towards town) into a 4 lane dual carriageway. The dual carriegeway ends about 100m later at a T junction and I need to make a right turn there so need to be in lane 3 of 4.

There is no filter on the lights out the side street, but there is a filter so traffic coming from town can turn right into my side street.

Now, I have two options. I can wait for my light to go green, in which case I’m trying to take up the whole of lane 3 but still being passed on both sides by traffic.

Or I can go when the traffic from my right is stopped to let the traffic from town go into my sidestreet. This clearly involves jumping a red light but the traffic going into the carriageway I am joining has been stopped, and the 10-15 secs is enough to get to the queue of traffic at the end of the dual carriageway.

Which is safest and what should I do?

(For Edinburgh people, this is the left turn from Canning Street onto the West Approach Road, then right into Lothian Road).

I see your point StuN. That sounds like a nasty junction and one which I’d try to avoid. Mind you, it’s also safer for car drivers to RLJ there, no? Is it really that dangerous to occupy the middle of lane 3 for 100m? I have a dodgy section on a 50 limit which splits into 2 lanes. Have no end of idiots trying to overtake after I’ve been indicating and moving over for 10 secs plus. Once in the right turn lane though, I occupy it up to the lights for about 200m. Never had a problem doing that.

I don’t use it any more but for a couple of weeks (thanks to a combination of Edinburgh tram works and other roadworks) it was the only practical option on my commute into work.

I don’t think it is an issue for cars as they are pretty much going the same speed as each other, rather than a bike which is a bit slower.

The other issue was timing of the second lights, if I went early I caught the cars waiting at them and got through no probs, if I didn’t there were cars behind me and clear road and a green light ahead. Not a happy place to be.