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There are red lights where the only sensible thing to do is to jump them - those that never go green for a bike, those where the road layout is so dangerous that its safer to jump.
there are those it doesn't matter - where yo can see clearly and there is no risk
There are those its stupid to jump.
I personally jump red lights when it is safer for me to do so. MY safety is paramount
Ultimately I don't care what you do, I do think it sets a bad example to younger riders who don't have the road knowledge and experience. I ride in London and pass a few schools, I often see plebs jumping the lights even with a lollipop lady, it's those riders I wish harm, the roads would be a better place without them.
I just believe most people can differentiate between between the actions of an individual and those of a group
That's not my experience.
I think it's a personal choice, I used to do it, now I don't.
There are many occasions when driving into work that I could ignore a red, but I don't as anyone can make a mistake and get it wrong.
It's easier to get a bad reputation than foster a good one, how many times have you heard the non-cyclist say things like 'all cyclists jump red lights, I saw [u]ONE[/u] the other day go straight through'
I think bad behaviour encourages others to do the same, why not start setting an example? If one group stands out it makes the others look bad/good (like us RLJ'ing gives motorists the moral high ground).
The upside of stopping at reds is that it's like interval training and makes you stronger ๐
Ideally I'd like an ideal world, not gonna happen though!
Find some of the posts here staggering. Yip, i'm such a good experienced driver i'm also able to decide which lights i think are safe to jump. ๐
I pointed out that he'd done the same a couple of minutes earlier but he just couldn't get it.
see hypocritical cyclists a few times of the week in London - happy to jump red lights, ride on the pavement, generally ride like twits.. but the minute someone else wrongs them (cyclists, peds, taxis etc) they are all 'f'in and blinding and 'i have that on camera etc etc...
see one comedy guy on a tourer a few times.. followed him towards victoria from waterloo... at each red light he would do a moving dismount and then run through the junction and then hop back on... very funny to watch...