[Closed] Red Light Jumpers - ignore them or get involved?

>just shrug and accept some people are just morons

yup.

I only get involved when I have to dial 999

ambulance not police, that is

Little to be achieved IMO.

>just shrug and accept [s]some[/s] most people are just morons

Everytime I get involved and say something to someone being a c*ck I just end up getting abused so I now usually manage to keep my gob shut. It doesn't make any difference if you do say anything. We have a culture that encourages every individual to think they know better than everyone else, tis a shame when the laws of physics prove them wrong 😈 ).

what really pisses me off is when im going through a ride light and i know its safe to do so and some miserable old c#%t shouts abuse at me for doing so, i just wanne rip his ****ing head off if i we'rnt in such a hurry! just chill out man! mind your own business and enjoy your riding!

Cyclists take up less room and can see better. I will run reds sometimes when safe to do so or when the pedestrian lights allow me to. Other times I wait.

I also acknowledge courteous driving from car drivers, try not to do anything daft etc etc.

I think it is a judgement thing.

If you want to control the traffic you should perhaps consider joining the police force?

shaggmiester +1. 95% of the time I stop at red lights as I dont want to look like a cock, upset others or endanger myself. But there are times when theres nout on the road at 4am on my way home, when I just think balls to it and go through, with no more danger than if I was crossing the junction by foot, It does nobody any harm and has no witnesses to upset.

That said, Ive seen loads of red light jumpers when I've been driving and I cant think of one time where they have done so dangerously. I sympathise with their hurry to get across a busy junction before the rest of the queing traffic set of and become a hazzard.

You should definatly chill out. I'd guess your more concerned about the damage being done to the image of cyclists than the fact the guy just sailed past you for being a jobsworth. However, think to yourself the good your doing by stoping at the light and drivers taking note that not ALL cyclists are red light jumpers in the same way not all drivers complain about it.

Nothing controlling about it. Didn't tell him what to do. Just pointed out what he did was illegal. Left the choice to him. Was just hoping he might think twice about it in future

red light jumping
[IMG] [/IMG]

brooess - Member
More often than not when I'm sitting at a red light (on my bike) I'm the only one - all the other bikes have sailed on through.
Does so much damage to our reputation and our case for more considerate drivers IMO. But usually i just let it pass. After all if these people understood the impact/risk, they wouldn't have done it.

Now I know it comes across as a bit arrogant to point out to someone they've gone through a red light - he knew full well what he'd done, just didn't care - and can kindof see why he told me to FO.
Anyone else got involved with RLJ? Is it worth it or just shrug and accept some people are just morons, even if it does make cyclists look like a bunch of arrogant idiots???

Posted 43 minutes ago # Report-Post

Stand at the side of thje road shouting at cars speeding,

Shout at workmen wolf whistling women passing a site,

shout at dog walkers who let their dogs shit,

shout at corrupt politians,

shout at Cameroon, for being a rich fool,

the list goes on.

ignore them.
It's their choice and in some cases "pre-empting" a red light is the safest option.
Ultimately a bendy bus or transit van driver will be the judge of their cycling skills.

+1 Nainosliw. It may damage our image in the eyes of car/van/lorry drivers but in general they show no consideration to us. In fact most of them drive like complete c**ts so basically I don't care what they think.

in fact, even better:
[IMG] [/IMG]

i can upload it onto spreadshirt if you want - you can get a tshirt made to save you the trouble 🙂

i saw one guy on a fixie cock it up completely and very nearly ended up under a car. Messed up the timing and went through as the traffic started crossing the other way, tried to turn right and filter through but ended up locking the back wheel and banging into a taxi.

I thought the taxi driver handled it pretty well, said a few choice words and drove off.

Theres nowt you can do anyway, unless you fancy getting a white bike with some flourescent panniers so you get mistaken for police!

Your life must be dandy if red light jumpers bother you so much, try worring about something that matters.
I really dont see the big deal, its almost acceptable in london

I have jumped the odd redlight myself in a car so I'd be a raving hypocrite if I banged on about bikes.

I have jumped the odd redlight myself in a car so I'd be a raving hypocrite if I banged on about bikes

😆 I thought it, but didnt dare admit it on here 😆

To be honest I do it rather a lot on my daily commute in London, when for example at a cross roads with pedestrian crossings.

All lights are on red and the little green man is on, if there's no pedestrians about I'll happily go through the red light.

Now what does annoy me is people riding on pavements to avoid red lights, WTF, you may as well juts RLJ FFS 😆

I usually shout "corpse" at the top of my lungs.
Few times it gets a guilty over the shoulder head turn.

[i]Does so much damage to our reputation[/i]

[i]Our[/i] reputation? do you see the whole world like this? Some blokes like pissing in street, so in your view this tarnishes all men? some car drivers drive badly, so by repute...All car drivers are bad? Some individuals who happen to be riding bicycles sometimes choose to break the law...Get involved at a level where you'd see any other private citizen breaking the law...

Dont bother I had a stand up argument with one bloke who had jumped two reds. He said to me 'mind your own ****ing business' and as we argued I thought 'your right, its your life who am I to tell you to be careful, watch this watch that'.

Same with cars, if someone blasts past you then catch them at the lights do you wind down your window and critique their driving and caution them that speed can kill?

P.s I'm not a Cyclist, I like to ride bikes as a hobby.

I'm confused:

"I have jumped the odd redlight myself in a car so I'd be a raving hypocrite if I banged on about bikes."

Then 24 minutes later.

"I had a stand up argument with one bloke who had jumped two reds..."

(Previously)

Here in York a couple of bike shops are getting a "stop at red" campaign. but i think it only applies to a few people. haven't worked it out yet.

People who jump red lights on their bikes annoy me too.

Campaign groups and others are working hard to get cycling accepted as a valid mode of transport. Red light jumpers undermine that work.

It marginalises cycling and it annoys other road users - particularly professional ones - leading to the very angry remark one taxi driver made to me which was "YOU'RE ALL THE F&&KING SAME YOU LOT!".

Or maybe we should all ignore all laws? Let's do that, shall we? Exceed the speed limit, park where you like, jump red lights, drive in cycle lanes, drive the wrong way up one way streets.

Exceed the speed limit

I hear you, but how many STW'ers who drive cars stick within the speed limit for the majority of the time?

Maybe post 60yrs old we will. We are Mammals, designed not stick to laws. We aren't Nazi youth after all.

Ignore, except when they get hit then offer yourself as a witness that they jumped the RL, screws up their claim against the car driver quite nicely. Equally when they hit a ped offer your services as a witness so that the ped gets a decent payout for the harm caused.

If I was going to make a stand against one of societies ill's, I hope I would aim a little higher.

Karinofnine - Member

angry remark one taxi driver made to me which was "YOU'RE ALL THE F&&KING SAME YOU LOT!".

we should all ignore all laws? Exceed the speed limit, park where you like, jump red lights, drive in cycle lanes, drive the wrong way up one way streets.

i ride round London a lot. I go through red lights when it's safe and won't affect any other road user/pedestrian. i personally wouldn't be upset about anything a taxi driver said that grouped me with anybody else seeing as I have been hit by one taxi, had at least one more deliberately swerve at me when riding a reasonable distance from the kerb and had more near misses than i could count.

i don't see the issue with it from a convenience or a safety point of view, though obviously there are lots of riders who cause risk to others. nothing i can do about that, though.

i also occasionally drive over the speed limit and no doubt break numerous other laws.

I wasn't upset by the driver's remark in a personal sense, I've been called worse and in any event I am not "the same" because I stop at red lights, give hand signals and keep good observation.

I was upset because it illustrates the deep divide between professional drivers and bike riders. There was a thread in the week on the matter of sentencing disparity - increasing alienation between two of the groups of road users is not the way address that disparity.

As missingfrontallobe says, if you are knocked off your bike having run a red, your act will be deemed contributory negligence and any award you may achieve on a successful PI claim will be correspondingly reduced or possibly even extinguished completely.

See you on the road. (I'll be the one stopped at the red light!) 🙂

Karinofnine - Member

if you are knocked off your bike having run a red, your act will be deemed contributory negligence and any award you may achieve on a successful PI claim will be correspondingly reduced or possibly even extinguished completely.

that's obviously fair enough, and no different to the situation if you pulled out of a junction without looking - anyone using a road in any way has to take responsibility for their actions and risks.

I just don't see what motivation there is to jumping reds other than saving time.

because if i'm out on my bike i'd rather be riding it than being forced to sit still when there's an empty road in front of me.

Yeah, I feel like that when I'm driving my car, next time I'm at a red I think I'll just drive straight on down that 'empty road in front of me'...

RED TRAFFIC LIGHT means STOP, does not matter if you are on a bike, car, truck, scooter, milf float.motor bike, tractor,invalide carriage. you stop, thats the LAW, if you got hit,or you hit someone, you would have the book thrown at you, period, rant over

Karinofnine - Member

Yeah, I feel like that when I'm driving my car, next time I'm at a red I think I'll just drive straight on down that 'empty road in front of me'...

i'd do that too in safe circumstances if i didn't have that annoying number plate attached to it... it's also a lot harder in car, due to size etc.

and jd-boy - when i drive at over 70 on the motorway, when safe to do so, i run the same risk. i imagine you do too, though fair play if you never speed.

Interestingly in the states you can drive through a red light if you're turning right and not crossing traffic.

It actually makes a hell of alot of sense and would speed things up quite alot.

The only time I've jumped a red light (for an entrance to Wicks on a early sunday morning, on my jump bike so takes effort to get up to speed uphill) a van driver took exception to me, pulled over and tried to start a fight with me...

You were telling him off, whether you admit it or not. I ride through red lights - I have done all my life, despite being told off by an alleged off-duty policeman when I was about 13. I make the judgement and it is safer than setting off with all the cars trying to get past you before you hold them up, and driving you into the gutter in the process. I do slow down though.

My main objection is to people talking about "running" red lights. "Jumping" lights is o.k.

i honestly can'see how such little things bother people so much! it just shows how ****ing dull there lifes are, just like walkers moaning about riding on footpaths, f*#k off and get a life man! theres so much more to be concerned about in this world than jumping a red light or riding footpaths which i do all the time time so sue my bad ass im a hooligan and should be locked up, if my collerbone wer'nt broke id be out there on this beutifull day ripping some tracks, jumping some red lights and enjoying my life! whats up with you guys! 🙂

Our reputation? do you see the whole world like this? Some blokes like pissing in street, so in your view this tarnishes all men? some car drivers drive badly, so by repute...All car drivers are bad? Some individuals who happen to be riding bicycles sometimes choose to break the law...Get involved at a level where you'd see any other private citizen breaking the law...

You're dead right, it's ridiculous, but nevertheless drivers (i.e. the majority of the adult population) do seem to treat all cyclists (or members of other minority groups) as the same person. It would be nice if they didn't, but they do.

I've never bothered remonstrating with any RLJers mainly because I can't imagine anyone is ever going to seriously reconsider their actions in the light of someone shouting at them in the street- and that goes for drivers as well as cyclists.

And as for this stuff about jumping lights 'cos it's safer to get away ahead of the traffic, I don't get how this works. It's going to pass you either just after the lights change or 100m down the road, so what's the difference? Unless you've wedged yourself in a crap position by filtering up to the lights, and why would you do that?

I was upset because it illustrates the deep divide between professional drivers and bike riders.

There's your mistake Karin you mistook a taxi driver as a professional 😀

here you go, i made you puritans a tshirt:
[url= http://i42.tinypic.com/iyosv7.jp g" target="_blank">http://i42.tinypic.com/iyosv7.jp g"/> [/img][/url]

🙂

theflatboy - Member

Karinofnine - Member

Yeah, I feel like that when I'm driving my car, next time I'm at a red I think I'll just drive straight on down that 'empty road in front of me'...

"i'd do that too in safe circumstances if i didn't have that annoying number plate attached to it... it's also a lot harder in car, due to size etc."

I was being sarcastic. However, frustrating it is to sit there at a light-controlled pedestrian crossing with no pedestrians on it, I still sit there.

Anyway, I'm off to do some shoplifting now as it seems from on here that you can just pick and choose which laws you want to break. See ya!

mind your own business and enjoy your riding!

Really you have no concept of how much RLJing cyclists cheese off drivers and how much that rubs off on law-abiding cyclists do you? Head in the f*cking sand, what a moron.