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 limit

I'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.

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.

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.

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 🙄

yeh with the carrier bag 🙂

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.

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

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.

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.

?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.