Driving through Bewdley today, I got stuck in a traffic jam at some temporary lights, which were out of sight round a sharp, blind, left hand corner. There was no traffic coming the other way, which is not unusual because it is a very narrow road with junctions and it only takes one car blocking a junction to gridlock the town until the lights have gone through another cycle.
While sat in the queue, a vintage motorbike came put-put-putting past us all at about 10mph on the wrong side of the road.
Just as he got level with a coach, which was a few vehicles ahead of me, the lights must have changed because the coach started moving forwards.
At the same time a car appeared coming towards us round the corner.
With nowhere to go, the bike stopped. The car stopped. The coach continued to move forwards. The bike pulled in the gap between the coach and the following car.
No drama, no near misses, everyone was moving at about walking pace.
Meanwhile, the woman in the car in front of me shook her head in disbelief at the idea of a motorcyclist holding up the oncoming traffic for 10 seconds.
Round the corner and on to the traffic lights. The coach and a couple of other cars went through on green, then the lights turned red.
The next three cars, including the one driven by head shaking woman, went through on red.

So there you are. In car driver world, attempting to pass a line of stationary traffic on a bike, then getting caught out by a surprise car coming the other way is wrong.
Driving through road works after the lights have gone red and inevitably causing a delay to the oncoming cars after their light has gone green is OK.

This made a big enough impact on your day to warrant starting a thread about?

Really?

The shocking case of the woman with the shaking head.

doesn't this fall into the same category as middle aged women moaning about drivers using there mobile phone whilst on the phone driving? or school run mum moaning about the traffic?

mind you for balance, went through a section of roadworks last week, it was green when i started, i was behind a cyclist and rather than squeeze past i just followed them through. Got beeped and flashed by some nob in a car coming the other way because he was being held up. He could see me coming from before he started moving but rather than wait he started to come through because his traffic lights were on green, soon followed by his reversing to get out of the way!

On the subject of head shaking… I was pulling up to the Severn Bridge toll plaza a few weeks ago, and I was slowing nice and gently choosing my lane as far back as I could.. well I decided to change lanes very very early still, and I looked in my mirrors to change – it was clear.. started to move left still checking mirrors (cos I know there's lots of cars moving on both sides of me) and there's a motorcyclist who's appeared from nowhere (msut've been going pretty fast) attempting to UNDERTAKE me going quicker than me. I see said motorcyclist and stop my lane changing and he then OVERtakes me.. and HE shakes his head at ME! Bloody cheek! He's the one chopping through the cars, wtf does he expect! I only started a manouevre and stopped when I saw his antics.. but he's yet another bloody superior 'oh aren't car drivers all so ignorant' bloody biker.. grr…100% his fault for being a dick – fact.

My head is lolling in a soporiphic stupor after reading that.

And yet when I was at the lights yesterday waiting for them to turn green rather than unclip and put a foot down I used a golf as a leaning post. The rather lovely girl driving it smiles at me, winds down the window "cheeky" she calls out then "nice legs" …

People eh?

"middle aged women moaning about drivers using there mobile phone whilst on the phone driving"
– mrmo

Not wishing to start any arguments or anything but I'm not prepared to let this one go. I'm neither female nor middle aged but I can say that I have a major problem with anyone that thinks it's ok to use a mobile phone whilst driving.

I suspect she was just playing this,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hy1YF54rZZM

I will never forget seeing a woman in front of me, crawling through traffic lights………….and she was using her laptop !!!

Some people are just born idiots!

roadie_in_denial
Not wishing to start any arguments or anything but I'm not prepared to let this one go. I'm neither female nor middle aged but I can say that I have a major problem with anyone that thinks it's ok to use a mobile phone whilst driving.

+1

I saw a dead rabbit on the road to work this morning.

I ran over it on purpose on my 1200cc two wheeled death trap whilst talking to my nan on the phone. Can't believe the idiocy of wildlife sometimes!

I nudged a wing mirror this morning whilst filtering past stationary traffic at some lights. I stopped and said "sorry" and the lady in the car replied "don't worry no harm done". Then we both continued our journeys.

I bet she shook her head once I was out of sight.

LOL @ Riofer

How do you know she was shaking her head at the motorcyclist?

How do you know she was shaking her head at the motorcyclist?

Good point.

She might have been tussle-drying her hair.

Or being attacked by a wasp.

Or watching an imaginary game of tennis.

Driving through road works after the lights have gone red and inevitably causing a delay to the oncoming cars after their light has gone green is OK.

Clearly not too worried about the laws regarding the road, more the fact that she was being held up, hence running the reds. Not really double standards. However there's often a mahooooosive delay between one side going red and the other green, so unlikely to be a problem.

Or aghast at the sight of a fat middle aged IT manager decked out in lycra sitting on his bike behind her.

"This made a big enough impact on your day to warrant starting a thread about?"
Well, the thread made a big enough impact to get 18 replies so far, so if that's anything to go by, yes.

"…fat middle aged IT manager decked out in lycra sitting on his bike behind her"
Did you miss this bit;
"Driving through Bewdley today…"
And I'm a fat, middle aged bus mechanic, I'll have you know.

"How do you know she was shaking her head at the motorcyclist?"
I did wonder that myself at the time, but as she was in an open topped car I got a good view of her head movement as she watched the bike go past and that theory best fits the evidence.

I can only presume what the driver was thinking, but after all the "I saw a motorcyclist doing something naughty, therefore all motorcyclists are naughty" and "Don't do anything naughty on your mountain bike because then car drivers will think we're all naughty" threads, it came as first hand experience of watching someone tut tutting at a motorcyclist causing a minor hold up, then finding it acceptable to do almost exactly the same thing themselves.

I guess you city types see this sort of thing every day. It was a bit of a novelty to me.

Or watching an imaginary game of tennis

I'm watching a game of pong on my pc, no I'm not I'm shaking my head at MilitantGraham.

Someone threatened me with a knife in a queue of traffic last week after I flicked them the V's for barging in. Oh how I shook my head.

However there's often a mahooooosive delay between one side going red and the other green, so unlikely to be a problem

Let me know if that defence works in court will you.

Let me know if that defence works in court will you.

I've no way of knowing.

A flock (it must have been a flock) of crows cr4pped on my car today.

I washed it off and it was difficult.

That is all.

There's often enough time to squeeze through after the red – cheeky but not dangerous.

The motor cyclist seems at most fault to me, but I guess it's cool to slam car-drivers on here.

There's often enough time to squeeze through after the red – cheeky but not dangerous

Yoou cannot be serious can you ?
You even qualify it with often meaning even you accept that sometimes it is not safe to ignore red lights. of cours eit iwll always e more dangerous to jump a re dlight than actually do as you are meant to and stop. The highway code is there to make the roads safer if we all start interpretting these rules we have a problem.
The red light means stop it is therefore best to stop

Please use you brain. Of course it can be dangerous, but not always, for instance when you can see there are no cars waiting (in which case it is legal also I am told).

As for the motorcyclist overtaking before a blind bend, you have no comment?

Let me know if that defence works in court will you.

I may be wrong but I was once told that temporary lights are only advisory and you cannot be charged with an offence for going through them at red. Not that I ever have. Nope, never.

Same here – you could of course be charged with dangerous/careless driving etc.

you could of course be charged with dangerous/careless driving etc.

Yep – as that offence can be committed irrespective of whether another specific offence has been committed.

Please use you brain. Of course it can be dangerous, but not always, for instance when you can see there are no cars waiting (in which case it is legal also I am told).

That is a myth that you can jump them why bother putting them there if they are meaningless – repealed 1976 iirc? I do use my brain and I decide that the safest way of driving is for us all to follow the rules in the highway code rather than think we can somehow decide we know better and interpret them too suit ourselves – jumping red lights for example. I could probably ignore the give way to the right at roundabouts most of the time and not crash. However this is not the best method for reducing collisions and improving the safety for all road users it is just what is best for me at that moment in time. As for the motorbike as they were on the wrong side of the road approaching a corner they could not see round then it was there risk….. I would say motorbike at fault.
Re traffic lights here read this
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2002/20023113.htm#35

Section : 36
Sub-Section : 1
Act : Road Traffic Act 1988
Subject : Failing To Comply With The Indication Given By A Traffic Sign

Where a traffic sign of the prescribed size, colour and type or another authorised by the secretary of state has been lawfully placed on or near a road, a person driving who fails to comply with the indication given by the sign is guilty of an offence.

Signs that apply to this act:
Stop Sign
Give Way Sign
Red lights at a level crossing
Keep left
Keep right
Red traffic light signals
Double white lines
No U turn
No entry
One Way

£60 – 3 points.
Ignorance of the law is no defence.

Good for you.

Fair enough if that is the case, I said I wasn't sure.

But it matters not to me because I never, ever do it. At all. Ever.

But to be fair, these temporary lights do appear in a somewhat random way. For example, I have seen many occasions where a stretch of road (say about 25 metres) is cordoned off but just has the 'Give way to oncoming traffic' temporary signs up so motorists can apply a bit of common sense to what they do. Then the next time there could be a tiny cordon around a manhole with traffic lights up. And to be sat there at 9pm with no traffic coming the other way, no workmen present and on a big open and clearly empty road is a bit daft.

IMO

But should I ignore the light, which I never ever do as I have said before, I would always ensure there were no other cars around. Or people for that matter. Especially ones that look like they are policepeople.

Regarding the bike overtaking before a blind bend.
Bewdley town centre is a network of narrow streets, sharp corners, junctions and pedestrian crossings. Add in the current roadworks and one car trying to turn right while an oncoming queueing car has blocked the turning and it soon becomes gridlocked.
Yes, he was in the wrong, but as it's the cars that cause the traffic jams, I see nothing wrong in a bike trying to get past them safely.
Like I said, everyone was moving at walking pace, so there was no danger, he was unlucky to get the 1:1000 chance of meeting an oncoming car just as the coach pulled away.

Yeah she was just listening to Bob Marley and swaying to the music 😆