Do you jump red lights…?

Yes I do; I do stop at a lot of red lights, but do jump some.

Edit – always stop at zebra crossings if folk are on then.

Anyway, that’s part of my take on the whole ‘road manners’ vs ‘I’ll do what I like cos I can, and anyway everybody else does it’ thing. Hopelessly naive maybe…

Spot on IMO, especially the “pretty normal bloke” part, which is part of the reason I don’t wear lycra or a helmet to ride to work.

There are many roads where a car driver who drives at or below the speed limit attracts the disapproval of most of the other drivers as shown by tailgating, flashing headlights etc and the fact every other driver exceeds the limit, often by a considerable margin. So I don’t think cyclists need to feel guilty about RLJing. Most drivers not only break traffic laws on many journeys but actually get annoyed if every other driver does not join them. Their respect? Not sure I want it.

The most common complaints I hear about cyclists are not about RLJing but from drivers annoyed at being held up on the open road by cyclists for short periods of time, normally less than a traffic lihgt cycle. The other one is complaining about why cyclists are riding in the middle of the road when they are in fact 1 – 1.5M from the kerb – the correct position. Many drivers feel cyclists should be in the gutter.

Every cyclist in the UK could stop RLJing ttomorrow and it would make little difference. Some drivers feel a sense of entitlement compared to cyclists. RLJing has nothing to with it.

what he ^ said.

So a lot of you run red lights do you also do the same on zebra crossings when someone is crossing?

On the whole jumping red lights p’s me off. What time does it really save and how much grief do cyclists/bike riders/etc get because of it.

However i do know that there are odd sets of lights that do not respond to bikes so what choice do you have?

Never.

There are many roads where a car driver who drives at or below the speed limit attracts the disapproval of most of the other drivers as shown by tailgating, flashing headlights etc and the fact every other driver exceeds the limit, often by a considerable margin. So I don’t think cyclists need to feel guilty about RLJing. Most drivers not only break traffic laws on many journeys but actually get annoyed if every other driver does not join them. Their respect? Not sure I want it.

The most common complaints I hear about cyclists are not about RLJing but from drivers annoyed at being held up on the open road by cyclists for short periods of time, normally less than a traffic lihgt cycle. The other one is complaining about why cyclists are riding in the middle of the road when they are in fact 1 – 1.5M from the kerb – the correct position. Many drivers feel cyclists should be in the gutter.

Every cyclist in the UK could stop RLJing ttomorrow and it would make little difference. Some drivers feel a sense of entitlement compared to cyclists. RLJing has nothing to with it.

I agree with every single word of that. just simple common sense.

Never.

You’ve never ever jumped ared light? Have you ever ridden in a large town or city?

irc talks sense – someone please ban him 😛

In answer to the original post: Occasionally, but mostly no.

I’m still yet to work out how the road crossings I pass on a bridleway home each night figure in the arrangement, yes I have to cross the path of traffic, but I can only stop the traffic as a pedestrian or if I was a guided bus. I treat them like a crossroads and approach with caution and give way if there are oncoming vehicles. I have been beeped at before – but only by an angry Range Rover driver when I was about 20m clear of the junction by the time they passed.

Every cyclist in the UK could stop RLJing ttomorrow and it would make little difference

Very true.

Some drivers feel a sense of entitlement compared to cyclists.

Also true, but I think they feel that entitlement at least partly because it’s very easy for them to think of cyclists as fringe, freeloading annoyances that they and the rest of the right-thinking, car-loving part of the country have no common ground with.

Rightly or wrongly, what wider society thinks is normal carries a lot of weight, and for things to change society needs to start thinking about things in a different way. Obviously that’s not going to happen overnight, and keeping the alternatives on the fringe isn’t going to help.

I don’t,

You’ve never ever jumped ared light? Have you ever ridden in a large town or city?

Yes plenty, I genuinely never have needed too.

I personally think both cyclists are motorists are equally to blame for the state of peoples attitudes towards the roads. Both sides need to make an effort to shape up on every ride/drive.

In London at least, drivers are slowly learning that they have to share the roads with cyclists. Many of them may not like it, but it’s a fact they have to accept. That they choose to treat cyclists with animosity is their own decision, and it’s unlikely that any amount of law-abiding by cyclists will change their minds. Such people think nobody else should be on the roads, so it’s not just cyclists they despise. They hate everyone.

i think one of the biggest problems is just how stressful driving is in our towns and cities. And the reason for this is that there are simply too many cars on the roads, generally. That’s the elephant that no-one seems able or willing to try to shift.

I think the tide is slowly starting to turn. i know people who’ve given up their cars, due to rising fule, parking and other driving costs, and are benefitting loads from making the change.

…..

i take them on an ad hoc basis. if there are cars/pedestrians that have a green then i’ll wait until they’ve all gone. then i’m happy to proceed through on the basis that nobody is inconvenienced or endangered.

It’s different in a car, don’t ask me why it just is

Number plate recognition cameras, for a start.

In a car, I’ll very rarely jump a red intentionally; I’d have to conclude that it’s broken before chancing my arm. It does cheese me off though when you’re sat staring into the void at an empty crossroads at 3am.

On a bike I’ll wait for reds at junctions or, depending on the junction, maybe dismount and walk across the road. I’ll go through crossings on red if there’s no pedestrians about though.

Funny how many cyclists apparently can’t wait 30 seconds for a light to change, but then complain about “impatient motorists” getting all irate when they are stuck behind them.

Everyone just chill. It’s not a race.

There’s one set that I will cos I can see round the corner and I tell whether it’s safe. There’s also a bit of dual carriage that I’ll cycle on the pavement.

Never had anyone say any thing to me about it

Nope, saves so little time it’s pointless.
Why do it if the lights are working? Stoopid.

rarely, occasionally do “for my own safety” all a matter of opinion of course so I’ll accept it’s still rulebreaking.

brucewees abusive father analogy (metaphor?) is brilliant.

do you also do the same on zebra crossings when someone is crossing?

of course not, I’ll stop and often I get cars driving right passed me, I think one of the main things about RLJing is that if you take your time do it carefully and no-one else is affected then it’s seen as a “victimless crime” which the zebra crossing is not, not sure anyone here would defend riding blindly through junctions swerving pedestrians and causing motorists to perform emergency stops – altho I do see this occasionally in manchester this seems generally to be done by POBs as opposed to cyclists, a distinction some will disagree with but you know what I mean.

But as others have said main disgruntlement I hear from real people is holding cars up 🙄 and not riding in the gutter (and generally even after explaining primary secondary and vehicular cycling they still say it’s wrong)

I set up my Stravs segments with tricky light controlled junctions on them. 🙂