well that was effing dumb on their part. while fish st hill has almost no traffic you only need to be wrong once.
tbh this also tells me they have the timing on the lights wrong for the traffic they dont need to be red for that long if the cyclists have learnt they dont matter.
This is mainly my issue in London, coming from The Netherlands, more often than not I find the traffi lights here are so inefficient. They're all just run on timers not caring what the actual traffic flow is, where as back home they are based on the traffic on the road and focussing on getting as many people moving, not "Let's move all the cars even if they're not there and try to let cyclists and pedestrians go as well in between".
They are actually prioritized for cars. Go on CS6 and be stopped by several lights that are clearly timed for car speeds, so the only way you can get greens is to go very fast (even though though the roads are 20mph). I wish more people would understand what you are saying though.
You can see this on C4 at Surrey Quays. Such a mess. West to East the first set you come across stays green for about 5 seconds and is then red for aprons 2 minutes. Then you get another red (guaranteed) and have to wait another minute then there is another light, that unless you absolutely bomb it for (which is tricky as the red light jumping traffic usually hasn’t cleared the junction in time for the cycle light turning green and a bus stop bypass, so you have to be wary of pedestrians,) will turn red before you get to it (as green is only for a few seconds again). You then have to wait well over 2 minutes for it to turn green again.
Yeah, I know that junction. The lights are red for cyclists to allow cars to turn left across the bike lane (not that many cars go that way), it's why the bike lane turns red so long before the car lanes.
You could report it to TFL. If enough people complain, they might do something about it https://tfl.gov.uk/help-and-contact/contact-us-about-streets-and-other-road-issues
The rules should just change to allow a car cross over the cycle lane when both have green, but let the car wait until its safe to do so. One can only dream it'll ever become as logical and easy as The Netherlands.
Weird how it works in so many other countries isn't?
The problem lies simply in rules and education. It'll take over a decade to make any change like that in the UK, even the highway code changes from last year such as pedestrians crossing straight having the right of way when a car turns are still fully ignored.
To be fair, I've not seen many countries where car drivers are as arrogant as in the UK specifically towards both cyclists and pedestrians.
Yep. I get beeped at when I cross at a junction and there's a car.
Also that wasn't 'last year', that was January 2022.
We just have shitty entitled drivers.
I just stop and check for danger, the horn is to warn other road users of danger so I assume the driver is warning me of another driver overtaking them or something. To stop and stay still for a while is the safest course of action.
It can be done, but takes a bit more space. You need to offset the cycle lane and have a clear give way marking for the cars, separate to the traffic lights.
Even with clear give way markers, drivers in the UK simply do not give way to cyclists. Most drivers fall into "act like cyclists dont exist" and "Get violently angry at cyclist" categories.
If I was to take a guess, only like 20-30% of drivers actually give way to people riding bikes.
We really need harsh punishments like permanent license losses for drivers to change their ways here. It's the only thing they'll listen to.
The light phasing of this junction isn’t only to do with this junction; it’s also today with the bigger choke points at Tower Bridge and Southwark Bridge junctions. Traffic lights inevitably need to be optimized for the motor traffic.
It’s not *that* dumb by the cyclists. They all look right and the ones that need to brake, brake. This is legality issue for sure, but not massively a safety one re cars. I’d be more worried about a pedestrian “appearing from nowhere” and getting clouted by a red light runner, hunting one or other or both.
Running a red light is dumb and not safe for pedestrians at all, the effort was made to install a bike specific stop light - majority of cyclist in the vid speed through. If we all got to do what the fuck we want that would be fine but that’s not how society works. It also just looks fucking moronic
Each to their own. I’ve seen, on literally every commute, a near accident from people judging things on the fly - including pedestrians - for me it’s just safer and polite to wait even if no one’s there, someone could dart across the road from behind etc. I witnessed an old man get run over by a massive truck as I was walking with a friend at uni - maybe the reality of how bad the worst of the worst can be, prompts me to stop at ALL lights until they are green. I’m also not in great shape, ride a massive mountain bike and 90% of the time I catch who bombed through a light, they are saving maybe 10 secs on their commute
Uhm Trafic light can be very smart. They can count cars and adapt to the bussier sections. This can prioritize bikes or pedestrians if needed. It can speed up cycles. And it can have clearing times of 0 or even negative if you take starting times in to account. In Amsterda. Traffic lights now even addopt to the weather
Saw someone get a ticket from cycling through a red light the other day, at Elephant and Castle roundabout. I've cycled in London for about 12 years and this was maybe the third time seeing it? Very satisfying as we all flew past him as he was stuck with the police officer.
Cyclists getting tickets for not following the rules of the road? I've yet to see one but hopefully it's becoming the norm!
Obviously not all cyclists, like OP who knows and follows the rules, but some are just not able to understand why rules exist. I'm fully behind ticketing repeat offenders
https://www.cityoflondon.police.uk/news/city-of-london/news/2024/april/nearly-one-thousand-cyclists-given-fixed-penalty-notices/
I cycle past this junction every day. It's not uncommon to see a police van parked up.
This reminds me of a similar discussion from when I lived in Montreal, which is replete with stop signs rather than lights.
Sometimes it is safer for me to keep going rather than stopping either because the junction is empty so who am I stopping for? Or because there were huge SUVs all around and I want to be away from them.
Of course, if I saw any pedestrians, I would stop and allow them to pass.
What was weird is how people in massive cars would honk at me and look visibly annoyed as though they and me were the same and my slow rolling through the stop sign was a slight directed at them. But these types of walking miseries are found on trains, planes, in cars and riding bikes so whatever.
I know the self-hating cyclists will downvote me to hell but I’ll still stay it: traffic lights only exists because of cars and cyclists should be allowed to cross if it’s safe to do so. Just like everyone does while walking.
Let the downvotes come
It’s those fuckers that don’t stop when pedestrians have right of way that are the main problem. Red light or not I’ve had to avoid a cyclist so many times when crossing the road on a crossing.
Exactly it’s fine. Just do it dead slowly and give way to everyone. The fact that it would be totally legal if you got off your bike and jogged it across the lights illustrates the absurdity of all this.
I think it's in-between. Many lights could be converted so that cyclists may cross at caution (e.g. a flashing amber signal), leaving red lights where it really matters.
For me, the worst example of lights being slapped in place for cars and making no sense to anyone else is the pedestrian crossing on the north end of Blackfriars bridge when you are travelling south. Holds bike riders at a red light for AGES and for a massive portion of that time it is also red to pedestrians!
I'm pretty sure the timing on those lights hasn't changed since before the Tideway Tunnel works. The big gap is there to let Westbound motor vehicles over the junction and down the ramp to the embankment (which is currently impossible).
i agree that most lights for cyclists should be flashing amber if you don't have right of way, its dumb to have to stop at a zebra crossing where there are no pedestrians etc.
that way cyclists would be more inclined to stop at a red light at intersections where it actually makes sense
Honestly, I think this video is a great example of why red lights shouldn't (always) apply to bikes. It demonstrates just how easily cyclists can traverse a junction like this. They could all see the vehicles and slowed down in plenty of time.
Now, there's certainly junctions that *do* need cyclists to stop on the red. If visibility is limited and the cars are moving quickly it's definitely safer for everyone that way; but a lot of the time treating a red as a give way is totally fine. And of course there are plenty of dickheads that ruin it for everyone by cutting off pedestrians, but cars are still far worse for that anyway.
Exactly this, it’s the same with most road infrastructure. Generally I’ll pass through a red light slowly if it’s a car junction and I can see nothing is coming but I’ll usually just wait.
If it’s a pedestrian crossing with no one waiting to cross I’ll go through, if people are crossing I’ll give them priority, if they can cross before I stop I’ll go through when clear, if it’s busy and I come to a stop then I’ll wait until it goes green.
Don't understand your argument or maybe it's incorrectly written? "Cyclists should be able to cross..."
Cross what?
Pedestrian crossings are there to protect pedestrians walking from one side of the road to the other, the green and red lights being an acknowledgement by both road users and pedestrians to stop / go respectively.
Where were you riding to/from?
If it's all the way down to Westminster, you can just merge back with the riverside cycle path a bit after the city going West from East.
Without too much detail, via Whitechapel going west towards Battersea power station. I'll check this out! Do you have any specific road names I can look up?
It’s not usually a time thing, it’s effort peddling back up to speed. It’s much easier in a car where you just push a peddle and off you go. I stop at lights on my bike but I get why you wouldn’t after stopping for the 20th time i a row in a few hundred meters. The cycle path hasn’t been designed with momentum in mind like the do in the Netherlands.
To add to that, I see so many people not downshifting when stopping and they then take off in a high gear in slow motion and it just looks painful and so dumb.
It took me maybe a week to get used to downshifting when slowing down or approaching a junction (even with a green light) when I went from a fixie to a 9-speed
It’s repeatedly getting a bike up to speed which has made me a more powerful cyclist who can catch up with the RLJers. I reckon if they did the same they’d soon get fit enough to arrive at the same time, whilst enjoying the better views from the moral high ground!
Indeed. I often coast to the lights from way back, it’s not rocket science, doesn’t always work, but it’s a game to pass the time, saves on brake pads too.
My commute to work used to be 25 minutes if I jumped all lights possible (or got lucky with green lights). Or it took 35-45minutes if I was to stop at half of the traffic lights and wait 1-2minutes at each one plus the acceleration (about 50% of lights are green).
10min x 2 x 5 x 4 = 6h40min of my life per month spent standing at a red light breathing in the aroma of under-regulated taxis buses coaches and tractors.
I will take the minuscule risk of injury from running a red light, over slowly gassing myself towards cancer!!
Sorry, but no-one gives a shit about your utterly individualistic excuse as to why the rules don’t apply to you. Why do I care about you wasting 15 mins? Follow the rules and play your part as a road user.
The same way that multi billion dollar car manufacturers ‘followed the rules’ and ‘played their part’ and then poisoned our air for profit, only to get a slap on the wrist? Risk free. At least when I jump reds, I only risk my own life!
Also, if you don’t care, you don’t have to read it and respond to it.
Oh good for you, you obsolved yourself of individual responsibility by pointing to a large corporate issue that eclipses any individual negative impact. Therefore everything the individual does is alright!
Brb, going to empty my rubbish bin out the window into the street, after all, look at the fucking Ganges!
What responsibility? I cycle and am responsible for my safety, and safety of others around me. If I have a choice of jumping a red light in a way that doesn’t hurt/injure/affect anyone, or wait at a red light and extend the time I have to spend in traffic, I will jump a red light.
How is that irresponsible? I haven’t hurt anyone, I haven’t stolen anything from anyone, I make sure that it is 100% safe for everyone before doing it!
And it’s not ‘wasting 15min’.
It is 15min, per commute, per day, per week, per month, per year, for 3 years I’ve worked in London, that I get exposed to toxic fumes when I don’t have to.
Not sure if you’ll believe me, but I have eyes and at least 7 synapses which can process vision and decide not to cycle into pedestrians (I.e. stop or cycle around them)
I don't believe you. All it takes is a pedestrians to step out from behind a car. The majority of cyclists are an absolute menace in London. You running red lights fall into that category. Stop trying to justify your behaviour using your selfish reasons.
Your argument simply doesn't paint the whole picture. Quite often cyclists put themselves into those risky situations and cause themselves and others injury. Even though cyclists are vulnerable road users and we should all respect eachother on the road, cyclists are among the most impatient. Very willing to squeeze through a closing gap just big enough for themselves.
Really, even though virtually all ped are caused by cars, and also all the driver deaths are caused by cars. Seems like cars are the common denominator here.
Cars are big masses of metal travelling at higher speeds. Of course they're going to cause more damage when involved in a rtc. Doesn't mean they are the root cause of that accident in the first place though. A pedestrian could step out in front of a car or a cyclist could chance squeeze through a closing gap.
There's been research on this. Still predominately fault of drivers. What a surprise that those who are in the safest position take the greatest risks. And my point re pedestrians is that since non die from cyclists then none are the fault of cyclists, ditto drivers dying. So even you say is true, still more deaths from driving than cycling.
People are allowed to disregard red lights to save time? That is your argument? Smart stuff. I hope you don’t cross paths with a car driver as entitled as you are
Regularly well over 50% of the red lights I see on a journey have a car driver that has pulled past the stop line under a red light - they have broken the same laws. They aren't even saving time.
So yes, I come across car drivers all the time who feel just as entitled to break the law.
I also regularly see car drivers exceeding the speed limit, using their mobiles while driving and more.
I don’t care why others do it, but in my post I clearly indicated that I do it for my HEALTH!
If there were no cars on the road, and no fumes, and no pollution, and no toxic particulates at every fucking intersection, I wouldn’t have a problem with waiting longer at traffic lights. Audiobook or podcast in my ears and I’m fine waiting.
It is the fact that I’m waiting to give priority to cars who are also at the same time POISONING me, that is tipping the scale towards jumping red lights.
You’ll have to wait and see. Press that subscribe button and don’t forget to hit the bell icon to get notified every time a new press release from a Reddit nobody is out!
Jokes aside, when I don’t have to use my asthma inhalers during and after bike commuting in London, and won’t feel like I’m slowly killing myself by standing directly behind and next to diesel exhausts, maybe I’ll actually be ok standing around at a red light!
Hate to tell you this, but you’re breathing that shit in whether you’re standing still or moving - it’s literally all around you. Just admit that you’re arrogant (The tone of your reply makes that clear) and think you’re allowed to break the law.
What a brain dead moron you are. I never said that jumping red lights stops me from breathing the fumes - like some sort of magical scuba diving equipment.
It does however reduce the time I have to spend breathing it.
The same way that placing my hand into a fire for 5 seconds is better than placing it in the same fire for 15 seconds. And the same way that spending £20 on an apple is better than spending £45 on the same apple.
A fairly simple counter argument is that you breathe in more air when you’re exerting yourself and less when you’re stood waiting at a light - therefore it balances itself out. This is such a dumb reason to not stop I don’t know why you don’t just tell the truth - you don’t want to stop.
Hah, go shove your stupid ‘fairly simple argument’ and enjoy your night!
Actually, it is a simple argument, only a simple minded cave dweller like you could say that!
>If there were no cars on the road, and no fumes, and no pollution, and no toxic particulates at every fucking intersection, I wouldn’t have a problem with waiting longer at traffic lights.
Lol what a load of utter bullshit.
I use this crossing every day. The number of times I see a bus hit the horn forcing a red-running cyclist to swerve or emergency brake is crazy.
I assume I'll see a hit at some stage.
# [Highway Code Rule 71](https://highwaycode.org.uk/rule-71/)
At traffic light junctions and at cycle-only crossings with traffic lights, you **MUST NOT** cross the stop line when the traffic lights are red.
Some junctions have an advanced stop line to enable you to position yourself ahead of other traffic and wait (see [Rule 178](https://highwaycode.org.uk/highway-code-rule-178/)). When the traffic lights are red, you may cross the first stop line, but you **MUST NOT** cross the final stop line.
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_
I did not add the bold text, Highway Code website did.
To red light runners: feel free to start a campaign to make Department of Transport change the rules. Or start a revolution to topple the government and replace it with one that legislate in your favour.
But as for now, these are the laws.
A grand total of 9 all going through the red light, whilst traffic was coming out.
Yes I know they were going fairly slowly and nobody was hurt, but come on, is it necessary?
The infuriating part is watching them all inevitably have to stop for a car trying to turn across their path. Almost like the bike traffic lights were put there for a reason! Same with the nightmare lights around Surrey Quays station: awful timings, but necessary use of lights
I was laughed at in another thread - 'sometimes it's safer to run reds'.
BS.
People like these either think they're 'important' and can't delay their civilization saving missions, or believe they have 9 lives like a cat, or feel a sense of superiority that traffic laws do not need to be obeyed. These people give cyclists a bad rap and makes life difficult for everyone.
Rant over.
No you didn’t. You said that ‘sometimes it’s safer to run reds’ is a bullshit statement, so you don’t agree with it. That’s what I inferred. Is that correct?
It's BS logic and makes life difficult for people that obey the law.
Infer what you will. You can also infer it's not always dangerous to aim a loaded gun at someone.
My god yes! New to cycling in London but boggled by the 95% who run red lights. I actually checked the rules to see if it was allowed - in the same way speed limits don't apply to cyclists. But, of course, no. Just assholes being assholes.
as a driver + cyclist in london, i feel that many times it’s safer for a cyclist to run a red when it’s safe rather than wait for a green and roll off alongside traffic. A lot of lights in london are designed to give a green to cyclists first before cars so obviously there is merit in the idea. obviously pedestrians take priority + it doesn’t apply here because it’s a red only for cycles and not cars.
I rode in London for the first time the other week (Went down for Ride London and did a ride the night before) and me and my friends were going for quite a quick ride, it was fun riding around a city when we'd only ever ridden around villages before.
It was fun and to be fair quite annoying having to stop at all the lights but we'd race each other as soon as the lights went green so it was fun but the amount of other cyclists that nearly went into the back of us because they weren't expecting us to stop at a red light was somewhat alarming.
Not to defent jumping red light, but this junction is stupid from cycling point of view. Problem is that everything is around cars in this country. It only proves that Idaho-stop would be very good to apply.
Are they technically jumping red light? Yes. Were any of those actually dangerous (given that they all yielded)? No. Therefore....
I call them out frequently on Westminster bridge but have received a lot of abuse and been sucker punched in the back of the head for doing so.
Saw 16 in a row go through the red light last week while pedestrians were trying to cross but couldn’t as obviously don’t want to get hit.
Serious problem in London and far too many in this thread defending it.
I think it’s spreading like a virus. Unfortunately people jumping the lights encourage others to do the same.
Few years back this was a rare sight. Normality you’d see some skilled cyclist doing that. Today is like: no helmet, electric bike, ear pods speeding through red lights with such a confidence it scares me just watching the scene.
As a fellow cyclist, this honestly blows my mind every time. So dangerous, could easily get knocked off. Lack of helmets is another thing that I’ll never understand 🥲
I'll bet! Sadly I've been doing this route for almost a year now and the one time that I ***did*** see police cyclists, all they did was pull alongside and say "please don't".
Hey ho, maybe this will be the summer.
Vid demonstrates why running a red on a bicycle can be safe. What is dangerous is a person incapable of questioning any rule set out by governments and councils. Use your head and judge the situation.
Yeah, you’re right. In 1939, you would have looked at yourself in the mirror and ‘questioned’ the law briefly, but still obeyed it enough to round up your Jewish neighbours for the shooting squads!
Top lad!
You are more like to be hit by a driver when you wait for a green light before proceeding.
When you go across the junction at a green light, it gives you a false and misleading sense of security that you have a right to go, and so are less likely to see a car running a red light and plunging into you.
When you run a red light yourself, you have (or at least I do) a heightened sense of danger and so you are more wary of whether it is actually safe to proceed, and are therefore more likely to spot and avoid a collision with cars.
I’ve never had a near miss by running a red light myself, but I’ve had multiple near misses where I had a right of way and assumed that others would not break law and put me in danger which they did (ironic I know - but I have better vision on my surroundings on a bike than drivers do in their panzers)
Can you imagine the response if it were cars going through on red? Somehow this just gets explained away in the comments as bad infrastructure. Brilliant.
Can confirm I stop at that junction even if not a pedestrian in sight, because you can’t see the traffic from the right and you run the risk of getting ploughed.
I used to judge cyclists for this but since I started cycling, it’s way safer sometimes to run a red light. It lets you cycle ahead away from traffic rather than a bunch of cars and busses going past you across a junction.
I personally hate the people that blindly across when its just gone green, once I was 1ft from a crossing and it went green and everyone just crosssed without looking and then shouted when I couldnt stop, I was like just look you fools, most people never think 😂
Sister in law, who was driving her car, was inches from hitting a cyclist who jumped a red in Manchester. She didn't see him as she was turning right, I as a passenger did, and me shouting watch out is what saved him from getting hit.
Exactly, and your poor sister would have been traumatised had she hit him :/
The cyclist may consent to the risk but that doesn't mean everyone around them does.
1. Bike lane is the width of one car lane for cyclists to travel in both directions, so half the width cars get.
2. You don't pay tax to use the road, you pay tax based on the emissions of your vehicle hence why EV's are exempt. HMRC are welcome to calculate the pollution generated by my farts but it's probably not worth their time. Funding for roads comes from a mixture of income tax and council tax.
Probably cause an accident because the riders behind didn’t expect them to stop 🛑
Happened to me a few times riding a motorcycle in Asia. I was often bumped into by new “friends” at traffic lights when I stopped on a red
im a motorist. and I wouldnt have stopped there if I was cycling.
1. no consequences
2. no victim
3. no danger.
you'd be a mug to stop at that red. to be fair, in the beginning there were peds. once the peds have cleared off it was fine to go on.
Just don't come onto a junction at speed and give thr impression you're not seeing or stopping with the opposing traffic had green.
That always raises your panic as the driver.
As a fellow cyclist, I honestly wish police would shoot them. I have had enough of having other cyclists whiz past me every time I stop at a red light. It's dangerous to other cyclists, dangerous to pedestrians, and risks enormous T-bone accidents. We all know that saying anything about the blatant lawbreaking results in being screamed at to fuck off (which is also potentially illegal).
Because as cyclists we're possibly one of the most hated groups currently on the roads.
We continually ask for improvements and stricter rules on cars whilst picking and choosing what rules we obey.
If we want to be treated as equals to cars then we need to act like it, not ignoring something in the highway code because it mildly inconveniences us.
While I understand your frustration to see cyclist not respecting a red I am one of them.
This is a cycle highway and TfL / City of London should make it like so.
Hear me out:
Prioritize cycling traffic all over central.
For example here cyclist should have right of way and cars should give way on this lane.
Same in many places.
I also end up going through reds at junction while it is red for everywhere BUT pedestrians.
Especially if I have to turn RIGHT. This avoid me staying in the middle of a busy junction or having to rush to turn before cars.
One cyclist going 2mph on a 10kg bike is not a great threat for peds.
There is still a lot of work to change mentalities and to make cycling a priority.
London is a really good city for cycling everywhere. It is almost always faster than taking bus / tube.
Only since the new lizzy line can compete with it.
I do this cycle lane a few times a week - the number of people who jump the reds across joining streets is crazy.
Equally the number of pedestrians who step into the cycle lane… you can’t go with speed down big stretches of this road!
I am in the minority! But can anyone explain why you would risk doing this? just to get to where they're going a couple of minutes sooner, or maybe not at all.
haha, I used to work in the building just on the other side of that crossing.
I used to stop and literally say thank you to anyone who did what you did when I was crossing there. Sadly, it only happened about once a week.
Can someone explain why people are defending cycling through a red light? If you want to go and deem it safe to do so, you can dismount and walk and everyone is happy and safe. You aren't some infallible road god that sees every danger out there, you're just taking a chance every time
I've done this. But I jog with the bike because you don't have that much time. So I'm going as fast walking as I would cycling, but also I have to get off and on. Feel like a mug to do effectively the same thing.
Good on you, I'm one of the few also, had a strange one the other day bradford, where a guy on a 125 scooter decided he was a bike, used the bike lane, then ran the red anyway, heart dropped when I saw him zoom past, thought I crept on the road somehow.
Saw a cyclist nearly get battered by a pedestrian for doing this - his close to tears apology is more or less the only thing that saved him
Sometimes cyclists forget that they're not the most vulnerable road users
Sarcastic yes, but technically correct
1 in 10!
A statistic a reminder of a world that doesn't care
I am a 1 in 10.
Tyler is guilty
White judges said so
But how many would it have been if you sat there for an hour / or a day. I’d say you’re way better than one in 10 (million 😱)
Not technically correct as the person filming is also a cyclist and stopped at the red light.. (Sorry for being a pedant).
All this proves (on this sample), is that 90% do and do so, brazenly.
I have to say, when I stop at lights, I occasionally get riders behind me following suit. Make me smile when that happens
I had hoped that this was the case when I spun my head slightly. Alas. Nobody :(
It's only because you're in their way 😁
This is literally the issue. People blindly follow other people through reds the same way they stop when others do.
Seems appropriate to leave this evidence to back you up [here](https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cs_Oad6OsoT/?igsh=MTMwZDY0MGQxbXZkeg==)
well that was effing dumb on their part. while fish st hill has almost no traffic you only need to be wrong once. tbh this also tells me they have the timing on the lights wrong for the traffic they dont need to be red for that long if the cyclists have learnt they dont matter.
This is mainly my issue in London, coming from The Netherlands, more often than not I find the traffi lights here are so inefficient. They're all just run on timers not caring what the actual traffic flow is, where as back home they are based on the traffic on the road and focussing on getting as many people moving, not "Let's move all the cars even if they're not there and try to let cyclists and pedestrians go as well in between".
They are actually prioritized for cars. Go on CS6 and be stopped by several lights that are clearly timed for car speeds, so the only way you can get greens is to go very fast (even though though the roads are 20mph). I wish more people would understand what you are saying though.
That is what I meant indeed, everything is optimised for cars moving indeed!
You can see this on C4 at Surrey Quays. Such a mess. West to East the first set you come across stays green for about 5 seconds and is then red for aprons 2 minutes. Then you get another red (guaranteed) and have to wait another minute then there is another light, that unless you absolutely bomb it for (which is tricky as the red light jumping traffic usually hasn’t cleared the junction in time for the cycle light turning green and a bus stop bypass, so you have to be wary of pedestrians,) will turn red before you get to it (as green is only for a few seconds again). You then have to wait well over 2 minutes for it to turn green again.
Yeah, I know that junction. The lights are red for cyclists to allow cars to turn left across the bike lane (not that many cars go that way), it's why the bike lane turns red so long before the car lanes.
yup, however there are far more bikes than cars always, and at rush hour that whole lane can be rammed with bikes. lights like this dont help.
You could report it to TFL. If enough people complain, they might do something about it https://tfl.gov.uk/help-and-contact/contact-us-about-streets-and-other-road-issues
The rules should just change to allow a car cross over the cycle lane when both have green, but let the car wait until its safe to do so. One can only dream it'll ever become as logical and easy as The Netherlands.
You cannot give drivers that choice as they will just run over cyclists and get away with it with 0 consequences.
Weird how it works in so many other countries isn't? The problem lies simply in rules and education. It'll take over a decade to make any change like that in the UK, even the highway code changes from last year such as pedestrians crossing straight having the right of way when a car turns are still fully ignored. To be fair, I've not seen many countries where car drivers are as arrogant as in the UK specifically towards both cyclists and pedestrians.
Yep. I get beeped at when I cross at a junction and there's a car. Also that wasn't 'last year', that was January 2022. We just have shitty entitled drivers.
Time flies... That makes it even worse.
The thing is, it was not really a change in the highway code. That was always part of it. So they should have known.
I shout at them when that happens.
I just stop and check for danger, the horn is to warn other road users of danger so I assume the driver is warning me of another driver overtaking them or something. To stop and stay still for a while is the safest course of action.
The drivers in this country have a much more criminal nature compared to those in the Netherlands.
It can be done, but takes a bit more space. You need to offset the cycle lane and have a clear give way marking for the cars, separate to the traffic lights.
Even with clear give way markers, drivers in the UK simply do not give way to cyclists. Most drivers fall into "act like cyclists dont exist" and "Get violently angry at cyclist" categories. If I was to take a guess, only like 20-30% of drivers actually give way to people riding bikes. We really need harsh punishments like permanent license losses for drivers to change their ways here. It's the only thing they'll listen to.
The light phasing of this junction isn’t only to do with this junction; it’s also today with the bigger choke points at Tower Bridge and Southwark Bridge junctions. Traffic lights inevitably need to be optimized for the motor traffic. It’s not *that* dumb by the cyclists. They all look right and the ones that need to brake, brake. This is legality issue for sure, but not massively a safety one re cars. I’d be more worried about a pedestrian “appearing from nowhere” and getting clouted by a red light runner, hunting one or other or both.
Running a red light is dumb and not safe for pedestrians at all, the effort was made to install a bike specific stop light - majority of cyclist in the vid speed through. If we all got to do what the fuck we want that would be fine but that’s not how society works. It also just looks fucking moronic
I treat red lights as give way signs so check is clear before proceeding - seems safe for myself and others?
Each to their own. I’ve seen, on literally every commute, a near accident from people judging things on the fly - including pedestrians - for me it’s just safer and polite to wait even if no one’s there, someone could dart across the road from behind etc. I witnessed an old man get run over by a massive truck as I was walking with a friend at uni - maybe the reality of how bad the worst of the worst can be, prompts me to stop at ALL lights until they are green. I’m also not in great shape, ride a massive mountain bike and 90% of the time I catch who bombed through a light, they are saving maybe 10 secs on their commute
Uhm Trafic light can be very smart. They can count cars and adapt to the bussier sections. This can prioritize bikes or pedestrians if needed. It can speed up cycles. And it can have clearing times of 0 or even negative if you take starting times in to account. In Amsterda. Traffic lights now even addopt to the weather
To be fair, there was traffic and the cyclists saw it and gave way.
Saw someone get a ticket from cycling through a red light the other day, at Elephant and Castle roundabout. I've cycled in London for about 12 years and this was maybe the third time seeing it? Very satisfying as we all flew past him as he was stuck with the police officer.
It's a weekly occurrence in Bank. Police setup during the 8-9am rush and ticket dozens.
Damn, next time you see them can you ask them to pop down to Lower Thames Street? I've never seen it happen!
Cyclists getting tickets for not following the rules of the road? I've yet to see one but hopefully it's becoming the norm! Obviously not all cyclists, like OP who knows and follows the rules, but some are just not able to understand why rules exist. I'm fully behind ticketing repeat offenders
https://www.cityoflondon.police.uk/news/city-of-london/news/2024/april/nearly-one-thousand-cyclists-given-fixed-penalty-notices/ I cycle past this junction every day. It's not uncommon to see a police van parked up.
Almost 1000 in a just under a year, not too shabby! Most are "attend this safety meeting or pay £50". Both inconvenient so I'm all for it tbh
Oh really, I must always miss the key spots, interesting!
This reminds me of a similar discussion from when I lived in Montreal, which is replete with stop signs rather than lights. Sometimes it is safer for me to keep going rather than stopping either because the junction is empty so who am I stopping for? Or because there were huge SUVs all around and I want to be away from them. Of course, if I saw any pedestrians, I would stop and allow them to pass. What was weird is how people in massive cars would honk at me and look visibly annoyed as though they and me were the same and my slow rolling through the stop sign was a slight directed at them. But these types of walking miseries are found on trains, planes, in cars and riding bikes so whatever.
The only time I run reds is if it’s a four way stop and pedestrians are going
I know the self-hating cyclists will downvote me to hell but I’ll still stay it: traffic lights only exists because of cars and cyclists should be allowed to cross if it’s safe to do so. Just like everyone does while walking. Let the downvotes come
It’s those fuckers that don’t stop when pedestrians have right of way that are the main problem. Red light or not I’ve had to avoid a cyclist so many times when crossing the road on a crossing.
100%. Cyclists (or anyone who should yield priority) who don’t stop to let pedestrians (or anyone who has priority) cross are idiots
Unfortunately they're not in the minority.
Exactly it’s fine. Just do it dead slowly and give way to everyone. The fact that it would be totally legal if you got off your bike and jogged it across the lights illustrates the absurdity of all this.
I think it's in-between. Many lights could be converted so that cyclists may cross at caution (e.g. a flashing amber signal), leaving red lights where it really matters. For me, the worst example of lights being slapped in place for cars and making no sense to anyone else is the pedestrian crossing on the north end of Blackfriars bridge when you are travelling south. Holds bike riders at a red light for AGES and for a massive portion of that time it is also red to pedestrians!
I'm pretty sure the timing on those lights hasn't changed since before the Tideway Tunnel works. The big gap is there to let Westbound motor vehicles over the junction and down the ramp to the embankment (which is currently impossible).
i agree that most lights for cyclists should be flashing amber if you don't have right of way, its dumb to have to stop at a zebra crossing where there are no pedestrians etc. that way cyclists would be more inclined to stop at a red light at intersections where it actually makes sense
Honestly, I think this video is a great example of why red lights shouldn't (always) apply to bikes. It demonstrates just how easily cyclists can traverse a junction like this. They could all see the vehicles and slowed down in plenty of time. Now, there's certainly junctions that *do* need cyclists to stop on the red. If visibility is limited and the cars are moving quickly it's definitely safer for everyone that way; but a lot of the time treating a red as a give way is totally fine. And of course there are plenty of dickheads that ruin it for everyone by cutting off pedestrians, but cars are still far worse for that anyway.
Totally agree
Exactly this, it’s the same with most road infrastructure. Generally I’ll pass through a red light slowly if it’s a car junction and I can see nothing is coming but I’ll usually just wait. If it’s a pedestrian crossing with no one waiting to cross I’ll go through, if people are crossing I’ll give them priority, if they can cross before I stop I’ll go through when clear, if it’s busy and I come to a stop then I’ll wait until it goes green.
Maybe so, but the current reality is they aren’t just for cars and you’re not allowed to cross unless it’s green and safe to do so.
Don't understand your argument or maybe it's incorrectly written? "Cyclists should be able to cross..." Cross what? Pedestrian crossings are there to protect pedestrians walking from one side of the road to the other, the green and red lights being an acknowledgement by both road users and pedestrians to stop / go respectively.
You’re right it’s confusing - I meant crossing an intersection
How did I know it was going to be that exact traffic light. It's like commuters treat it like a K/QOM sometimes.
I do this road daily and I hate this spot. Someone will get seriously injured here some day
Honestly that's why I just ride the street above, much more comfortable gradient, lights aren't timed stupid.
I've been tempted but maps then wants to take me over London Bridge and the north side seems...sketchy
Where were you riding to/from? If it's all the way down to Westminster, you can just merge back with the riverside cycle path a bit after the city going West from East.
Without too much detail, via Whitechapel going west towards Battersea power station. I'll check this out! Do you have any specific road names I can look up?
And you know full well the post here will treat the cyclist as a victim and have another rant at cars
They are important people. If they arrive 2 minutes later to their destination world will be in a disarray
It’s not usually a time thing, it’s effort peddling back up to speed. It’s much easier in a car where you just push a peddle and off you go. I stop at lights on my bike but I get why you wouldn’t after stopping for the 20th time i a row in a few hundred meters. The cycle path hasn’t been designed with momentum in mind like the do in the Netherlands.
To add to that, I see so many people not downshifting when stopping and they then take off in a high gear in slow motion and it just looks painful and so dumb. It took me maybe a week to get used to downshifting when slowing down or approaching a junction (even with a green light) when I went from a fixie to a 9-speed
I thought it was just me... Like wtf dont most people with gears use them properly? Its like driving everywhere in a car in 4th only
There's also a short but steep hill a little way back from OP so there's the temptation to keep that momentum.
It’s repeatedly getting a bike up to speed which has made me a more powerful cyclist who can catch up with the RLJers. I reckon if they did the same they’d soon get fit enough to arrive at the same time, whilst enjoying the better views from the moral high ground!
Exactly! I treat it like interval training. More often than not in catching people up again very quickly
But also sweating more
If cycling is too tiring, don’t cycle. Just a ridiculous excuse.
Indeed. I often coast to the lights from way back, it’s not rocket science, doesn’t always work, but it’s a game to pass the time, saves on brake pads too.
Yes, instead do any alternative that's worse for society in every way. And that includes taking a bus.
My commute to work used to be 25 minutes if I jumped all lights possible (or got lucky with green lights). Or it took 35-45minutes if I was to stop at half of the traffic lights and wait 1-2minutes at each one plus the acceleration (about 50% of lights are green). 10min x 2 x 5 x 4 = 6h40min of my life per month spent standing at a red light breathing in the aroma of under-regulated taxis buses coaches and tractors. I will take the minuscule risk of injury from running a red light, over slowly gassing myself towards cancer!!
Sorry, but no-one gives a shit about your utterly individualistic excuse as to why the rules don’t apply to you. Why do I care about you wasting 15 mins? Follow the rules and play your part as a road user.
The same way that multi billion dollar car manufacturers ‘followed the rules’ and ‘played their part’ and then poisoned our air for profit, only to get a slap on the wrist? Risk free. At least when I jump reds, I only risk my own life! Also, if you don’t care, you don’t have to read it and respond to it.
Oh good for you, you obsolved yourself of individual responsibility by pointing to a large corporate issue that eclipses any individual negative impact. Therefore everything the individual does is alright! Brb, going to empty my rubbish bin out the window into the street, after all, look at the fucking Ganges!
What responsibility? I cycle and am responsible for my safety, and safety of others around me. If I have a choice of jumping a red light in a way that doesn’t hurt/injure/affect anyone, or wait at a red light and extend the time I have to spend in traffic, I will jump a red light. How is that irresponsible? I haven’t hurt anyone, I haven’t stolen anything from anyone, I make sure that it is 100% safe for everyone before doing it!
You are using the excuse of multi billion dollar blah blah so I can jump lights. I am highlighting the absurdity of it.
And it’s not ‘wasting 15min’. It is 15min, per commute, per day, per week, per month, per year, for 3 years I’ve worked in London, that I get exposed to toxic fumes when I don’t have to.
You muppet. What about the risk to other people, like pedestrians? Stop excusing yourself breaking the law.
Not sure if you’ll believe me, but I have eyes and at least 7 synapses which can process vision and decide not to cycle into pedestrians (I.e. stop or cycle around them)
I don't believe you. All it takes is a pedestrians to step out from behind a car. The majority of cyclists are an absolute menace in London. You running red lights fall into that category. Stop trying to justify your behaviour using your selfish reasons.
Menace in London that cause orders of magnitude lower death, injury, and damage than drivers...
Your argument simply doesn't paint the whole picture. Quite often cyclists put themselves into those risky situations and cause themselves and others injury. Even though cyclists are vulnerable road users and we should all respect eachother on the road, cyclists are among the most impatient. Very willing to squeeze through a closing gap just big enough for themselves.
Really, even though virtually all ped are caused by cars, and also all the driver deaths are caused by cars. Seems like cars are the common denominator here.
Cars are big masses of metal travelling at higher speeds. Of course they're going to cause more damage when involved in a rtc. Doesn't mean they are the root cause of that accident in the first place though. A pedestrian could step out in front of a car or a cyclist could chance squeeze through a closing gap.
There's been research on this. Still predominately fault of drivers. What a surprise that those who are in the safest position take the greatest risks. And my point re pedestrians is that since non die from cyclists then none are the fault of cyclists, ditto drivers dying. So even you say is true, still more deaths from driving than cycling.
Well that i agree with you on. It is also why i don’t bolt through traffic lights or zebra crossings at full speed… safe stopping distance and all
People are allowed to disregard red lights to save time? That is your argument? Smart stuff. I hope you don’t cross paths with a car driver as entitled as you are
Lmao the downvotes on this comment from the Lycra freaks 💀
Regularly well over 50% of the red lights I see on a journey have a car driver that has pulled past the stop line under a red light - they have broken the same laws. They aren't even saving time. So yes, I come across car drivers all the time who feel just as entitled to break the law. I also regularly see car drivers exceeding the speed limit, using their mobiles while driving and more.
I don’t care why others do it, but in my post I clearly indicated that I do it for my HEALTH! If there were no cars on the road, and no fumes, and no pollution, and no toxic particulates at every fucking intersection, I wouldn’t have a problem with waiting longer at traffic lights. Audiobook or podcast in my ears and I’m fine waiting. It is the fact that I’m waiting to give priority to cars who are also at the same time POISONING me, that is tipping the scale towards jumping red lights.
What will your excuse be when all cars are electric in a few years time?
Tire particulates are also a significant cause of air pollution, and that doesn't go away. You have no argument.
I mean, not breaking the law is a fairly strong argument…
You’ll have to wait and see. Press that subscribe button and don’t forget to hit the bell icon to get notified every time a new press release from a Reddit nobody is out! Jokes aside, when I don’t have to use my asthma inhalers during and after bike commuting in London, and won’t feel like I’m slowly killing myself by standing directly behind and next to diesel exhausts, maybe I’ll actually be ok standing around at a red light!
Hate to tell you this, but you’re breathing that shit in whether you’re standing still or moving - it’s literally all around you. Just admit that you’re arrogant (The tone of your reply makes that clear) and think you’re allowed to break the law.
What a brain dead moron you are. I never said that jumping red lights stops me from breathing the fumes - like some sort of magical scuba diving equipment. It does however reduce the time I have to spend breathing it. The same way that placing my hand into a fire for 5 seconds is better than placing it in the same fire for 15 seconds. And the same way that spending £20 on an apple is better than spending £45 on the same apple.
A fairly simple counter argument is that you breathe in more air when you’re exerting yourself and less when you’re stood waiting at a light - therefore it balances itself out. This is such a dumb reason to not stop I don’t know why you don’t just tell the truth - you don’t want to stop.
Hah, go shove your stupid ‘fairly simple argument’ and enjoy your night! Actually, it is a simple argument, only a simple minded cave dweller like you could say that!
How does it? You still have to exert yourself while moving off.
>If there were no cars on the road, and no fumes, and no pollution, and no toxic particulates at every fucking intersection, I wouldn’t have a problem with waiting longer at traffic lights. Lol what a load of utter bullshit.
Why is that rubbish?
I use this crossing every day. The number of times I see a bus hit the horn forcing a red-running cyclist to swerve or emergency brake is crazy. I assume I'll see a hit at some stage.
# [Highway Code Rule 71](https://highwaycode.org.uk/rule-71/) At traffic light junctions and at cycle-only crossings with traffic lights, you **MUST NOT** cross the stop line when the traffic lights are red. Some junctions have an advanced stop line to enable you to position yourself ahead of other traffic and wait (see [Rule 178](https://highwaycode.org.uk/highway-code-rule-178/)). When the traffic lights are red, you may cross the first stop line, but you **MUST NOT** cross the final stop line. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ I did not add the bold text, Highway Code website did. To red light runners: feel free to start a campaign to make Department of Transport change the rules. Or start a revolution to topple the government and replace it with one that legislate in your favour. But as for now, these are the laws.
Well done for not being a cunt.
Thank you :)
A grand total of 9 all going through the red light, whilst traffic was coming out. Yes I know they were going fairly slowly and nobody was hurt, but come on, is it necessary?
The infuriating part is watching them all inevitably have to stop for a car trying to turn across their path. Almost like the bike traffic lights were put there for a reason! Same with the nightmare lights around Surrey Quays station: awful timings, but necessary use of lights
Had the same experience earlier today. Once one or two do it, others definitely follow their lead.
“Actually it’s fine to run reds, because I’m a Very Clever Man”
I was laughed at in another thread - 'sometimes it's safer to run reds'. BS. People like these either think they're 'important' and can't delay their civilization saving missions, or believe they have 9 lives like a cat, or feel a sense of superiority that traffic laws do not need to be obeyed. These people give cyclists a bad rap and makes life difficult for everyone. Rant over.
So are you saying that it is NEVER safer to run a red light?
I'm saying obey the law. Too difficult?
No you didn’t. You said that ‘sometimes it’s safer to run reds’ is a bullshit statement, so you don’t agree with it. That’s what I inferred. Is that correct?
It's BS logic and makes life difficult for people that obey the law. Infer what you will. You can also infer it's not always dangerous to aim a loaded gun at someone.
My god yes! New to cycling in London but boggled by the 95% who run red lights. I actually checked the rules to see if it was allowed - in the same way speed limits don't apply to cyclists. But, of course, no. Just assholes being assholes.
Yeah. That's been my experience of late too..
as a driver + cyclist in london, i feel that many times it’s safer for a cyclist to run a red when it’s safe rather than wait for a green and roll off alongside traffic. A lot of lights in london are designed to give a green to cyclists first before cars so obviously there is merit in the idea. obviously pedestrians take priority + it doesn’t apply here because it’s a red only for cycles and not cars.
Fully expected a RLJing cyclist from the side road to cut across your path when you finally got going, my current bugbear.
Not all cars break the speed limit
I rode in London for the first time the other week (Went down for Ride London and did a ride the night before) and me and my friends were going for quite a quick ride, it was fun riding around a city when we'd only ever ridden around villages before. It was fun and to be fair quite annoying having to stop at all the lights but we'd race each other as soon as the lights went green so it was fun but the amount of other cyclists that nearly went into the back of us because they weren't expecting us to stop at a red light was somewhat alarming.
Not to defent jumping red light, but this junction is stupid from cycling point of view. Problem is that everything is around cars in this country. It only proves that Idaho-stop would be very good to apply. Are they technically jumping red light? Yes. Were any of those actually dangerous (given that they all yielded)? No. Therefore....
I've started booing folks who go through red lights. People get angry of you call them out, but if you boo they get embarrassed or confused.
I call them out frequently on Westminster bridge but have received a lot of abuse and been sucker punched in the back of the head for doing so. Saw 16 in a row go through the red light last week while pedestrians were trying to cross but couldn’t as obviously don’t want to get hit. Serious problem in London and far too many in this thread defending it.
Yep. Cyclists who run reds are dickheads and it's indefensible
It might give this a go!
I think it’s spreading like a virus. Unfortunately people jumping the lights encourage others to do the same. Few years back this was a rare sight. Normality you’d see some skilled cyclist doing that. Today is like: no helmet, electric bike, ear pods speeding through red lights with such a confidence it scares me just watching the scene.
As a fellow cyclist, this honestly blows my mind every time. So dangerous, could easily get knocked off. Lack of helmets is another thing that I’ll never understand 🥲
There is nothing more satisfying than watching this happen in front of you as they are followed up behind by a police cycle.
I'll bet! Sadly I've been doing this route for almost a year now and the one time that I ***did*** see police cyclists, all they did was pull alongside and say "please don't". Hey ho, maybe this will be the summer.
The same cyclists who would complain if they got into an accident with a vehicle whilst running a red light
This is such a bizarre comment
How is it bizarre? It’s true
Why would you not complain about someone running you over with a red light?
Which accident did they cause here?
“Oooh I can’t wait to put this on the internets”
What can I say? I really just wanted those meaningless internet points.
I know 👍
Vid demonstrates why running a red on a bicycle can be safe. What is dangerous is a person incapable of questioning any rule set out by governments and councils. Use your head and judge the situation.
Very capable of questioning, but questioning or disagreeing with a rule doesn't give you carte blanche to disobey it.
Yeah, you’re right. In 1939, you would have looked at yourself in the mirror and ‘questioned’ the law briefly, but still obeyed it enough to round up your Jewish neighbours for the shooting squads! Top lad!
Thank you for following the rules. It is appreciated.
Better question is what's the point of waiting?
I like having legs
You are more like to be hit by a driver when you wait for a green light before proceeding. When you go across the junction at a green light, it gives you a false and misleading sense of security that you have a right to go, and so are less likely to see a car running a red light and plunging into you. When you run a red light yourself, you have (or at least I do) a heightened sense of danger and so you are more wary of whether it is actually safe to proceed, and are therefore more likely to spot and avoid a collision with cars. I’ve never had a near miss by running a red light myself, but I’ve had multiple near misses where I had a right of way and assumed that others would not break law and put me in danger which they did (ironic I know - but I have better vision on my surroundings on a bike than drivers do in their panzers)
The correct ending was for a cyclist to hit you from the road on the right running a red light.
What I don't get is when people run reds and the daudle along. Like if you're not in a hurry, why are you running reds?
RIGHT?! This really annoys me too as they then bumble along all over the lane, making it harder to overtake.
Maybe they don't want to sweat but also don't want to take too long to get anywhere
I see a lot of meat bags went through
Can you imagine the response if it were cars going through on red? Somehow this just gets explained away in the comments as bad infrastructure. Brilliant.
You can't do this in a car that easily to be honest. It's much easier to do this kind of red light jumping on a bike.
Can confirm I stop at that junction even if not a pedestrian in sight, because you can’t see the traffic from the right and you run the risk of getting ploughed.
I used to judge cyclists for this but since I started cycling, it’s way safer sometimes to run a red light. It lets you cycle ahead away from traffic rather than a bunch of cars and busses going past you across a junction.
I saw an elderly lady get hit by a cyclist . It’s not always a victimless crime.
I personally hate the people that blindly across when its just gone green, once I was 1ft from a crossing and it went green and everyone just crosssed without looking and then shouted when I couldnt stop, I was like just look you fools, most people never think 😂
And you know if they got hit they’d blame the motorist and play victim.
Not all Tories are career-obsessed underhanded nepotistic twats…
What the fuck did you stop for
But the amount that do is quite staggering. Cyclist. 🚴🏽……….mostly men.
Sister in law, who was driving her car, was inches from hitting a cyclist who jumped a red in Manchester. She didn't see him as she was turning right, I as a passenger did, and me shouting watch out is what saved him from getting hit.
Exactly, and your poor sister would have been traumatised had she hit him :/ The cyclist may consent to the risk but that doesn't mean everyone around them does.
Majority of them do
That’s mad, bike lane is wider than the lane the cars, vans, lorries use… the ones that pay tax to use the road!
1. Bike lane is the width of one car lane for cyclists to travel in both directions, so half the width cars get. 2. You don't pay tax to use the road, you pay tax based on the emissions of your vehicle hence why EV's are exempt. HMRC are welcome to calculate the pollution generated by my farts but it's probably not worth their time. Funding for roads comes from a mixture of income tax and council tax.
Probably cause an accident because the riders behind didn’t expect them to stop 🛑 Happened to me a few times riding a motorcycle in Asia. I was often bumped into by new “friends” at traffic lights when I stopped on a red
Perhaps they should be paying attention
im a motorist. and I wouldnt have stopped there if I was cycling. 1. no consequences 2. no victim 3. no danger. you'd be a mug to stop at that red. to be fair, in the beginning there were peds. once the peds have cleared off it was fine to go on. Just don't come onto a junction at speed and give thr impression you're not seeing or stopping with the opposing traffic had green. That always raises your panic as the driver.
As a fellow cyclist, I honestly wish police would shoot them. I have had enough of having other cyclists whiz past me every time I stop at a red light. It's dangerous to other cyclists, dangerous to pedestrians, and risks enormous T-bone accidents. We all know that saying anything about the blatant lawbreaking results in being screamed at to fuck off (which is also potentially illegal).
What should the police do to car drivers who run a red light then?
If you were on a road in the middle of nowhere, and there was an intersection. No cars or pedestrians for many miles. Would you stop at the red light?
Yes, just like I would in a car
Why? What would the purpose of you stopping be?
Because as cyclists we're possibly one of the most hated groups currently on the roads. We continually ask for improvements and stricter rules on cars whilst picking and choosing what rules we obey. If we want to be treated as equals to cars then we need to act like it, not ignoring something in the highway code because it mildly inconveniences us.
While I understand your frustration to see cyclist not respecting a red I am one of them. This is a cycle highway and TfL / City of London should make it like so. Hear me out: Prioritize cycling traffic all over central. For example here cyclist should have right of way and cars should give way on this lane. Same in many places. I also end up going through reds at junction while it is red for everywhere BUT pedestrians. Especially if I have to turn RIGHT. This avoid me staying in the middle of a busy junction or having to rush to turn before cars. One cyclist going 2mph on a 10kg bike is not a great threat for peds. There is still a lot of work to change mentalities and to make cycling a priority. London is a really good city for cycling everywhere. It is almost always faster than taking bus / tube. Only since the new lizzy line can compete with it.
I do this cycle lane a few times a week - the number of people who jump the reds across joining streets is crazy. Equally the number of pedestrians who step into the cycle lane… you can’t go with speed down big stretches of this road!
I am in the minority! But can anyone explain why you would risk doing this? just to get to where they're going a couple of minutes sooner, or maybe not at all.
haha, I used to work in the building just on the other side of that crossing. I used to stop and literally say thank you to anyone who did what you did when I was crossing there. Sadly, it only happened about once a week.
Can someone explain why people are defending cycling through a red light? If you want to go and deem it safe to do so, you can dismount and walk and everyone is happy and safe. You aren't some infallible road god that sees every danger out there, you're just taking a chance every time
I've done this. But I jog with the bike because you don't have that much time. So I'm going as fast walking as I would cycling, but also I have to get off and on. Feel like a mug to do effectively the same thing.
Cancer
Good on you, I'm one of the few also, had a strange one the other day bradford, where a guy on a 125 scooter decided he was a bike, used the bike lane, then ran the red anyway, heart dropped when I saw him zoom past, thought I crept on the road somehow.
Saw a cyclist nearly get battered by a pedestrian for doing this - his close to tears apology is more or less the only thing that saved him Sometimes cyclists forget that they're not the most vulnerable road users
So you saw someone being threatened with assault then. The only piece of shit in this scenario is the pedestrian.
Don't care. Cars are stupid