Red Lights

Harris said:

I strongly agree, although I seem to be in the minority in my area. It blows my mind to see
"serious" cyclists on club rides routinely blowing through red lights. Terrible PR for cycling.

It is also freaking dangerous. I have nearly hit cyclists blowing through a red light as I ride
through the green in the other direction.

Chris
--
Chris Colohan Email: [email hidden] PGP: finger [email hidden] Web: www.cs.cmu.edu/~colohan
Phone: (412)268-4751

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

eric-<< What does most of you guys and gals think about running red

lights?

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Would you run a red light in a car? Why is a bicycle on a roadway any different??

Find some really gory pictures. Or maybe fabricate some with some ground beef, chicken thigh slices,
and maybe a pig brain from a asian food market. Tell your friends that you lost your best friend in
college because he was intentionally attacked by a motorist because he ran a red (or didn't stop at
the stop sign). No, really, I'm serious. I did this for some other reasons but it definitely worked.

That'll get your jackass friends thinking.

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] (turtle

funk) said:

I also don't assume I am invisible when I look at a driver and find they are looking at me...
then, for example, I'll change into the lane in front of them for an upcoming turn, or for a
vehicle that provides a good draft.

yeah, you should start working on those computer skills. and i'd suggest you spend some time at game
consoles too, because you'll need some joystick skills too.

"Eric Shanabrook" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

What does most of you guys and gals think about running red lights?

Illegal. Stupid. Dangerous.

Quoted message said:

I do go through some and but not others deemed more dangerous. But I do have a problem with it
generally. I have ridden with some bone heads that take risks, I will not ride with them. I think
of myself as an ambassador (of a sort) for cyclists, because what

do

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drivers think when they see cyclists just blowing through lights and stop signs?

Uh, if you "go through some and not others" you are NOT a cycling ambassador of any kind.

Normally I stop and wait for it to change, or change it myself if it isn't a "timed' light.
Especially if I'm not familiar with the traffic in the area.

However, if I'm way out in the ass end of nowhere, like only 1 car every five minutes or so, and I
can see far enough off that no body is coming for a loooong way off (and my light changing trick
doesn't work). then I will treat it as a stop sign.

That is, come to a complete stop, check, then proceed.

May you have the wind at your back. And a really low gear for the hills! Chris

Chris'Z Corner "The Website for the Common Bicyclist": geocities.comczcornerOpen ↗

BTW, Erik, I like the way you think. Being an ambassador and all. Always remember that all the good
road sense and simple courtesy of twenty respectable cyclists can be completely undone by just ONE
"bonehead".

May you have the wind at your back. And a really low gear for the hills! Chris

Chris'Z Corner "The Website for the Common Bicyclist": geocities.comczcornerOpen ↗

Raptor wrote:

"If you blow through red lights regularly, I kind of hope you get ticketed."

I definitely hope you get ticketed. It may learn you, it may not, but it's much better than
getting killed!

May you have the wind at your back. And a really low gear for the hills! Chris

Chris'Z Corner "The Website for the Common Bicyclist": geocities.comczcornerOpen ↗

"I am a 30+ish year old "renegade" bicycle messenger in Houston. Perhaps the fastest since I am one
of the few that don't wait at lights. There is one bike police officer in particular that may
eventually catch me and give me a ticket (not in the last year anyway). If he is reading, I would
like to tell him that I can only sustain hard efforts for around 10-15 blocks as my heart has
arrhythmia (I wouldn't want him to give up). Granted he may be doing more important things, and I
respect him for that."

ROTFL!

May you have the wind at your back. And a really low gear for the hills! Chris

Chris'Z Corner "The Website for the Common Bicyclist": geocities.comczcornerOpen ↗

"JimP" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I agree that running red lights is both bad PR and dangerous. I have a question for the group on
how you handle left hand turn lanes on a red light. I used to think that it was safer when there
is a que in the left hand lane to coast up to a position next to the front right fender of the
lead car and then wait for the light to turn green. On a few occasions, I received honks and
glares from the drivers behind the lead car as if I

were

Quoted message said:

cutting in line. Now I just que up in line in the middle of the lane as if

I

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were a car and all seems right with the world again. Do you do the same?

All else being equal, squeezing by and sharing lanes with cars is more dangerous than queuing up,
especially in turn lanes. Get in line like everyone else.

--
Robin Hubert <[email hidden]

(TBGibb) said:

The detectors are supposed to be able to detect the metal on the wheels . . . which brings me to
the traffic light I called "old reliable," until this morning. Well, I had good company, another
rider ran it from the other direction at the same time I did, both of us from a dead stop with a
foot down. There was nothing close to the intersection and I think I can really claim the light was
malfunctioning.

Were we bad ambassadors?

But of course. You should have stayed there until you passed out from hunger or thirst. The
ambulance that took you away can run the light so you don't have to worry about that. ;-)

There are a couple lights that I know my bike will NEVER trip, and I will run them when a) there are
no other cars around to trip them and
b) there is no traffic around. These are "in the middle of nowhere lights" and I doubt too many
onlookers are sticking pins in voodoo cycling dolls as a result.

Mark Hickey Habanero Cycles habcycles.comhabcycles.comOpen ↗ Home of the $695 ti frame

Spacey Spade said:

David Damerell wrote:

[4-way stops]

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Here we do not have them. Instead we tend to have mini-roundabouts, which are another bad solution
to the problem.

I personally much prefer a roundabout to a 4 way stop sign, especially on a bike or motorcycle.

A disproportionate number of injuries to cyclists in the UK are at roundabouts compared to other
junctions, and in my own experience, the worst places on my commuting routes have always been
roundabouts.

Personally I would prefer junctions controlled by traffic lights.
--
David Damerell <[email hidden]> flcl?

David Damerell said:

A disproportionate number of injuries to cyclists in the UK are at roundabouts compared to other
junctions, and in my own experience, the worst places on my commuting routes have always been
roundabouts.

This is because 75% of all the paved surfaces in the UK are roundabouts - since a disproportionate
amount of the roadway consists of roundabouts, it is understandable that they account for a
disproportionate number of injuries.

Mark in Maine said:

Quoted message said:

A disproportionate number of injuries to cyclists in the UK are at roundabouts compared to other
junctions, and in my own experience, the worst places on my commuting routes have always been
roundabouts.

This is because 75% of all the paved surfaces in the UK are roundabouts

You can assume that I do actually know what "disproportionate" means, and hence I do mean that
roundabouts appear to be excessively dangerous.
--
David Damerell <[email hidden]> flcl?

"David Damerell" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Mark in Maine said:

Quoted message said:

A disproportionate number of injuries to cyclists in the UK are at roundabouts compared to other
junctions, and in my own experience, the worst places on my commuting routes have always been
roundabouts.

This is because 75% of all the paved surfaces in the UK are roundabouts

You can assume that I do actually know what "disproportionate" means, and hence I do mean that
roundabouts appear to be excessively dangerous.
--
David Damerell <[email hidden]> flcl?

We have some roundabouts in Massachusetts, they are very hairy, and are to be avoided like
the plague!

Peter Chrisholm, we go way back don't we... Peace Eric Salem MA.

Eric Shanabrook said:

"David Damerell" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Mark in Maine said:

<[email hidden]> wrote:
>A disproportionate number of injuries to cyclists in the UK are at roundabouts compared to
>other junctions, and in my own experience, the worst places on my commuting routes have always
>been roundabouts.
This is because 75% of all the paved surfaces in the UK are roundabouts

You can assume that I do actually know what "disproportionate" means, and hence I do mean that
roundabouts appear to be excessively dangerous.
--
David Damerell <[email hidden]> flcl?

We have some roundabouts in Massachusetts, they are very hairy, and are to be avoided like
the plague!

I like a good challenge 🙂 Danger adds flavor

The main problem with roundabouts is the having to rely on the driver's judgement. For my own safety
I assume that all drivers lack attention (drunk, stoned, on the phone or yelling at the kids etc).
Therefore I feel better if they are told what to do by a nice, big, red light.

"David Damerell" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Spacey Spade said:

David Damerell wrote:

[4-way stops]

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Here we do not have them. Instead we tend to have mini-roundabouts,

which

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

are another bad solution to the problem.

I personally much prefer a roundabout to a 4 way stop sign, especially on

a

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

bike or motorcycle.

A disproportionate number of injuries to cyclists in the UK are at roundabouts compared to other
junctions, and in my own experience, the worst places on my commuting routes have always been
roundabouts.

Personally I would prefer junctions controlled by traffic lights.
--
David Damerell <[email hidden]> flcl?

casm85 said:

The main problem with roundabouts is the having to rely on the driver's judgement. For my own
safety I assume that all drivers lack attention (drunk, stoned, on the phone or yelling at the
kids etc). Therefore I feel better if they are told what to do by a nice, big, red light.

I agree. You can't even rely on a driver's judgement when there is a nice big red light telling them
what to do. I was almost hit by a lady who ran a red this morning. That's the second time this
month. I guess lights are optional now so I check both ways no matter what the light is telling me.

<[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Eric Shanabrook said:

"David Damerell" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Mark in Maine <[email hidden]> wrote:
><[email hidden]> wrote:
>>A disproportionate number of injuries to cyclists in the UK are at roundabouts compared to
>>other junctions, and in my own experience,

the

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

>>worst places on my commuting routes have always been roundabouts.
>This is because 75% of all the paved surfaces in the UK are roundabouts

You can assume that I do actually know what "disproportionate" means,

and

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

hence I do mean that roundabouts appear to be excessively dangerous.
--
David Damerell <[email hidden]> flcl?

We have some roundabouts in Massachusetts, they are very hairy, and are

to

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

be avoided like the plague!

I like a good challenge 🙂 Danger adds flavor

Yes I like danger a little too, but, as an x-flight instructor i learned there was an old pilot
adage that you are well to heed, "there are old pilots and bold pilots but there are no old bold
pilots... my 1 cent or pents(sp)