On my morning commute today, I was waiting in at the head of a fairly long traffic queue at Bank junction in the City this morning, along with several other cyclists and mopeds. A lycra clad and very fit guy probably around 40 yo on a road bike came gliding down the line of traffic, but on the wrong side of the road, then continued right through the junction against a red light. There was hardly any moving traffic around (he seemed to have timed the traffic light sequence such that everything was red) except for a City Police Mercedes which did a U turn in front of him and pulled him over. I didn't wait to see what the cops did to him but the cyclist looked aghast.
The only time I've been caught is when I got bored waiting at a red light at a pedestrial crossing. The peds had already crossed, and there was no one else around, so I moved off at a slow pace, not noticing that the vehicle next to me was a police motor bike. He let me off though.
Has anyone here had the book thrown at them for doing something pretty daft like the chap above. What was the fine/outcome?
On my morning commute today, I was waiting in at the head of a fairly long traffic queue at Bank junction in the City this morning, along with several other cyclists and mopeds. A lycra clad and very fit guy probably around 40 yo on a road bike came gliding down the line of traffic, but on the wrong side of the road, then continued right through the junction against a red light. There was hardly any moving traffic around (he seemed to have timed the traffic light sequence such that everything was red) except for a City Police Mercedes which did a U turn in front of him and pulled him over. I didn't wait to see what the cops did to him but the cyclist looked aghast.
The only time I've been caught is when I got bored waiting at a red light at a pedestrial crossing. The peds had already crossed, and there was no one else around, so I moved off at a slow pace, not noticing that the vehicle next to me was a police motor bike. He let me off though.
Has anyone here had the book thrown at them for doing something pretty daft like the chap above. What was the fine/outcome?
James
My mate was pulled in Golden, Colorado for running a red light. The Cop let him off because he was from out of town.
All road users who jump red lights and amber lights should be nicked IMHO.
-- The Reply & From email addresses are checked rarely.
There was hardly any moving traffic around (he seemed to have timed the traffic light sequence such that everything was red) except for a City Police Mercedes which did a U turn in front of him and pulled him over. I didn't wait to see what the cops did to him but the cyclist looked aghast.
Good. As for his probable claim that it was safe for him to do so, his failure to notice the police car shows his observation of the traffic was lacking
Tony
-- "If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything." Mark Twain
Has anyone here had the book thrown at them for doing something pretty daft like the chap above. What was the fine/outcome?
The only time I go through lights on red is on my morning commute pre-0600. There are several lights that do not pick up my bike's presence and will go through a couple of sequences ignoring me. If no car is around or approaching I ride through. If somehow an unseen cop saw me, I'd quote Highway Code rule 117.
"Tony Raven" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...
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James Shugg said:
There was hardly any moving traffic around (he seemed to have timed the traffic light sequence such that everything was red) except for a City Police Mercedes which did a U turn in front of him and pulled him over. I didn't wait to see what the cops did to him but the cyclist looked aghast.
Good. As for his probable claim that it was safe for him to do so, his failure to notice the police car shows his observation of the traffic was lacking
Tony
-- "If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything." Mark Twain
The reasons some motorists hate cyclist is because while they're sitting in a traffic jam in their gas guzzling tin boxes costing tens of thousands of pounds, some guy on a piece of hundred year old engineering costing a fraction of that, whizzes past on the inside to the front of the queue then gets across the junction just as the lights change only proving to said motorist what, at times, a seriously inefficient machine the car can be.
Robin ( whose car is being repaired so he is forced to using the bike in the pouring rain and may have a slightly biased view) Long.
Thing is, this is probably one of the reasons that some car drivers hate
us
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cyclists so!
Nah. They just hate us and then they look for 'reasons'.
On my weekly ride in London I see many more motorists than cyclists ignoring red lights, but they seem to think that cruising through a second or two into the red sequence is not as bad as blatantly ignoring an 'established' red light. On Tuesday I stopped for a light that had just changed to red only to be overtaken by a car that missed the pedestrian who was starting to cross (on a red pedestrian light, naturally) by inches. My sarcastic comment of "Bloody cyclists going through red lights!" to the ped was met with a completely blank stare.
-- Rob
Please keep conversations in the newsgroup so that all may contribute and benefit.
"Simon Mason" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...
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"James Shugg" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Has anyone here had the book thrown at them for doing something pretty daft like the chap above. What was the fine/outcome?
The only time I go through lights on red is on my morning commute
pre-0600.
Quoted message said:
There are several lights that do not pick up my bike's presence and will
go
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through a couple of sequences ignoring me. If no car is around or approaching I ride through. If somehow an unseen cop saw me, I'd quote Highway Code rule 117.
This is a good point - likewise there are a few lights on my bike commute which are operated by the pressure?? strips on the road which I can sit at waiting for a car to come along to trip my side(I've even suffered this with a lightweight fi-glass kit car). I'm not offering this as an excuse to run red lights but the way lights are sprouting up everywhere for any reason around here(Manchester) I can see why cyclists have given up on them because its obvious the lights are nothing to do with reason and everything to do with deterring people from using anything other than public transport. Mike
Got stopped by the police in Leicester on the way to Spokesfest 1 for jumping a red light.
They didn't stop the car that was behind me, the car that went through the red light after me, the one that would have hit me if I stopped instead of light jumping.
Back on topic I have only been stopped once, as a kid riding down the one way high street the wrong way, in front of the police station. I saw them coming and would have had no problem if I had my sensible "get off, give them a wave and a smile" head on. Unfortunately I went for the "I can outrun them " option. I did outrun them by nipping down an alleyway, but those crafty coppers knew where to wait for me later a gave me a bit of grief.
Now I have a lot more respect for traffic cops and (contraversially?) believe that they are on the side of the more vulnerable road user. I've got no time for whingers who say that the police should not be wasting time nicking "honest and upright citizens" who are breaking traffic laws.
Has anyone here had the book thrown at them for doing something pretty daft like the chap above. What was the fine/outcome?
I once got told off, while `racing' against a friend I went through a red (pedestrian crossing) completely on the on the wrong side of the road (there was a traffic island in the way). There were no pedestrians around and no cars coming, but I can't complain really. Nothing came of it, I just did my best to look meek. Needless to say, I lost the race.
I go through red lights more carefully these days. It's funny how this supposedly makes British people hate cyclists, but it has no such effect in Japan. Could be because this whole theory is a load of bollocks, and instead people hate cyclists first and then find an excuse to `justify' it afterwards.
I go through red lights more carefully these days. It's funny how this supposedly makes British people hate cyclists, but it has no such effect in Japan. Could be because this whole theory is a load of bollocks, and instead people hate cyclists first and then find an excuse to `justify' it afterwards.
But then the whole cultural psyche is against having or showing any such emotion. Go with the flow, nail that stands up etc
When was the last time you saw a Tokyo taxi driver express anger or frustration (only ever had it happen once with me) cf a London cabbie.
Tony
-- "If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything." Mark Twain
The only time I go through lights on red is on my morning commute pre-0600. There are several lights that do not pick up my bike's presence and will go through a couple of sequences ignoring me. If no car is around or approaching I ride through. If somehow an unseen cop saw me, I'd quote Highway Code rule 117.
117. On a three-lane dual carriageway, you may use the middle lane or the right-hand lane to overtake but return to the middle and then the left-hand lane when it is safe.
I don't *think* that's the rule you mean. Unless you're just hoping that the police officer won't actually check?
The reasons some motorists hate cyclist is because while they're sitting in a traffic jam in their gas guzzling tin boxes costing tens of thousands of pounds, some guy on a piece of hundred year old engineering costing a fraction of that, whizzes past on the inside to the front of the queue then gets across the junction just as the lights change only proving to said motorist what, at times, a seriously inefficient machine the car can be.
Can't be true in my case - the bike is worth more than many of the tin boxes I pass ;-)
Tony
-- "If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything." Mark Twain
"Philip Armstrong" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...
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In article said:
The only time I go through lights on red is on my morning commute
pre-0600.
Quoted message said:
Quoted message said:
There are several lights that do not pick up my bike's presence and will
go
Quoted message said:
Quoted message said:
through a couple of sequences ignoring me. If no car is around or approaching I ride through. If somehow an unseen cop saw me, I'd quote Highway Code rule 117.
117. On a three-lane dual carriageway, you may use the middle lane or the right-hand lane to overtake but return to the middle and then the left-hand lane when it is safe.
I don't *think* that's the rule you mean. Unless you're just hoping that the police officer won't actually check?
Oops, yes you're right it's rule 152 - my mistake.
"You MUST NOT move forward over the white line when the red light is showing. Only go forward when the traffic lights are green if there is room for you to clear the junction safely or you are taking up a position to turn right. If the traffic lights are not working, proceed with caution".
If your bike isn't detected , you can argue that they're not working. Simon
In "]news:[email hidden], robbiew <[email hidden]> typed:
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I've got no time for whingers who say that the police should not be wasting time nicking "honest and upright citizens" who are breaking traffic laws.
What? Are you implying that honest and upright citizens don't break traffic laws?
I have this kind of fantasy of one day being arrested breaking into a house or something, and turning around and complaining to the police officer that they're not catching the bloke who cut me up yesterday going 30mph over the limit.
But of course last time I did speak to the police, they didn't offer much hope of catching the bloke who'd just burgled where I live ("Oh no, don't change your travel plans just to come in and do a videofit, it's not worth your time"😉, and they had to leave half way through my statement to get involved in a car chase anyway.
