Cycling
This week's Guerilla Reporter is a cyclist called Max who argues that it's perfectly acceptable for cyclists to jump red lights.
Categories
- Extraordinary Stories (71)
- Guerrilla Reporter (20)
- If Only I'd Known (15)
- Inheritance Tracks (38)
- Meet the Poet (35)
- My Philosophy (12)
- Podcast of the Week (28)
- Previous Programmes (35)
- Secret Lives (18)
- Special guest (33)
Archive
On the blog
Your comments
Photos
Clicking on any of these photos will take you to an external site.
Feeds
The ´óÏó´«Ã½ is not responsible for the content of external internet sites
Between 2001-2005, a pedestrian in London is over 100 times more likely to be injured in a collision with a motor vehicle than a cycle.
There has been NO upward trend in the number of London pedestrians being injured in collision with cycles, despite a 72% increase in cycle use on London’s main roads.
34,791 pedestrian injuries were caused by motor vehicles. Just 331 caused by cyclists.
If any road user requires better road craft and road sense, the statistics clearly show it to be the motorists and not the cyclist desperately in need of it!
Complain about this postJumping a red light is a common pedestrian behaviour - many simply choose when and where to cross junctions without regard for the 'green man'. Cyclists acting responsibly and showing care and considerration for other road-users should be able to exercise this pedestrian privilege.
Complain about this postIf a cyclist makes a "mistake" or takes a chance he may kill himself.Cyclists are fully aware of this danger.
Complain about this postIf a motorist makes a "mistake" or takes a chance he will most probably kill somebody else. Motorists dont seem aware of this.
On the red light issue, its far safer for a cyclist to get away from the wall of frustrated lone drivers behind him.
Best regards.
Emmet mc gowan,
York.
It never ceases to annoy me that cyclists are blamed, abused and endangered in this country. Very little is put in place to keep them safe and then if they break the rules to try and keep safer they are pilloried. Are you saYING CARS NEVER JUMP RED LIGHTS?
Complain about this postThe cars cause a thousand times more danger and environmental damage on the roads than cyclists.
I speak as an almost ex cyclist and reluctant motorist who has been forced off my bike by the bias in favour of cars.
It never ceases to annoy me that cyclists are blamed, abused and endangered in this country. Very little is put in place to keep them safe and then if they break the rules to try and keep safer they are pilloried. Are you saYING CARS NEVER JUMP RED LIGHTS?
Complain about this postThe cars cause a thousand times more danger and environmental damage on the roads than cyclists.
I speak as an almost ex cyclist and reluctant motorist who has been forced off my bike by the bias in favour of cars.
It never ceases to annoy me that cyclists are blamed, abused and endangered in this country. Very little is put in place to keep them safe and then if they break the rules to try and keep safer they are pilloried. Are you saYING CARS NEVER JUMP RED LIGHTS?
Complain about this postThe cars cause a thousand times more danger and environmental damage on the roads than cyclists.
I speak as an almost ex cyclist and reluctant motorist who has been forced off my bike by the bias in favour of cars.
Dear Fi,
when cars first accelerate more fuel is needed for the initial push so
the first few metres of a traffic queue are quite toxic (I've nearly done a nuro-toxin flop a few times)
also jumping the light gives the cyclist a few
Complain about this postseconds of calm before the hoard of exhaust pipes rejoin the carbon monoxide cycle
Cyclists on pavements. Here is one fact, and one question. The fact : wherever people are in locomotion, they will collide. The question : would you prefer cyclists to collide with cars - or would you prefer cyclicts to collide with pedestrians. Spens a few moments thinking about broken legs, backs, heads, and lives, as opposed to a lot of very annoyed people, before you answer.
We live in a world of full roads, and empty pavements. It's not rocket science.
Complain about this postWell you know, it I find it all very self centered. How many times do you hear 'I ride a bike. I am good for the environment. I am more at risk. I am am a victim.' The amount of times I have nearly been knocked down on the pavement by a cyclist...pedestrians don't seem to come into the equation at all. I've known quite a few people who think themselves hard core anti-car cyclists and who are very smug about it, but as soon as they need a wardrobe moving they don't try to get it onto their cross-bar. Also I have never heard a cyclist expound the virtues of all the pollutants that contribute to the production of their super no-emmission machines and fancy shorts. And just in case you are wondering, I do not drive. I walk to work - on pavements - which perhaps makes me more of an expert on dangerous cyclists than road users!
Complain about this postAs a regular commuter using the same route eveyday, I don't RLJ. The last thing I need is to make enemies whom I see daily. My actions could also reflect badly on all cyclists.
But....I thought the report was great and have no problem with considerate (pedestrian avoiding) cyclists like Max.
No-one is innocent though, I get more trouble from errant pedestrians and buses than anything else.
Complain about this postWhat nonsense! I must admit that I have never cycled in London and, perhaps, like all other aspects of living in a war zone, the rules are different. Until recently I was a commuting cyclist, 5000m odd pa and I know that a cyclist has to be aggressive and take 'ownership' of the space he travels through. If you are weak you will be pushed aside. Most of the rules are there for the benefit & protection of all. Road use is made bearable by compromise, co-operation and consideration between users. These people are quick to advertise the benefits of cycling in commuting times but conveniently ignore that if a motorist broke the rules 'at his discretion' and was unpleasant to all, he might be at journey's end very swiftly. Little annoys road users more than cyclists abusing their privilege - ignoring red lights, cycling on pedestrian crossings, 3 abreast in club groups on narrow country roads etc. This piece seemed little more than an advert for pleasing oneself. Other folk being stupid and commiting offences does not justify picking and choosing what to adhere to. As a cop, in 20 odd years I have attended 2 pedestrian cyclist accidents where the pedestrian suffered major injury. Occasions where motorists of one sort or another have run red lights and collided with others with similar results are widely known.
Complain about this postI've lost the thread of this rant now but no doubt you get the gist!
Hi fi
Complain about this postWhen you next do a clip on organdoners, could you please wait untill after brekfast.
Heard the piece about cyclists jumping red lights on Saturday. I've been trying to send this as an email to the programme, but keep getting an error message...
Yeah, yeah, here we go again. I'm a cyclist, and I DON'T jump red lights. I (and lot of others like me) are really annoyed by those who do. Visit a forum like Cycling Plus and you'll see how vitriolic the arguments can get. People who do it get the rest of us a bad name, and we don't like it.
I even used to shout at people who passed by as I waited at the lights, but I pretty much gave it up because the only reactions were either blank incomprehension or obscenities.
Your guerilla reporter trotted out the same old arguments that we 'anti-rlj'ers hear all the time - "Well, motorists break the law, so we have to" (Rubbish - two wrongs don't make a right) and "The lights slow me down and I have to lose momentum" (Tough! That's traffic for you!) and "I only do it when it's safe" (you may THINK it's safe, mate, but you are helping to promote an image of all cyclists as lawless in the minds of the dimmer motorists, and that affects the safety of all of us. Not to mention the idea that if we can't behave, we don't belong on the roads and should be confined to badly designed and maintained cycle paths).
I'm sorry you decided to give the guy airtime. Would you give the same time to a motorist who habitually speeds, or a shoplifter who reckons the supermarkets can afford the losses? I do hope you'll redress the balance with a report from a law abiding cyclist, someone who doesn't feel the need to make up their own rules for the sake of a few seconds. Someone like me...
Sue Archer,
Complain about this postMilitant Do-gooder,
York.
The message that it is funny to shoot water pistols at cyclists I feel is deplorable.
Complain about this postI know of a number of incidents where cyclists have been seriously injured by missiles thrown at them.
Equally I know cyclists have a duty themselves to behave responsibly.
I do and encourage others to do so too.
Yours
David Marriott
Each cyclist has their own reason for every light they run, personally I tend to run them when I am late for work. But generally I slow down when I see red gently freewheeling to the junction anticipating an imminent change to green, saving my brakes my energy and usually passing all the motorists who have just sped by me.
I spent 6 years as a London courier jumping red lights as a matter of professional ethics, obviously I couldn't tell you how many lights I've run or even how many times I've been knocked off my bike but what I can tell you is how many times I've had a crash while running a red light, ZERO.
The most dangerous thing I do as a cyclist is to travel faster then everyone else on the road. This was the cause of every crash I’ve ever had, most of which would have been considered the fault of the person with whom I collided, but as a courier this was my job and congestion was the butter on my bread, and I loved it!
Given my experience of London traffic I can understand your reporter’s metaphor, it often seems that our roads are a battlefield. This war, like most, is fought over territory by the insecure, frightened by the other, who shield themselves in armoured vehicles with crumple zones. Like all wars the real victims are the weak, the children trapped in their homes the elderly abandoned by their adult children, not to mention the ‘soldiers’ who, believing in the cause, willingly enlist to enter into battle at great personal expense. Where I disagree with your reporter is that cyclists must not get involved in this war, we can silently cruise by squeezing through the gaps, basking in the sun or invigorated by the rain, innocuously rolling through red. Enjoy the freedom of cycle travel, let the people with the crumple zones contest their territory.
I work as a cycle trainer and at the same time as suggesting that my students understand the ‘Highway Code’ in the course of my work I regularly flout it's suggestions by escorting groups of cyclists on rides taking a whole lane of traffic on busy fast moving roads. It is my job to introduce them to the benefits of the cycling as well as ensure their safety. When motorists complain that I'm taking up the whole road I love to point out the obvious, if they didn't take up the whole road they wouldn't have a problem.
The 'Highway Code’s' failing is that it is overwhelmingly written from the point of view of the motorist. If you aren’t in a motor vehicle you should stay out of their way. While safety is a concern with every light controlled junction created, the main function of traffic lights is to control the flow of motor traffic and reduce tailblocks caused by motorists.
As a cyclist there are many questions that I have for motorists. Do they really believe they can adequately control 3500 lbs of machine traveling at 20+mph when they are busy talking on the phone? Why is the ability to drive fast accepted as an essential right while attempts to make the roads safer for everyone is castigated as a violation of freedom? Whose freedom? In fact, if you live in such a beautiful, dense and eminently accessible city like London, why drive a car at all?
Complain about this postHi,
I cycle in London and jump red lights... it is quicker but most of all it is safer. It allows me to get out in front of the traffic and be in plain view. It should be noted that I don't charge through junctions. On the program a cabbie was quoted as saying something along the lines of "... it gets them out of the way" and he couldn't be more right.
This is the headline banner from an article from The Times website:
"Women cyclists ‘risk death’ by obeying traffic lights"
click the link to see the article
I hope Transport for London publish the report.
Cyclists will always jump redlights and motorists will always disapprove. The only way to polarise the argument further is to introduce religion... it is a little known fact that on the seventh day God did not rest but instead popped out to the shed to work on his bike.
Complain about this post