Cyclists......tut tut tut

[mr self destruct]

[quote author=fazersharp link=topic=12553.msg140946#msg140946 date=1397213821]
As for red lights, many years ago I used to commute to work on a push bike and I learnt that there were certain traffic lights that it was actually safer to go through the red light rather than be within the melay of trucks and busses

I cycle 7 miles through London every day and agree with this all the way.  Because of the 8 deaths last year Boris stationed police on all the dangerous junctions in London to "Educate" both cyclists and drivers, in other words "obey the Highway code to the letter or we'll fine you".  I argued pretty much daily with one officer or another on the wisdom and virtue of starting off next to a cement mixer or a left turning bus when I could easily and safely jump the lights and be out of danger.  No one listened to me or any of the other cyclists I saw making similar arguments.  The police are gone now and everyone's back to navigating those junctions in the safest way possible.


NOTE: - I do not condone cyclists on the pavement or going through pedestrian crossings when anyone is on them, those people are idiots!
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I'm on the other side of the fence on this. When on my pushbike I never jump red lights, and if there's a vehicle signalling left at the front I let them go. If they're not I position myself so they can see me so there's minimum danger of getting hit.
As a car driver I also once knocked a lad off his bike. I was turning right at a T junction at the end of a road (out of the side road onto the main) with my lights on green, when the lad shot the red lights and went straight in front of me, leaving me no time to react let alone brake. Broke his leg, scuffed my front bumper. He swore he was going to 'fuck me good and proper' in court until the witnesses said they saw him jump the red.


So forgive me if I don't understand how you can "[size=78%]easily and safely jump the lights and be out of danger" [/size] :rolleyes