In their rush to reinforce the idea that the safety of cyclists on the road is the sole preserve of the cyclist and not that of the operator of half a ton of metal they neglected to put any lights on the rear of their example well behaved bike. £500k well spent.

In their rush to reinforce the idea that the safety of cyclists on the road is the sole preserve of the cyclist and not that of the operator of half a ton of metal they neglected to put any lights on the rear of their example well behaved bike. £500k well spent.

Intrigued by the staggering awfulness of that video I just watched it again. Is that really indicative of the kind of red light jumping cyclists do that es other road users off? Cos what she does in that video is pass through the lights just as they turn from amber to red. Stand at any junction on a busy flowing road and count how many cars you see doing exactly that same thing. At a very conservative estimate you'll see it at least once for every two cycles of the lights.

Surely the red light jumping that p1sses people off is when a bike is inching across the line and then goes for it to get out of the advanced stop line trap. That's much more exclusively bike behaviour. I don't condone it, jumping red lights creates situations other road users have good reason not to expect and that's always stupid. But that sort of thing happens so you don't get caught with a pile of cars behind you all eager to accelerate past you, and it's often at a pinch point as the road ahead has a traffic island for pedestrians or to house the lights on the other side of the junction. I think people who jump lights in that fashion are crazy, and not just because they've jumped the light. Daft as it is it's almost the smart thing to do given the context. They're crazy because they put themselves on the bike symbol in front of a line of stationary cars all waiting for the light to change.

I hate to be first in line at [url=https://www.google.co.uk/maps?ll=53.781587,-1.641769&spn=0.344451,0.891953&cbp=12,259.28,,1,11.5&layer=c&panoid=77gigqlYD12i4uFouVfkPw&cbll=53.806114,-1.682965&dg=opt&t=m&z=11this junction[/url on my way to work. It's a pretty standard road entrance to a roundabout controlled with traffic lights. To the left is a road with motorway rules and the exit straight ahead is a six lane carriageway. Given the opportunity motor vehicles fly through junctions like this, and it's exactly the kind of thing cyclists jump red lights to avoid getting caught up in. This is the context in which the infrastructure is inviting you to be the slowest, least protected thing out in front with many tons of impatience stacked up behind you. I don't jump the light here or any other junction. Also dangerous, but I much prefer to be just inside the middle lane on the left hand side, to the rear left side of the car in front in a place where the car behind can see me but also get past me (if it's a truck or a bus behind me then I'm taking the lane - they can wait until I'm past that first exit). If they'd spoken to some actual cyclists and tried to figure out why this behaviour happens they'd probably find it's this kind of scenario that brings it about.

That video is complete nonsense. They've not only shown light jumping as a great many cars would do it on any given day of the week, and then pointed the finger at others for their lack of courtesy towards those cars, they're trying to communicate with cyclists from the viewpoint that the people who do jump lights are just being a bit cheeky and getting one over on the system and that's their only motivation. There certainly are people who are just impatient, but I suspect a small amount of consideration of why this behaviour actually happens would have led them to some different tactics. They haven't made any attempt to understand the behaviour they're trying to change, but of course changing behaviour isn't actually the point here. This is a video for the downtrodden driver to nod along to after a hard day of doing exactly the same bloody thing.

And there still isn't a reflector and a light on the back of their example well behaved bike.

Intrigued by the staggering awfulness of that video I just watched it again. Is that really indicative of the kind of red light jumping cyclists do that es other road users off? Cos what she does in that video is pass through the lights just as they turn from amber to red. Stand at any junction on a busy flowing road and count how many cars you see doing exactly that same thing. At a very conservative estimate you'll see it at least once for every two cycles of the lights.

Surely the red light jumping that p1sses people off is when a bike is inching across the line and then goes for it to get out of the advanced stop line trap. That's much more exclusively bike behaviour. I don't condone it, jumping red lights creates situations other road users have good reason not to expect and that's always stupid. But that sort of thing happens so you don't get caught with a pile of cars behind you all eager to accelerate past you, and it's often at a pinch point as the road ahead has a traffic island for pedestrians or to house the lights on the other side of the junction. I think people who jump lights in that fashion are crazy, and not just because they've jumped the light. Daft as it is it's almost the smart thing to do given the context. They're crazy because they put themselves on the bike symbol in front of a line of stationary cars all waiting for the light to change.

I hate to be first in line at [url=https://www.google.co.uk/maps?ll=53.781587,-1.641769&spn=0.344451,0.891953&cbp=12,259.28,,1,11.5&layer=c&panoid=77gigqlYD12i4uFouVfkPw&cbll=53.806114,-1.682965&dg=opt&t=m&z=11this junction[/url on my way to work. It's a pretty standard road entrance to a roundabout controlled with traffic lights. To the left is a road with motorway rules and the exit straight ahead is a six lane carriageway. Given the opportunity motor vehicles fly through junctions like this, and it's exactly the kind of thing cyclists jump red lights to avoid getting caught up in. This is the context in which the infrastructure is inviting you to be the slowest, least protected thing out in front with many tons of impatience stacked up behind you. I don't jump the light here or any other junction. Also dangerous, but I much prefer to be just inside the middle lane on the left hand side, to the rear left side of the car in front in a place where the car behind can see me but also get past me (if it's a truck or a bus behind me then I'm taking the lane - they can wait until I'm past that first exit). If they'd spoken to some actual cyclists and tried to figure out why this behaviour happens they'd probably find it's this kind of scenario that brings it about.

That video is complete nonsense. They've not only shown light jumping as a great many cars would do it on any given day of the week, and then pointed the finger at others for their lack of courtesy towards those cars, they're trying to communicate with cyclists from the viewpoint that the people who do jump lights are just being a bit cheeky and getting one over on the system and that's their only motivation. There certainly are people who are just impatient, but I suspect a small amount of consideration of why this behaviour actually happens would have led them to some different tactics. They haven't made any attempt to understand the behaviour they're trying to change, but of course changing behaviour isn't actually the point here. This is a video for the downtrodden driver to nod along to after a hard day of doing exactly the same bloody thing.

And there still isn't a reflector and a light on the back of their example well behaved bike.