Do you stop at lights? Are there exceptions

[human909]

Anti cyclist rants usually involve two aspects. "they all run red lights" and " they don't pay rego". One of those arguments can be taken away if we abide by the red lights.

And if cyclists didn't run red lights and they paid rego do you really think riding on the road would be improved?

You know what, personally I'm not a fan of lycra. Many anti cyclist rants involve reference to lycra. I think all cyclist should stop wearing lycra that way we could remove one of the arguments.

[anonymous_]

I obey sensible laws and lights.

I don't get of my bike at on the bay run near the rowing club (stupid rule)

I go through red lights when there are no cars and the lights do not trigger (stupid engineering)

I ride through red lights on cycleways when the pedestrian light with me changes green but mine remains on red (deliberate hatred of cyclists by who ever is now the RTA)

Just because it is the law doesn't make it right.

[Mrfenejeans]

You know what, personally I'm not a fan of lycra. Many anti cyclist rants involve reference to lycra. I think all cyclist should stop wearing lycra that way we could remove one of the arguments.

[gorilla monsoon]

Just because it is the law doesn't make it right.

I have a very strong feeling that statement will not work as a legal defence.

[human909]

I have a very strong feeling that statement will not work as a legal defence.

Another strawman. Nobody has claimed it would.

[bigfriendlyvegan]

Just because it is the law doesn't make it right.

I have a very strong feeling that statement will not work as a legal defence.

Homosexuality
Segregation
Inter-racial marriage
Aboriginal citizenship
Gay marriage...soon

[human909]

Bare headed cyclists? (We can only hope)

[Philipthelam]

From the safe Cycling Australia Website


To all you RLJ, the truth is that you are giving cyclists a bad name

[GraemeL]

I always stop at all lights, it is just not worth the risk and besides, I like my body the way it is.

What risk? It is far more risky to blindly follow what the lights say than to ignore lights completely and proceed when it is safe.

The vast majority of the time I simply stop for red lights but I honestly feel ridiculous waiting for a red light at an empty intersection. It is an inefficient waste of time. The "risk" of me running a red light at an empty intersection is negligible. There is far more objective risk riding straight in a typical bike lane next to parked cars.

The risk of making a mistake and being hit and then having to foot the bill, if I'm still alive.

If it's good enough for cyclists to run a red when it suits them, then we should all agree it's good enough for anybody, regardless of what they are riding/driving.

Drivers routinely cut us off, close shave etc, maybe they think the same about that as some riders do about red lights, it's ok I think it's safe.

Graeme

[human909]

The risk of making a mistake and being hit and then having to foot the bill, if I'm still alive.

If I worried about not being able to see cars and proceed when safe I wouldn't get on the bike. The same "risk" exists at giveway and stop signs.

If it's good enough for cyclists to run a red when it suits them, then we should all agree it's good enough for anybody, regardless of what they are riding/driving.

Yep. If you do so safely without inconveniencing or harming others then I have no objection.

[marinmomma]

It's been a while....settling in for a good one!




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[HelmutHerr]

...

In my opinion it's a personal decision, it doesn't affect anyone else

If only this was about opinions and not observable facts.

Please do not attribute that to me, I did not say that. In fact I vehemently disagree with that entirely.

Apologies. I try to keep the quote boxes as clean as possible and I misattributed that sentence. I'll edit it when I get to a proper computer.

[queequeg]

Yes, I generally stop at red lights when I am on the road, unless they refuse to change.
I do cross against those annoying bike lantern crossings that are red only because there was no cyclist there to press the button at exactly the right moment (so they would have otherwise been green!).
Is this bad? Well, motorists are no angels. Coming home tonight a woman ran the red left arrow and nearly took me out on the bike crossing (on the green). She then proceeded to turn right at the next set of lights (10 secs later), from the middle lane and through a red arrow across three lanes of oncoming traffic! Yep, rego really helps stop red light runners!

[find_bruce]

On my commute there are 14 sets of lights. 7 of those I can't recall ever seeing a red light rider. 4 have almost no red light riders.

The other 3 fall into the category queequeg identified & 80% of riders will stop then proceed when they think it is safe.

Ironically 1 light is often safer to cross on the red.

[Lukeyboy]

They are in areas where there is no traffic around these times so I treat the lights as a stop sign.

Interestingly I treat all intersections the same way as I treat a STOP sign even if there is a GREEN light or a continuing road.

I hope to god you don't come to a full stop at green lights.

[roller]

i go through as many reds as i can in view of as many people as i can.

i do this so that a driver who has seen me do this and then sees a rider who stops at red lights, will realise that not all cyclists are the same.

[ianK]

I used to be in the "stop - have a look and proceed if it is safe" brigade, however I now find that I am far more inclined to wait. I now ride far more within the law by taking up a whole lane on a divided road etc (keeping well away from car doors!!) and figure that I really can't pick and choose which rules I should obey.

Should the road rule be changed to allow rider to proceed if safe - quite possibly, but, if and until it takes place I will stop, and if need be, wheel myself to the pedestrian button and activate the pedn lights

[il padrone]

The vast majority of the time I simply stop for red lights but I honestly feel ridiculous waiting for a red light at an empty intersection. It is an inefficient waste of time. The "risk" of me running a red light at an empty intersection is negligible. There is far more objective risk riding straight in a typical bike lane next to parked cars.

The risk of making a mistake and being hit and then having to foot the bill, if I'm still alive.

While I generally do not advocate running red lights and in normal traffic never do, I can't see how someone is going to get hit going through a truly empty intersection ?? Thinking of the last time I did this - 11.30pm sitting in a double-lane right-turn lane (effectively in the middle of 5 lanes), where the sensor had not triggered the red arrow for me. I could have been waiting there for a very long time. There was no sound, sight or presence of any vehicles ahead, behind or to either side, apart from me, but sitting there I was mildly concerned about the driving of any vehicle that did happen to come up behind me while I was there........ waiting...................

I ran the crazy red arrow.

[Oxford]

The vast majority of the time I simply stop for red lights but I honestly feel ridiculous waiting for a red light at an empty intersection. It is an inefficient waste of time. The "risk" of me running a red light at an empty intersection is negligible. There is far more objective risk riding straight in a typical bike lane next to parked cars.

The risk of making a mistake and being hit and then having to foot the bill, if I'm still alive.

While I generally do not advocate running red lights and in normal traffic never do, I can't see how someone is going to get hit going through a truly empty intersection ?? Thinking of the last time I did this - 11.30pm sitting in a double-lane right-turn lane (effectively in the middle of 5 lanes), where the sensor had not triggered the red arrow for me. I could have been waiting there for a very long time. There was no sound, sight or presence of any vehicles ahead, behind or to either side, apart from me, but sitting there I was mildly concerned about the driving of any vehicle that did happen to come up behind me while I was there........ waiting...................

I ran the crazy red arrow.

so dismounting and walking to the safety of the side of the road was not an option then?

[il padrone]

Oh, I could have done all manner of things I guess.

I could have turned about and wheeled the bike back along the median strip and crossed to another side street. Or I could have ridden diagonally across the empty intersection on the green for straight through, to the far left corner to do a hook turn instead. I just don't regard such maneuvers as any more or less "dangerous" than going through that red light - the one that is faulty and does not detect a bicycle rider.

I prefer the simplest safe solution. Any time the lights do not work - proceed when safe, giving way to the right (and oncoming traffic as I was turning right). That's the rule.

[Xplora]

so dismounting and walking to the safety of the side of the road was not an option then?

And then, as a pedestrian, can be charged with jaywalking, or creating an obstruction... or wearing a loud shirt in a built up area

H909 pretty much sums it up - if you can't make the decision for yourself to proceed through an intersection without the aid of traffic lights, you should make the decision to not ride on the road. You might make a mistake one day... but if you ever have to deal with a red running car who made a mistake one day as you went through the green, you'll be no better off than if you had run a red and been hit. Imagine you were hit on the green and there were no witnesses. You'll still be going to hospital, and might even get a TIN.

Red lights are designed to minimise the incompetence of car drivers. Cyclist volumes don't ever require lights.

[Oxford]

common sense certainly is a super power given its rarity.

Xplora, I know some of your comments are tongue in cheek, but I truly believe that if you were ticketed for any of the mentioned things, that by the time it reached a magistrates court, the police would be very embarrassed that they even issued the ticket in the first place. and I think the magistrate would ream them mercilessly for it.

[Philipthelam]

I hope to god you don't come to a full stop at green lights.[/quote]

The vast majority of the time I simply stop for red lights but I honestly feel ridiculous waiting for a red light at an empty intersection. It is an inefficient waste of time. The "risk" of me running a red light at an empty intersection is negligible. There is far more objective risk riding straight in a typical bike lane next to parked cars.

The risk of making a mistake and being hit and then having to foot the bill, if I'm still alive.

While I generally do not advocate running red lights and in normal traffic never do, I can't see how someone is going to get hit going through a truly empty intersection ?? Thinking of the last time I did this - 11.30pm sitting in a double-lane right-turn lane (effectively in the middle of 5 lanes), where the sensor had not triggered the red arrow for me. I could have been waiting there for a very long time. There was no sound, sight or presence of any vehicles ahead, behind or to either side, apart from me, but sitting there I was mildly concerned about the driving of any vehicle that did happen to come up behind me while I was there........ waiting...................

I ran the crazy red arrow.

how do you know the intersection is a "truly empty intersection"? If there is a green light cars don't look and don't expect for a vehicle to be going across their path. You might look right, then look left, then go and there might be a car coming on the right that you missed. Of course there is a risk.
Il padrone look through the full posts before you make a comment. Even though he said "The vast majority of the time I simply stop for red lights" I doubt that Human909 does this when he makes comments like

I treat all intersections the same way as I treat a STOP sign even if there is a GREEN light or a continuing road.

I find it funny how many of the people that say they run red lights here are the same ones that have posted they don't like/don't wear helmets. Shows what kind of people these guys are.

[GraemeL]

The vast majority of the time I simply stop for red lights but I honestly feel ridiculous waiting for a red light at an empty intersection. It is an inefficient waste of time. The "risk" of me running a red light at an empty intersection is negligible. There is far more objective risk riding straight in a typical bike lane next to parked cars.

The risk of making a mistake and being hit and then having to foot the bill, if I'm still alive.

While I generally do not advocate running red lights and in normal traffic never do, I can't see how someone is going to get hit going through a truly empty intersection ?? Thinking of the last time I did this - 11.30pm sitting in a double-lane right-turn lane (effectively in the middle of 5 lanes), where the sensor had not triggered the red arrow for me. I could have been waiting there for a very long time. There was no sound, sight or presence of any vehicles ahead, behind or to either side, apart from me, but sitting there I was mildly concerned about the driving of any vehicle that did happen to come up behind me while I was there........ waiting...................

I ran the crazy red arrow.

There is always a risk, mistakes are made.

It's funny how peolpe here whinge and bitch about drivers, wanting to save a few precious seconds, not giving way at roundabouts, close shaves, opening their doors without looking etc etc.
Maybe those drivers have the same attitude as those here that run red lights, you know, the ones who think they are perfect, and think they are above the law.

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black

Graeme

[il padrone]

I hope to god you don't come to a full stop at green lights.

Please read my post thoroughly.

While I generally do not advocate running red lights and in normal traffic never do, I can't see how someone is going to get hit going through a truly empty intersection ?? Thinking of the last time I did this - 11.30pm sitting in a double-lane right-turn lane (effectively in the middle of 5 lanes), where the sensor had not triggered the red arrow for me. I could have been waiting there for a very long time. There was no sound, sight or presence of any vehicles ahead, behind or to either side, apart from me, but sitting there I was mildly concerned about the driving of any vehicle that did happen to come up behind me while I was there........ waiting...................

I ran the crazy red arrow.

Red arrows work while the green light operates for straight through. Only this red stayed red.

how do you know the intersection is a "truly empty intersection"? If there is a green light cars don't look and don't expect for a vehicle to be going across their path. You might look right, then look left, then go and there might be a car coming on the right that you missed. Of course there is a risk.

You mean to say that you never ever make a right turn apart from at controlled intersections with red turn arrow? Your cycle journeys would have to be pretty hamstrung!!!

I was talking about a suburban main road intersection at near midnight. The roads were completely empty in all directions as far as could be seen.