Australian Cycling Forums - Bicycles Network Australia

dear superstar on the cervelo TT near Sydney Olympic park today. I was stopped (on my bike) at a red light at Holker st / hill rd intersection, a couple were in their car also stopped right next to me. superstar splits us (I'm guessing had I twitched he would have tagged me and hit the road, that's how close he was) and sails through the red at I'm guessing 35 - 45 kph. I don't give a crap if you clean yourself up, but don't leave me copping the lecture from the driver about running reds which I clearly didn't. the car sat alongside me for probably 200m ( safely too I might add, well driven miss) and wanted a conversation about "why cyclists shouldn't be on the road" and superstar cervelo...............you made their point. sorry, rant over

I don't run red lights either - but I still get to hear those lectures, so I guess you have to as well.

While clearly a moron cyclist, perhaps you should have mentioned to the motorist that 50,000 infringement notices per year are issued for red light camera offences. Is this an argument that cars shouldn't be on the road? Just in case you didn't know, I dislike cyclists running red lights as well. However, this is no argument to suggest cyclists shouldn't be on the road.

how long do you wait at a red light before you wake up that the technology behind it was developed by people who don't recognize bicycles as legal road vehicles?

winstonw wrote:how long do you wait at a red light before you wake up that the technology behind it was developed by people who don't recognize bicycles as legal road vehicles?

Exactly. (and for biker jk's comment too).

And for that matter, the superstar this morning was "pobso" running through red light. But he's alright to do that because he isn't on a TT bike or in lycra (I suppose). Every "serious" cyclist I saw this morning on a road-bike did wait for traffic lights, in stark contrast. I'm only writing that to provide some balance.

Car drivers never seem to complain much about other car drivers running red lights, double parking, holding the phone while driving, etc. That's quite alright by them. I'd say that cars should be banned from the road too because of that.

I get a bad rap from motorists as well for cyclists who ride through red. None of them are in a race, none of them will get a gold medal with thei 10 second advantage

Don't want to stop? Go somewhere without traffic lights and intersections.
Don't want to unclip? Learn to trackstand.

If they like cycling so much, is it too difficult to understand that this isn't helping themself and their fellow cyclists on the road?

The driver's rant could have been cut short if you'd asked a simple question.

"I DID NOT run the red. Why are you lecturing ME?" I find it frustrating that somehow I'm supposed to explain everybody else's bad behaviour.

Interesting isn't it that they completely ignored the fact the OP waited for the green? Selective perception

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winstonw wrote:how long do you wait at a red light before you wake up that the technology behind it was developed by people who don't recognize bicycles as legal road vehicles?

At dark o'clock in the morning on an empty road? Long enough to confirm that the sensor hasn't detected me (after looping back over it to give it a good chance).

In this case, there was a car there to trip the sensor. The light was going to change. The technology is not an excuse.

It is very rare to find a traffic light sensor loop that will not detect a bike, given the chance. That does mean you need to ride over the loop, in the middle of the lane, not hug the gutter.

If cyclists only ever rode red lights on deserted roads where there are no other vehicles to trigger the light sequence, then there would be no backlash, because nobody is there to see it happen.

tim

Or... ... Critical mass of showing how pointless lights can be in certain situations for cyclists meant that French Government is now making it legal ( in certain circumstances ) for vélos to run red lights.

Don't normally get involved in these chats as they are a bit of a funfest ... So I will leave you to it.
As Someone who runs many reds and stops for others... Only once have I seen someone raise an eyebrow in 5 years... And it wasn't at me because I had stopped

trailgumby wrote: "I DID NOT run the red. Why are you lecturing ME?" I find it frustrating that somehow I'm supposed to explain everybody else's bad behaviour.

Basil Fawlty: Is there something wrong?
German Guest: Will you stop talking about the war?
Basil Fawlty: Me? You started it.
German Guest: We did not!
Basil Fawlty: Yes, you did. You invaded Poland.

It is very difficult to reason a person out of a position they didn’t reason themselves into. You are most certainly not going to do it while stopped at a set of lights

Instead what you are confronting are pre-conceived ideas. Any cyclist running a red light merely confirms the firmly held pre-conception. All cyclists who comply with the lights are dismissed as aberrations.

Even if you succeed, the typical response is for the person to shift to some other perceived fault of cyclists such as you wear lycra or stop me from getting a seat in the coffee shop.

trailgumby wrote:The driver's rant could have been cut short if you'd asked a simple question.

"I DID NOT run the red. Why are you lecturing ME?"

I like this response & would suggest that a reason why it may be more effective is that it doesn't directly challenge the pre-conceived idea, while encouraging them to think.

I've used the "I don't like it either, you better go catch up to him and ask him...". Worked a couple of times.

Jim