Cyclists who deserve to be disliked

[Biscuit]

Lots of cyclists round your way then, especially as, with that many such near misses, you must have a massive fatality and serious injury rate locally.

Since the Bicycle has enjoyed over 100 years of development, perhaps we could rely on Darwins Theory over the next 100, and maybe only the sensible ones will be left, and this thread will be hanging in a museum. Nature finds a way as they say.

 

[Bicycle]

I think 'dislike' is a strong term.

I'm almost in agreement with Gaz about calling some of them silly cyclists.

I think also that we need to temper our disapproval sometimes and accept that most of us have done silly, dangerous or antagonistic things in the past and may do so again.

It's amusing that every driver I've ever spoken to considers himself (or herself) to be above average in terms of both skill and courtesy to other road users.

I imagine the same is true of cyclists.

Many of those who behave erratically think themselves to be paragons.

Many of us, likewise, are given to moments of inexplicably poor and/or selfish riding.

 

[Hilldodger]

Quite frankly, anyone who rides a 'Safety' bicycle. And don't get me started on pneumatics.

 

[TheCharityShop]

Id rather a bad cyclist than a bad motorist

 

[Red Light]

In the last 8 months of commuting - and in my very unscientific opinion, only around 20% of cyclists (in Norwich) stop at red lights.

That's consistent with the TfL survey that found 16% ignoring red lights which compares with 10% of cars and 20% of buses crossing more than 3 seconds after the light had gone red. So pretty much a feature of all road users, rather than cyclists in particular.

 

[derrick]

When did not stopping at lights begin, have really only noticed this over the past ten or so years, what's it all about,

 

[lulubel]

That's consistent with the TfL survey that found 16% ignoring red lights which compares with 10% of cars and 20% of buses crossing more than 3 seconds after the light had gone red. So pretty much a feature of all road users, rather than cyclists in particular.

That's quite interesting. Do you have any figures for vans and lorries?

 

[asterix]

Mine Dew, today I saw a low-loader artic, the sort used for transporting earth-movers, go through a red light. Anything in the way would have been a pancake. The driver fully intended to go through.

 

[Bicycle]

That's consistent with the TfL survey that found 16% ignoring red lights which compares with 10% of cars and 20% of buses crossing more than 3 seconds after the light had gone red. So pretty much a feature of all road users, rather than cyclists in particular.

I'm not one to disagree with statistics... but I find those figures staggering.

10% of cars and 20% of buses crossing red lights more than 3 seconds after the signal has gone to red.

If I count that out, it's a long, long time. The 10% start to be counted according to these figures only after I've counted three seconds from the moment the signal goes to red.

Even if I dare assume that it means "10% of cars required by the signal to stop" it is a colossal number crossing at red.

And if 10% of cars are crossing 'more than 3 seconds' after the signal goes to red, those 3 seconds leave a lot of room for the preceding several vehicles to skip over.

I'm a former London motorcycle courier (80s) and regular London cyclist although no longer living there. Those figures do not represent the London I know and love.

Do they include cars and buses that had entered a (non-box) junction but not left it yet because they were turning across oncoming traffic?

I am a very keen cyclist, but I still see far more cyclists hopping red lights than any other brand of road user. I've even done it myself on a bicycle, but never in anything with a motor.

One in five buses in the TfL area crossing more than three seconds after the light has gone red?

It's just not my experience.... But I don't have data to refute these figures. And I'm not in London tonight so I can't go and count the cars and buses on the Mile End Road....

Am I the only one to see 10% (cars) and 20% (buses) failing to cross within 3 seconds of a signal going to red as slightly out of keeping with my daily experience?

 

[Red Light]

That's quite interesting. Do you have any figures for vans and lorries?

No, there's stuff on ASL infringement which is technically a red light infringement but not for RLJing as we would typically think of it. But at ASLs, red light infringements were 26% for motor vehicles (mainly cars or taxis (55%) and motorcycles (30%)) at the first stop line and 13% at the second stop line with the figure for cyclists of 17% overall.

 

[Red Light]

I'm not one to disagree with statistics... but I find those figures staggering.

10% of cars and 20% of buses crossing red lights more than 3 seconds after the signal has gone to red.

Just to clarify, the cyclist figures come from TfL, the bus and car figures from an RAC Foundation survey and covers more than London. I believe the criteria the RAC used was vehicles crossing the white line more than three seconds after the light had gone red as the offence is related to when you crossed the line, not when you are in the junction.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

We hear a lot about how many road users hate cyclists. Sometimes though there are cyclists whose behaviour is bound to cause this. Unfortunately it reflects on the rest of us.

I drove the 9 miles from home to Wellington this morning, and made a note when I got there of what I'd seen. In order:

1. Cyclist rode straight off a cycle path and across a busy road. 2 cars, one each way had to do full-on emergency stops. The one going the other way to me was hit from behind by the following car (which had been far too close BTW). Cyclist just rode off down a narrow footpath which has a no cycling sign.

2. RLJ at a complex busy junction. Council truck swerved and just missed the cyclist.

3. RLJ at a pedestrian crossing by 2 cyclists 2 abreast. Woman with a child in a buggy had to jump, with the buggy, to avoid being hit.

4. Cyclist coming towards me on the wrong side of the road - in primary position! Went up the kerb side of my car and got hooted at by a bus.

5. Cyclist turned right - from a gutter crawling position - straight across traffic on both sides of the road. Not as close as No 1 but caused me to slam on the brakes, as did the car the other side.

6. I was waiting at a roundabout, cyclist went round the outside and straight onto the r'bout in front of the motorbike I was waiting for. M/C rider did manage to stay on.

The RLJs weren't just as the lights were changing, but when they'd been at red for some time.

And those were the worst. I can't recall when I last saw as many examples of lunatic cycling one after the other. The idiots on bikes outnumbered those who appeared sane.

After seeing that I'm going to find it hard to defend cyclists next time I hear the usual snipes at us.

As they say "Only the good die young". Idiots like this get away with what they do because they have no consideration for others. I would go so far as to venture some have a sociopathic mind. It is much easier to act illegaly and foolishly when you have no concept of morality.

 

[Bicycle]

I believe the criteria the RAC used was vehicles crossing the white line more than three seconds after the light had gone red as the offence is related to when you crossed the line, not when you are in the junction.

In which case, I find it simply staggering.

Three seconds is an eternity.

10% is a huge number of cars.

20% is a huger (?) number of buses.

Both these figures are vastly outside the worst traffic-light jumpery I have ever witnessed.

I suspect that whoever did the counting was unfamiliar with numbers or buses or traffic lights or all three.

Does anyone else find these figures way, way outside anything they've ever seen?

One in five buses and one in ten cars crossing red lights more than three seconds after the signal has gone to red?

Even as a former courier who knew a thing or two about 'mature amber' traffic lights, I find these figures astounding.

 

[gordyfinbar]

Yesterday on my way home in my white van a mtb rider was wobbling around the roundabout in front of me with a large rucksack on his back and a can of Stella in his hand sipping away. when he reached his exit he veered across the roundabout with no signal , came to a grinding halt on the steep incline and promply fell into the road in front of me. Unfortunatly it was busy and there were witnesses or i would have driven straight over the tw**

 

[Globalti]

What we need here is a bit of free enterprise. In Lagos where I spend quite a bit of time driving around, the local government went out a couple of years ago and bought a box of light bulbs for all the traffic lights, which are now working. To my amazement drivers respect the lights and the traffic flows pretty well. The reason? You can always be sure there will be a Police officer or traffic warden lurking and if they so much as suspect you've jumped a light they will stop you and unload your wallet. The prospect of instant "fines" is a very effective deterrent to RLJing.