Is it wrong to SORT OF jump red lights?

[summerdays]

I'm now feeling really guilty since I was advocating not breaking any rules... and I used the line about for my own safety when that is the same line that RLJ'ers use

 

[marinyork]

ASLs are constructed for the purpose of cyclists' safety though summerdays!

 

[summerdays]

ASLs are constructed for the purpose of cyclists' safety though summerdays!

Thank you I'm feeling better about myself now ... if only they had fully thought out ASL's and the feeder lanes. The other problem with ASL's is the potential for me to left hook another cyclist - as I position myself to prevent the left hook from a car.

 

[Dan B]

ASLs are constructed for the purpose of cyclists' safety though summerdays!

And yet you choose to break the law when you personally decide that they're badly constructed to that end

Why don't you just wait in line in a primary position behind the front vehicle at the junction? It's just as safe, and only a couple of seconds
extra on the journey time

;-)

 

[marinyork]

And yet you choose to break the law when you personally decide that they're badly constructed to that end

Why don't you just wait in line in a primary position behind the front vehicle at the junction? It's just as safe, and only a couple of seconds
extra on the journey time

;-)

Who says I don't do that? ASLs are very rare up here.

There was an amusing case in Sheffield where they put a solid white line in deliberate error at a junction making it illegal to cross it. The council were just fed up of people going straight through!

 

[summerdays]

And yet you choose to break the law when you personally decide that they're badly constructed to that end

Why don't you just wait in line in a primary position behind the front vehicle at the junction? It's just as safe, and only a couple of seconds
extra on the journey time

;-)

Well in today's case I was annoyed by the others breaking the law so decided to plonk my self in front of them (and join them breaking the law). But at a previous junction I choose to wait a few cars back.

It really depends on the junction and which way I'm turning. For example at one of the major RAB's I like to be at the front as then I am clear of the traffic, and holding the lane and going at the right speed - if I'm further back then I hold up cars more and they tend to try and cut in. Whereas a different major RAB I prefer to be at the back of the group going on at the lights with no one behind me to hassle me.

Each junction is different and sometimes the ASL gives you an advantage - generally I find I am less likely to be cut up by traffic turning right across my path if I'm at the front.

 

[swee'pea99]

Is it legal for me to use the turn-right-only lane to overtake all the cars queuing up in the straight-ahead lane and 'push in' at the front?

 

[zimzum42]

[quote name='swee'pea99']Is it legal for me to use the turn-right-only lane to overtake all the cars queuing up in the straight-ahead lane and 'push in' at the front?[/quote]Whilst I admit to going on the wind-up wit the anti-RLJ crowd, this kind of thing bemuses me.

No particular offence intended, but why worry about something like this? If it really is illegal, how minor is that!?!? Anyone who pulls you up for that really needs to go looking for proper crime....

 

[Dan B]

Well, if you did it in a car
[*] it would definitely be "bad form", so I guess the question is why it's OK on a bike. Or even whether it's OK on a bike

[*] other than a BMW, obviously

 

[swee'pea99]

I'm not worried, I'm just curious.

 

[Ben M]

[quote name='swee'pea99']Is it legal for me to use the turn-right-only lane to overtake all the cars queuing up in the straight-ahead lane and 'push in' at the front?[/quote]


On my commute home last year there was a junction like this, with an ASL at the front, and I would always* go up the other lane which was invariably empty, then move into the ASL. Didn't feel guilty doing it at all, as if the lane was occupied I just filtered down the middle anyway.



*if the lights were likely to be red for a while and I wouldn't get in the **** in the wrong lane.

 

[HJ]

Isn't this all just a bit political, people saying what they think they should say? I do what I choose.

Part of that is I make a concerted effort to drive at 30mph in the village that I live in. People speeding through it infuriates me and every time I do 30, I end up with a long line of cars behind me. Experience tells me that most people speed in a 30!

Okay, so jumping lights on my bike will annoy some people but if I'm sat at some lights and can see 300 yards in each direction and there's no traffic coming, I see nothing wrong in carrying on.

Clearly if there's traffic about and a chance of a collision I'm not going anywhere, as I'm on a bike and will come off much worse than a dented bonnet.

I say it's personal choice.

And that is why 7 people died on the roads every day, I forget how many more are seriously injured and the cost to the NHS (and therefore everyone of us as tax payers) runs into billions...

All because people refuse to think and take full responsibility for their actions. Sad isn't it.

 

[Dan B]

Anyway, returning to the original question "Is it wrong to SORT OF jump red lights?", the general consensus of opinion seems to be that it's SORT OF wrong

Hope this helps

 

[HJ]

As have you if you have ever entered an ASL other than via the left-hand feeder lane.

Which I'm not suggesting you have ever done, but many otherwise law-abiding cyclists surely have, and I doubt many people will get that aerated about it. I doubt that many people even know it's illegal anyway

No it is perfectly legal, there is no law which states which lane to have to use to enter a ASL, filtering through traffic is perfectly legal, try reading the Highway Code, before you next go out on the road, you might learn something...

 

[Dan B]

You are wrong. It is illegal for any vehicle to cross the first stop line: the only way into the box is through the "feeder" cycle lane which does not have a stop line painted in front of it.

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2002/20023113.htm#43

I assume you'll stop doing this now you know it's against the law?