Red light jumping is safe. Sometimes.
I was a bicycle courier in London for two years and I have several issues with this.

Jumping a red light, if done with awareness and basic courtesy is actually much safer than waiting for green. It gives you a head start meaning that the approach velocity of vehicles coming from behind is slower because you are already up to speed. Thus the driver has more time to see you and is less likely to squeeze you into the curb. I still do it all the time but my rule is that if I'm breaking the rules everyone else, pedestrians included, has right of way. I've never been beeped or shouted at but I very rarely come to a stop when I'm riding.

A fixed-wheel bicycle with narrow handlebars is the perfect vehicle for riding in heavy traffic for 9 hours a day. It is extremely tough, easy to maintain, light and small enough to squeeze through the thinnest of gaps in slow-moving traffic. When ridden well a courier on a fixed-wheel can easily keep up with your average spandex-clad roadie. You do see a lot of fucking hipster twats (fakengers) on horrible vintage fixies wobbling around like a dick but sooner or later they get hurt and give up.

Oh, and those commuters on mountain bikes with fluorescent jackets...why oh why would you spend so much money on a heavy, inefficient OFF-ROAD vehicle, only to ride to work and back on the ROAD.

Good post though.
(Lord Smegington, Fri 23 Sep 2011, 14:17, 3 replies)

Oh, and if you don't like RLJs, this video will make you angry. I don't condone it but it's bloody exciting.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLzGj10fg2g
(Lord Smegington, Fri 23 Sep 2011, 14:27, closed)

WTF?
Reminds me of the Claude Lelouch film Rendesvouz but on two wheels.
(Bicycle Repairman "you're also a bit of a wanker", Fri 23 Sep 2011, 14:31, closed)

Yes, but is it as exciting as deleting your posts
When you realise you've been making an utter knob of yourself?
( MatJ LOOK, Fri 23 Sep 2011, 18:32, closed)

But but but but I drive my mountain bike to work because I don't have room to store two bikes, and it's great fun on the weekends.
( AWPS, Fri 23 Sep 2011, 15:25, closed)

Same here
I've two bikes, a cross country bike and an AM bike. If I buy a third, the missus will kill me.
(Bicycle Repairman "you're also a bit of a wanker", Fri 23 Sep 2011, 15:35, closed)

Exactly wrong.
Red Light Jumping is not acceptable at all.

If you can't abide by the laws of the road, you shouldn't be on it - end of fucking story.

Other people's bad behaviour does not justify behaving badly.
( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Fri 23 Sep 2011, 15:28, closed)

Quite
There is no need to get "up to speed" as a cyclist at the lights who is paying attention will almost always pull off in advance of the car behind them.
(Bazongaloid, Fri 23 Sep 2011, 15:57, closed)

"almost always pull off in advance of the car behind them"
Arf!
(Bicycle Repairman "you're also a bit of a wanker", Fri 23 Sep 2011, 16:00, closed)

Not acceptable at all?
Picture the scene:

Pelican crossing, button has been pressed, pedestrian has already crossed, light goes red, no hazards in any direction so I ride through with urgent documents for Decimus Fearon LLP (awesome name for a law firm no?) or whoever, saving time and therefore earning more money. And this is wrong?

The alternative is to stop and wait, therefore becoming a hazard to all the motorists who will inevitably pile up behind me and rev off as soon as the light flashes amber, cutting me up or squeezing me against parked cars because after all, I'm not a real road user I'm "just a fucking cyclist", a guest on the road in the eyes of most motorists. When I start being treated like a valid road user I'll start acting like one. Until then I'll do whatever I can to get to my destination as quickly as possible but more importantly as safely as possible.

I'm assuming you're a motorist who's ignorant of the fact that when on a bicycle you have an elevated, unobstructed, panoramic view of the road allowing you to take certain liberties safely, which cannot be taken by motorists.
(Lord Smegington, Fri 23 Sep 2011, 16:09, closed)

Not acceptable at all, no.
You wait at the light like every other road user. That's the rules - you don't get special exception to jump the queue because of the job you chose to do.

You're not more important than anyone else, you don't have special dispensation to break the rules.
( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Fri 23 Sep 2011, 16:21, closed)

I think you're just jealous
and probably overweight. Start riding every day, it'll make you thinner, less grumpy, stronger, more attractive, better at doing everything and statistically 97% more likely to enjoy your life. It's a lovely day outside so I'm off to break some rules...
(Lord Smegington, Fri 23 Sep 2011, 16:38, closed)

try and do it
next to a bus
(andythepieman Is surfing the waves of indifference on, Fri 23 Sep 2011, 16:39, closed)

I'm not jealous at all, and I'm not overweight, but thanks for playing.

( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Fri 23 Sep 2011, 16:46, closed)

Uh...
I'm not overweight, I ride almost every day and while I'm not a fantastic cyclist I'm capable of overtaking cars when I really want to.

Oh, and I think you're a dick. Get some more gears and you'll be able to pull away a bit faster.
( MatJ LOOK, Fri 23 Sep 2011, 18:31, closed)

Mr Vagabond has it right
I feel like a right dick sitting at red traffic lights when other cyclists pile past me through the red light. Am I a dick?

Someone please tell me I'm not a dick.
( AWPS, Fri 23 Sep 2011, 17:03, closed)

You're not a dick.
The point is that not all cyclists have the same dsicretion. Some will just ride straight through a red oblivious to pedestrians. The rest of us get tarred with the same brush and it hardly helps improve the public's perception of us does it?
(Bicycle Repairman "you're also a bit of a wanker", Fri 23 Sep 2011, 17:07, closed)

No, exactly.
( AWPS, Fri 23 Sep 2011, 17:09, closed)

nope not acceptable
just makes you yet another cunt on a bike to everyone who sees you do it
(andythepieman Is surfing the waves of indifference on, Fri 23 Sep 2011, 16:27, closed)

Picture this scene...
You're at a crossroads, both sets of lights are red because the little green man is lit.

You approach, see no pedestrians and only a car coming from the right - but he's got to stop because of his red light.
You jump the lights, because you've got an important job to do.

The driver from your right is also as self-important, and feels he can obey the law as he sees fit, and also jumps the lights (after all, his job is far more important than yours).

Who's in the wrong when you're a greasy smear on the road?

I can see where you're coming from, but at least admit you shouldn't do it, even though you think it's fairly safe.
(Kliper Filllets Getting noticed by twats on the internet since, Tue 27 Sep 2011, 12:17, closed)