Highway code: Cyclists who jump red lights may be safer

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I love it; the fact is everyone is in a big mood because they are going to work. The funnier thing is that they get angry that they are going to be late?!?!?!? Cyclists, motorists and pedestrians are all trying to get somewhere, who cares if someone jumps a red light? I say just make sure that you have good eye contact and don't be a complete chump, nobody wants to die! A taxi kept overtaking me this morning only for me to meet him at the next lights down the road. He just didn't like a bike in front of him. He was mainly a Muppet because he left no space when overtaking me. He could have just chilled out and by brow would have remained smooth rather that all screwed up by him annoying me! There are going to be no hard and fast rules that keep people safe other than a bit of respect for each other. I once hit a guy getting off a bus, he opened the door himself because he couldn't be bothered to wait in a traffic jam. Fair enough but maybe have a look before jumping off a bus when you are not at a bus stop and nobody is exspecting it, bit like crossing a main road with your eyes shut!

- James, London

Cyclists who use the road are bound by the Road Traffic Act as are all road users. Allowing one section of road users to ignore traffic signals is not right. Whilst any road death is one too many, better education is the key. Are there any statistics collated for the number of cyclist who cause injury in some cases fatal injury as a result jumping a red light on a pedetrian crossing. Also cyclist who ride on pavements, which are for pedestrians and cyclists who ride the wrong way up a one way street!

- Bruce Edwards, London

A simple solution is to provide cycle areas at each junction (these are the green squares that allow cyclists to sit in front of traffic at red lights and be visible) and properly enforce them. The problem is that there are all to few of these, and when they exist, they are ignored by motorists.

As a cyclist, I don't agree that we should be allowed to jump red lights - chaos on the roads cannot be a good thing.

London has done very well at provisioning cycling routes over the last decade or so - the problem being that as soon as the route reaches a junction (the most dangerous area), all provisioning for cyclists mysteriously disappears. This does need to be tackled, and I can't believe that painting a simple green box on the road can be that costly.

- Tom Nicholls, Croydon, London, UK

Why not adopt the American system? There, if you are going to turn to the nearside, you can treat the red light as a Give Way sign. This is of benefit to both cyclists and motorists.

- Charles Siu, London, UK

I personally feel it is safer for cyclists to jump red lights when absolutely nothing is coming/moving - at least far safer than waiting with the crowd of scooters, motorcycles, cars, buses and lorries then subsequently nearly getting mown down as they all jostle for position away from the lights. It's very easy for cyclists to check for clear line of sight across a junction before continuing on. I do however feel ashamed of fellow cyclists who plough through junctions and in particular pedestrian crossings - there's no excuse for that sort of behaviour.

I also however feel that cyclists are unfairly put upon and make an easy target for general abuse from pedestrians and motorists. Every day I travel 15 miles by bike to work and back and everyday I see motorists at almost every junction jumping through amber and then red lights. I also see pedestrians wandering off the edge of pavements without even the slightest glance to check if a cyclist is approaching, then getting abusive when they get run down. These are just 2 examples of general sloppiness of other road users, there are plenty of others.

- Mark, London

Stephanie,
In London traffic - cyclists move more quickly than motorists. This is because motor vehicles take up so much space and cause congestion. Every person that uses a bike instead of a car is actually making everyone else's journey faster!

Most cyclists travel at at LEAST 12mph. (That's one mile an hour faster than the average speed of london traffic by the way). Many cyclists can easily travel 17mph+ with very little effort.
As for cycling in the middle of road - it's safer: Visibility. Potholes. Doors. And roads aren't just for cars remember! They can overtake WHEN there's space!

You say they're not as visible - yet a cyclist is 2ft higher than most cars - more visible than a car a few vehicles ahead - and at least as visible as a scooter driver.

Scooter drivers need to wear helmets due to the risk of high speed collisions and falls.
A helmet is very unlikely to help either a scooter driver or a cyclist in a collision with a larger vehicle. Anyway, what's your point here?

When you see cyclists moving between other vehicles - rather than getting jealous, try remembering that this is because a cyclist takes up so much less space, is far more nimble and because a stationary vehicle cannot move sideways. In any case this is the cyclist's own lookout - not yours. Rememeber you are talking about normal people just like yourself - not idiots that take mindless risks.

We'll have less deaths and safer roads when people begin to understand that the roads are for everyone.

- Matthew, London

Transport for London provides funding to the boroughs for cycle training. The New Bikeability standard has been designed to suit both adults and children. For a very small subsidied fee (typically £5) cycle trainers will come to your home or workplace and teach you on local streets.
I thoroughly recommend the training, which can be tailored for everyone from complete beginners (including the surprisingly large number of people who cannot balance a bicycle) to experienced daily cyclists. Experience shows that very nearly everyone who takes part in training is very pleased with the result, and most gain the confidence to tackle more complex street systems. Ideally lorry and bus drivers and traffic engineers should be required to undertake cycle training too.
Above all, NEVER RIDE ALONG THE NEARSIDE OF LORRIES AND BUSES. Only ride where you can definitely be seen, and take the 'primary riding position' (the middle of the lane) unless you can safely move over to allow other vehicles to overtake. Even then, don't cycle any less than a metre out from the kerb. Your safety is much more important than the perceived (and rarely real) advantage that the impatient driver behind you would gain by overtaking.

- Richard Lewis, London, England

Oh perlease don't give cyclists more reasons to jump read lights. I used to work in Bermondsey and there is a traffic light controlled crossing right outside the station. Without fail every day you saw cyclists going over the red light and either cyling into people or narrowly missing them. When remonstrated with you ended up with a mouthful of abuse as though you had no right to cross the road when the lights were red. They are arrogant, ignorant, foul mouthed self centred pests and should be removed from the road unless they have a licence and some form of identification so that they can be prosecuted just like motorists for hit and run offences. Most of the people crossing that particular crossing were children going to the 4 schools on the opposite side of Jamaica Road.

- Minime, Southend, UK

As someone who rides a scooter I am constantly amazed by the behaviour of cyclists who seem unaware of the fact they move much more slowly than other traffic and aren't as visible. Despite this cyclists will ride in the middle of a lane at 5 miles an hour causing cars to have to dangerously overtake them, or else they ride in the dark with no lights or protection. Cyclists need to realise there is a reason why scooter riders such as myself wear proper helmets, gloves, shoes and jacket. It's not in case we fall off at high speed, it's in case we get knocked by a car. Also we can overtake lorries, cars and 4x4's because we have an engine which can accelerate fast. Despite being able to accelerate fast even I am wary of taking on a lorry unless I can easily complete the overtaking manouver. Yet I've seen cyclists going between 2 lorries in an attempt to get to the front of the traffic. Perhaps cyclists need to understand their limitations and behave accordingly. Then we'll have less deaths and safer roads.

- Stephanie, London, England

The reason that people jump red lights is that they can get away with it. After the light goes red there is a long pause before the light in the other direction changes to green. This is for safety reasons; but drivers and cyclists know that the pause is there and take the risk of jumping the light.

In France, the lights in the other direction change almost the moment the light goes red - and people there do not take the risk of jumping the red.

- Martin, London

I frankly don't care if cyclists jump red lights - that's their look out. But just keep off the pavements! And that includes using pedestrian crossings (which is also illegal).

- Philip, London, England

It is not simply motorists who feel the need to 'voice their angry narrow minded opinions about cyclists' unfortunately. Pedestrians often feel threatened, particularly at night, by cyclists riding on the pavement in a thoughtless and aggressive manner, without lights and without any warning device. I have regularly experienced cyclists trying to ride through a crowd waiting for a bus. It's dangerous and against the law.

- Peter Haldane, London

Motorists generally do not pull in to the green box intentionally. Often the traffic is backed up and you find yourself trapped in the box when a light changes before you can move on.

- Oliver, London

In my experience as a rush hour cyclist in central London, I find the extra standing start acceleration of my eZee Sprint or, more recently, my Torq electric bike, gets me out of harm's way more rapidly and decisively than would ever be possible on a regular bicycle. Electric assistance allows the rider to move with the flow of motorised traffic, rather than becoming an obstacle or a hindrance to other road users.

I venture that in time it will become clear that the latest generation of electrically assisted pedal cycles are safer to ride in congested cities than traditional bicycles. After all, cyclists only jump red lights because it takes so long to get back up to speed from a standing start. Electric cyclists can afford the luxury of stopping and obeying the Highway Code because there's much less of a physical penalty for doing so.

- Tim Snaith, London W2

Most cyclists in London are provincial jerks who grew up in rural or semi-rural backwaters where safe cycling is easier than here in the big city. To those who say that jumping a red light is 'safer' for cyclists, could they please explain how this is the case for pedestrians who may be taking advantage of said red light to cross the road? And are cyclists now exempt from the law of the land? The robust way a vanload of builders dealt with an errant cyclist on Holloway Road many years ago stays vividly in my memory. The offender probably returned to daddy's farm the same evening (he certainly blubbed hard enough) - and I'm all for extra-legal deterrents for those, like cyclists, who presume only they can get away with flouting the law.

- Mike Collins, London UK

My daily commute to work is a 20 mile round trip by bicycle, which I make in all seasons. Since I started cycling to work 5 years ago, I have not witnessed a single accident caused by or even involving a cyclist jumping a red light, these accidents are a myth as far as I am concerned.

In the same time, I have witnessed several nasty, bloody and often fatal accidents where cyclists have been hit by a motorist.

The overwhelming majority of traffic offences are carried out by motorists, yet it is these same motorists that feel the need to voice their angry narrow minded opinions about cyclists.

- Ian, London

Sarah is absolutely correct. One of the major problems on the roads in central London is vehicles jumping lights - not only cycles. Small vans are the worst offenders, and the bendy 'backhander' buses are just as bad. I have been commuting for the past 10 years by bike into Westminster, and the green box is routinely ignored by vehicles. However there is no excuse for cyclists jumping lights particularly on pedestrian crossings. This gives all cyclists a bad name and exacerbates the problem by infuriating the slightly delayed drivers.

- Patrick Griffin, London

So long as cars, vans, taxis, and lorries decide to pull up at the lights in the green cycle box, then I will continue to pull up 20ft directly in front of them to make my presence know. Even if it means I cross the technical stop line.

Cyclists (the ones still alive anyhow) know that the way to survive is to be assertive and make their presence know, and be courteous and move over when it is safe enough to be overtaken.

Having an accident on a bike doesn't result in a damaged bumper and an insurance claim, it ends with a broken limb or worse. And that is why cyclists try to avoid coming anywhere near something that can kill them.

Until this country can design the roads properly for all users rather than pandering to cars (and I do drive a car a lot), then cyclists will have to do their best to survive.

- Brian, Telford

I cycle, on average, 60km every day for my daily commute. I always obey the traffic rules.

People who jump the lights are a total pain as they're generally quite a lot slower and quite hard to overtake due to wobbling about. Some cyclists call them squirrels, and for much the same reason: getting one caught in your spokes can ruin your whole day.

- Threaded, Roskilde, Denmark

It's not only cyclists that jump red lights, alot of motorists jump red lights too while on their mobiles...as a cyclist I think there should be more done to make it safer and people should respect each other on the roads no matter what way they travel

- Sarah, London

I prefer cyclists to jump red lights rather than the many cars I have witnessed jumping red lights recently - we all know who is going to do more damage don't we?

- Karen, Paddington, London

Since this country doesn't have proper cycle lanes, cycling clear of the lights before they go green is the safest thing to do. Arguably there are far too many traffic lights in London as it is. They tell you to stop when it is safe to go. And they cause huge emissions in CO2 as car engines rev, while the car is not moving. They removed them from Dutch town Drachten, and jams disappeared, and accidents reduced sharply, and it encouraged eye-contact and cooperation between drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians alike.

- Martin, Tooting, London, UK

I sincerely hope that the release of this info doesn't encourage even more illegal red light hopping. My 4 year old son was knocked over by a cyclist careering through a red light at a pedestrian crossing and he could quite easily have killed my son (he actually didn't know because he didn't stop even after hitting him). It wasn't even so much that he went through a red light but the speed at which he shot through without any thought for pedestrians that was so bad. Offsetting bad or illegal driving by lorries or cars by cycling irresponsibly or illegally definitely isn't the solution!

- Richard, UK

As a male cyclist who doesn't jump red lights, I have to say that the majority of accidents and near accidents I've witnessed haven't been from either male or females jumping lights but from either arrogant cyclists and/or car drivers ignoring the basic rules of the road.

- Trevor Roll, London

There should be different procedure for cyclists as its becoming increasingly dangerous on the roads for them. If a cyclist has to jump a red light in order to stay safe then that is wrong, large vehicles feel they own the road and push others to the side and this is what causes most of the accidents.

- Mike, Hammersmith

I don't think its right for cyclists to jump red lights whenever they want. I've lost count of the number of accident that there's almost been because of careless and quite frankless selfish cyclists. There are rules on the road and everyone should stick by them.

- Julie, Tower Hill

Just what cyclists need - an excuse to jump red lights. By this logic, cars should be able to jump red lights too so that traffic flow is improved.

- Nobby Clark, London, UK

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