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Charge of the red light brigade
David Williams, Motoring Editor13.05.08
Red-light jumping is at "epidemic proportions" in London, a survey reveals.
Pedestrians are being put in danger by road-users who race through traffic lights each time they go red.
The survey for the Evening Standard found one in every 25 - including motorists, cyclists and bus drivers - routinely "runs" traffic lights.
At Trafalgar Square, researchers spotted 117 road-users charging through lights after they turned red over a three-hour period. Fifty one were cyclists, 13 were motorcyclists and 23 were car drivers.
Eighteen vans shot through on red, as well as four police vehicles not on emergency calls, three lorries and five buses.
The survey was repeated at other locations in central and outer London with similar results.
It comes after Boris Johnson was spotted riding his bicycle through six separate red lights on his journey to and from work at City Hall.
The survey was carried out by the Institute of Advanced Motorists' head of road safety Kevin Delaney, who said: "We are seeing the growth of motorised anarchy. Drivers are realising that shorter green phases increase the length of their queue at traffic lights and are more willing to gamble on the first few seconds of the red light.
"But as far as cyclists in central London are concerned, the laws of the road do not apply to them."
Mr Delaney, former head of the Met's traffic division, added: "Many cyclists simply ignore red traffic lights, placing themselves, pedestrians and other road-users in danger. It is a quick route to the cemetery."
During the survey most of those who jumped red lights did so within seconds of lights changing.
Motorists and cyclists who did stop at red often put pressure on pedestrians still trying to cross by surging forward.
At Piccadilly Circus 101 roadusers jumped red lights in three hours, including 43 cyclists, 27 car drivers, eight motorcyclists, one lorry driver and 22 vans. A similar pattern emerged at the junction of Kensington High Street and Kensington Church Street.
In outer London red-light jumping was less frequent and at junctions policed by red-light cameras only cyclists went through red lights.
Mr Delaney demanded tough action to end red-light running.
"It needs a co-ordinated campaign with police stopping people who do it," he said. "It should be backed by a major publicity drive highlighting the dangers."
CAUGHT BY OUR PHOTOGRAPHER
Evening Standard photographer Alex Lentati took the pictures above at the Admiralty Arch junction in Trafalgar Square yesterday afternoon. He estimated that about 20 people an hour jumped the lights.
He said: "All kinds of vehicles were going straight through the red light, one after another. I saw one of the yellow DUKW buses go through with a contingent of passengers. He just did not seem to want to stop.
"Cyclists were the ones that went through the junction most often - the traffic lights might just as well not have been there.
"A Bentley convertible driver passed red a good second after the lights changed. He seemed more interested in the sunshine than the traffic lights.
"You would expect a professional taxi driver to know better than to go through a red but he did.
"It might have been a bit more difficult for the bus driver because it's such a long vehicle. Possibly the lights were on amber when he went through but he should have tried to stop."
