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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."
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Reader views (18)
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Should do away with all lights, it would make drivers and pedestrians more careful.
Or just phase the lights in a common sense way, get the hand of Ken off them!
Another thing people do not seem to mention, is that there have been hundreds of new lights installed for no good reason throughout London, a complete waste of money and time, just how Green is that?
- Good Riddance To Red Ken!, Bexleyheath
Safety and comfort of bus passengers cannot override the law, and the safety of other road users and pedestrians.
To ensure safety and comfort of their passengers, bus drivers should drive in a manner that allows them to stop comfortably when they see the amber light -- no need for panic (uncomfortable) stops when they see a red.
- A. Bennett, Letchworth, UK
A word in defence of the bus driver: when you train for the Passenger Carrying Vehicle licence, it is drummed into you that the safety and comfort of your passengers are paramount. This does - and should - figure in your thinking when you are deciding whether to go for heavy braking as the light changes to amber, or to continue across the junction. It's a split second call and you can't get it right 100% of the time. Also, remember that what counts is the position of the front of the vehicle relative to the white Stop line. The moment the front passes the line, the colour of the lights ceases to be significant. If the front of a 30ft+ vehicle crosses just as the light goes from green to amber, it's a perfectly respectable manoeuvre but, to a casual observer who sees the rear part of the bus passing a by now red light, it may appear the law has been broken.
- Bryan Armstrong, London
