Red Lights

[Vetseun]

I also skip red lights when I ride my road bike which is luckily not very often. MTB cancels all this k@k out. When I skip that light, I ask myself if I have a right to then spit at the next car that switches me. I mean Im breaking the law and p!ssing lank cars off when I do it, why should I then have the right to give motorists k@k when they dont play the game like I want it to be played.But of course these thoughts only crept in when I hit 40, before then I didnt care and really enjoyed making motorists agro.

[Rebel Taylor]

OK, so maybe I went over the top a bit. Apologies for that. I kow it will always be a discussion point, but to make it safer for all of us and that motorists do not get pissed off with us, we should obey the rules of the road. I mean, is this what we will teach our kids, its OK to break the law if no one is watching. We are very quick to scream and protest when a cyclist gets knocked down by a car, but we need to respect each other on the road.

[Mellow]

ever heard of "cherry green" ?

[patches]

I use one of these red lights on my bike:

 

It unclips and only takes 2 AAA batteries and it has 3 different mo...

 

WAIT! you're talking about red traffic lights?!

 

...well duh! stop at them! If cyclists want to be treated likke cars when it comes to flow of traffic situations, then they should obey the road rules to the same degree that cars are expected to.

 

Remember... no matter how much one may think they have right of way on a bike... they always come off second best when their opponent is a car

Edited November 8, 2010 by patches

[andydude]

I must confess that I also approach a quiet robot slowly to look for traffic and if none I ride over. Same for a stop street. But I never just race over.

 

But I mean technically at every orang/red robot and stop street you should stop which means taking out your one cleat from the peddle and coming to a complete stop (those that can't do track stands!) - now tell me who does that? I'm sure not even Rebel Taylor stops completely at a stop street with no traffic in sight at 5h30 in the morning! But legally you should...

[andydude]

And regarding patches' comments: the whole cyclist/vehicle problem is probably due to the way the road acts and rules are written. As far as I know the same rules apply for vehicles and bicycles, but e.g... neither are allowed to ride in the shoulder/yellow lane of a road - it is for emergenices, but what about cyclists... if we as cyclists have the same rights as vehicles why can't we ride in the middle of a lane at 30km/h? That would only be illegal if there is a minimum speed sign which is very seldom, otherwise very legal!

 

I guess the whole problem is that the old acts and rules of the road should be re-written to cater for vehicles, bikes, cyclists, donkey cars and the lot.

 

Difficult subject! Even I, as a cyclist, sometimes hate how cyclists ride when I'm in my car. I guess the golden point is to be considerate to other people/road users! Almost "do unto others as you would like to be done unto yourselves"

[Zeps]

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/76-of-SA-drivers-break-law-each-day-20101108

 

But I guess most hubbers fall in the other 24%

[Guest Big H]

Shes just following the training tips.

 

No she is not.... Andrew always say never look back!!!!!!!

[Guest Big H]

For people who go through red lights, one day you will get run over, then you will realise your mistake. In JHB its Northern Cycles who are famous for it on Hendrik Potgieter road.

 

They will most likely NOT realize that..... the *** taste in your mouth after being t-boned by a car overpowers everything else by then!!!!!!!!

[Tieffels]

Why is it that certain cyclists do NOT want to stop at red traffic lights? You guys need to catch a wake up and start following the rules of the road. A red light means STOP, not look and if ots safe go through.

 

Dude, you live in Randburg and have an issue with not stopping at red lights... seriously? AND I see you ride with Lance.. To me that means you must take your cycling oh so VERY seriously..

 

Me, I'm more of a social rider, and some other social riders and I, say about 50-80 depending on the day, meet at a garage up the road at a very social 5am in the mornings and head in your general direction, i.e. Randburg. Now coincidently my GF lives in Linden just below Beyers Naude, which is EXACTLY along our cycling route. And here is the interesting bit: I cover that 10km odd QUICKER on my bike than what I do in a car. Why you wonder? Largely due to the 29 (I counted) traffic lights on route. So me and another 70 riders invariably break the traffic rules on a weekly basis, and those who don’t simply do so because they'd rather get dropped stopping at a light than up Jan Smuts.. So for me, yes, I approach with caution and then shoot through.. And I do the same for a red light..

 

But feel free to join the group one morning and show us the error of our ways..

[chris_w_65]

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/76-of-SA-drivers-break-law-each-day-20101108

 

But I guess most hubbers fall in the other 24%

 

 

Only the Metro (personally) will benefit from the points system

[urbanroyal]

Stop ....don't Stop....

 

You reap what you sow..we complain of corruption....by not stopping we are the same... only the scale is smaller and that is all relative....

 

If I help myself to some koki's from the supply cupboard and a dirty politician to million or two it's all relative...

 

we don't live in utopia... so live and let live ...that very motorist that complains about us cyclist is prolly banging the neighbour...point is nobody's perfect so WTF..

[bikemonster]

Let me tell you a story, my imaginary friends...

 

Two weeks ago, on an early morning training ride, my ride buddy and I rolled up to a red light at the back of Burgundy Estate, where we turn left to go to Plattekloof Road. There were some cars about, but it wasn't busy.

 

My buddy showed no signs of slowing, but I made him. "Lead SA!", I said, "Do the right thing!".

 

So we stopped and waited for the light to change.

 

When it did, we rolled on, and in the short stretch to Plattekloof, some dumbass biatch in a Ford Focus (ROGUE1 WP) almost clipped my elbow.

 

At the red light I politely (and I really do mean politely!) asked her if she didn't think that it had been a tad close.

"Yes!," she said, "you moved out towards me!"

 

Here's the irony: if we had treated the red light as a stop sign, I wouldn't have nearly had my elbow adjusted.

 

Do I have a point? Yes I do. Rolling through a red light is not necessarily a dangerous thing to do, if you do it right. That means, no traffic about and being careful. If there is traffic about, behave as you would like that traffic to behave around you.

[RexFuzzle]

I'm not saying ride in front of other cars, but what's the advantage of cycling if you can't skip robots. If it's clear I take the gap...

[fau1ty]

Senario, you are in your car it's 5am in the morning and you approach a red light. there are no cars, no cyclists. it's just getting light. For safety reasons do you sit and wait for the light?

 

1. Some of these Traffic Lights are programed and run a long sequence without time changing programs.

2. if you are not on the main line you could wait a while thus becoming a safety risk.

 

So what do you do, i will be honest i drive alot in the very early hours of the morning in JHB, i dont wait at a light, hijacking stats will show you late night and early morning are peak crime times.

 

Now you are on your bike with a few mates, it's 5am you roll to a red light, we are not talking about midday peak hour traffic here, no cars, no traffic, no one in sight. Do you stop?

 

Breaking the law may be cool, track stands may be cool too, what do you do, do what ever you feel is right for you. If you jump a light and get knocked down you must pay the price.

[Guest Big H]

What did I learn from this thread........... most cyclists will go to extreme lengts to justify their blatant acts of breaking the law. Will I ever trust a cyclist...... I do not think so...... If they admit to blatantly breaking the law..... Just think what they will do in business!!!!!!!!!!!!!