RED Light jumpers!!

[oxtondriver]

Hello all hope you are well,

Admittedly I dont drive during rush hour very often as my shifts mean I leave for work either side of it. But this week I've been taking my wife to work as her car is in the garage for repairs. This envolves a short Journey down the A41 and along the M53 into Ellsmere port at rush hour both ways.

During this short journey I cant belive how many people I have watched just sail through red lights as they have changed, they so easily could of pulled up safely as most are going through a good second or two after the lights have changed. I cant say I've ever seen one jump a red light on my journey to or from work but i've counted 13 in the last two days alone.

Does this happen everywhere?

Thanks Kris

[gannet]

dont see many cars doing it to be honest....

bikes on the other hand

especially as a cyclist myself - I see so many doing it make me mad. Especially when loads do so without a helmet

[jont]

Red lights in Bristol seem to be treated mostly as a guide by far too many drivers The only place you see they adhered to is where they've put red light cameras up.

[7db]

I had thought this was a thread about Giles Brandreth's fashionwear.

I see a lot of cars not stopping when they could on amber and the first second of red. Very few beyond that. It's a consideration for me when considering a stop on amber whether the car behind is already committed to going through.

Bikes are more blatant in their crossing mid-phase -- ie not uncommon 10s+ into the red phase of the lights.

[GJD]

I see a lot of cars not stopping when they could on amber and the first second of red. Very few beyond that.

That's my impression too. I saw a very near miss on the A14/A1 roundabout the other day when a vehicle on the roundabout kept coming after the light for joining traffic had turned green, but that was so late that I think the driver on the roundabout couldn't have been gambling on jumping red. The traffic was very light from all directions and I think they were more likely just on autopilot not paying attention to the lights at all.

[jont]

The traffic was very light from all directions and I think they were more likely on their mobile phone not paying attention to the lights at all.

/efa

[GJD]

The traffic was very light from all directions and I think they were more likely on their mobile phone not paying attention to the lights at all.

/efa

That's possible too.

To be honest, the car in front of us - the one joining the roundabout - wasn't paying much attention either. Fair enough they had the green light, but it was bleedin' obvious from a long time in advance that the car on the roundabout wasn't stopping, and it was very last-minute before either of them did anything to avert disaster.

[Horse]

especially as a cyclist myself - I see so many doing it make me mad. Especially when loads do so without a helmet

Interesting twist on that: there's a suggestion that, in London, female cyclists are more likely to obey the red lights - and as a consequence more likely to get squished by left-turning HGVs.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/u ... 695668.ece

AAMOI, how much difference do you think a helmet makes?

[brianhaddon]

When we used to drive to France in the early 90s we noticed how many cars jumped red lights, particularily in Paris. Then it became more noticeable when we visited family in London. Over the last decade I have noticed this practice spread and now it is common place in Burton on Trent, which is the closest town to us. From my experience it is mainly, but not exclusively, cars that are involved.

Regards
Brian Haddon

[MGF]

Is jumping a red light necessarily any worse than breaking the speed limit? Or is it down to the individual circumstances?

[moncainthewilds]

There seems to be more and more "RED LIGHT" cameras and they are not all the same place related to traffic lights. Some are on short polls before pedestrian crossings. others on much taller poles or on top of a set of lights, I understand.

Monica

[gannet]

especially as a cyclist myself - I see so many doing it make me mad. Especially when loads do so without a helmet

Interesting twist on that: there's a suggestion that, in London, female cyclists are more likely to obey the red lights - and as a consequence more likely to get squished by left-turning HGVs.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/u ... 695668.ece

AAMOI, how much difference do you think a helmet makes?

You raise a good point about the HGV's etc... I always pass them on the right and sit well out in front of them - and don't hang around when the lights go green

I see more and more cycle lanes popping up all over the place - all down the left hand side of the road. A good idea in principle - but should a cyclist going past stationary traffic use the cycle lane or go down the right hand side of the lane of traffic? As a cyclist I always feel safer going down the right hand side... be interested in any thoughts?

Helmets... you can never predict how you may fall and what you might hit. I'd rather have one than not. I remember as a kid rebelling against wearing one when they first hit the news etc. My parents basically said wear one or don't cycle so I wore one. I then came off down to my own stupidity, headbutted the ground and then the bike landed on my head all without injury - would have been a different story without the helmet...

[jont]

I see more and more cycle lanes popping up all over the place - all down the left hand side of the road. A good idea in principle - but should a cyclist going past stationary traffic use the cycle lane or go down the right hand side of the lane of traffic? As a cyclist I always feel safer going down the right hand side... be interested in any thoughts?

Helmets... you can never predict how you may fall and what you might hit. I'd rather have one than not. I remember as a kid rebelling against wearing one when they first hit the news etc. My parents basically said wear one or don't cycle so I wore one. I then came off down to my own stupidity, headbutted the ground and then the bike landed on my head all without injury - would have been a different story without the helmet...

Personally (as another cycle commuter), I'll use whichever side I feel safer when passing. Often there's not enough room to pass on the right without being across the white lines and you sometimes have a problem when traffic starts moving and hasn't noticed you out there.

I'd also rather see solid lined (rather than advisory) cycle lanes - of decent width, and I wish councils would stop making them disappear where they are needed most - such as where the road narrows or there's a junction, although I suppose no cycle lane is better than one that's too narrow to use safely. And don't get me started on road users that pull up in advanced stop boxes or stop randomly to let traffic out (usually having just overtaken me and cut me up) not thinking about the effort it takes for a cyclist to get moving again. They also seem to equate all cyclists as slow moving vehicles, rather than allowing for the fact we can often keep up with or exceed traffic speeds Oh dear, that's turned into a bit of a rant.

As for helmets, I don't use one.

[GJD]

Is jumping a red light necessarily any worse than breaking the speed limit? Or is it down to the individual circumstances?

Well it's just as illegal as breaking the speed limit, but whether it's in any way dangerous is down to the individual circumstances. The circumstances I think we're discussing in this thread - squeezing through on amber or even just after amber changes to red, when there are people waiting at the lights that are about to go green, is in my view dangerous.

I find being held unnecessarily (i.e. when there is no traffic coming in the other direction(s)) at a red light to be considerably less of an inconvenience than being held to an unnecessarily low speed limit. I think that's because I know the red light will be short-lived, and also because I don't think the solution to unnecessary red lights is as easy or obvious as the solution to unnecessarily low speed limits.

[jont]

I don't think the solution to unnecessary red lights is as easy or obvious as the solution to unnecessarily low speed limits.

While many junctions may not be easy, where they are on roundabouts, I think there's a very good case for turning them off outside of rush hour.