Red Lights - What do you do?

DaveB wrote:
On ya Suzy, same sentiments as me. Also anyone yelling at me for going
through a red light I consider safe can explain to me how they have
never broken any road rules in a car, on a bike or as a pedestrian.

DaveB "common sense over laws any day"

I'm sort of in agreement with that but at the same time I feel like I'm
giving drivers an excuse to break the law if I do so myself..

More importantly, anyone who gets in front of me by "cheating" deserves
to get their arses kicked!

still evil hippy
P.S. DaveB.. my phone batt had gone flat, sorry dude!

Do you run red lights

selectively. My theory, which of course some people will think i
balderdash, is that a red light means stop for a car and caution for
bike. Yes, we use the same roads so the rules are the same, but doe
this mean that the rules should be the same?. I think that a bik
weighing under 100kg total going through a red light at 30kph will do
whole less damage than a car or truck, weighing upwards of 1000kg, goin
at 60kph+. In fact, really, the only person to be hurt if a bike run
the red is generally going to be the cyclist themselves, in which cas
"tough luck". You make your choice, you deal with the consequences
When i was couriering i used to run upwards of 150 red lights a day
but it comes down to how you do it. You dont go blaring through th
middle of the intersection at 40kph. You do it cautiously an
selectively and most of the time no one will even notice you.

What do you do when people cruise past you when you're stopped at
red light, patiently waiting for it to go green?

Its none of my business. Its no ones business to lecture someone on th
rights and wrongs of the road unless (a) they ask for your opinion o
(b) they are a cop, or (c) you have lived the life of a conven
monk/nun and never thought sinful thoughts or taped a show off tv

--
byron27

Have done a bit more thinking and I have to admit, I really only ge
aggro when I see a cyclist cutting a pedestrian crossing rather than
normal intersection. Which I'll admit is weird because pedestria
crossings are a squillion times safer. But I think in my own odd min
it's more that if you want to take your chances with the cars, the
fine - It'll only be your loss (except for the possible emotiona
trauma to the driver involved), but cutting through pedestrian crossin
risks slamming into pedestrians, where they will undoubtedly be harmed


Weird, I know..

--
eddiec

Hope your monstrous commute is still going well!

Going fabulous thanks! Have been riding off road a fair bit too.
Rode with a Dutch girl (who has previously raced World Cup!) the othe
day.

Absent Husband (who didn't feel like riding in this morning - so wa
pleased when he discovered it was raining!

Actually, this is something you're going to have to get over. Eve
*I*rode in the rain today, and I'm the biggest flaming sissy you'v
ever met

Oh.. I just found out that one of my mates is the Orbea rep. So um..
I want an Orbea

Lott

--
LotteBum

Carl Brewer wrote:
On Tue, 5 Apr 2005 12:13:41 +1000, LotteBum
wrote:


A couple of Questions:

1. Do you run red lights?


No, unless it's late at night, there's no cars and the bike hasn't set
off the magnetic trigger.


2. What do you do when people cruise past you when you're stopped at a
red light, patiently waiting for it to go green?


If it's some rebel without a cause, let 'em go - if it's someone in
a bunch ride I'm in, yell at them

If it's some generic oaf, depends on my mood
If it's Stu, I push him into the gutter.




Yeah but he never runs red

--
Nick

LotteBum wrote:

A couple of Questions:

1. Do you run red lights?

2. What do you do when people cruise past you when you're stopped at a
red light, patiently waiting for it to go green?

snip

I don't run red lights because I'm a road user and I'd be pretty ****ed
off if the cars started running red lights.

Also I like the opportunity to chat to the people in their cars, give
'em a big grin and say g'day, try to make them smile. It's nice to make
yourself memorable. Next time some cyclist is slowing them down they'll
get annoyed and then go "but that chicky in the pink was so friendly..."
and maybe be a bit more forgiving.

TangoBravo

LotteBum Wrote:
A couple of Questions

1. Do you run red lights?

2. What do you do when people cruise past you when you're stopped at
red light, patiently waiting for it to go green?

I personally don't run red lights and have a tendencey to scream a
people who do... this morning, however, myself and another roadie wer
sitting at the lights just as you come off the Indooroopilly Bridg
(heading towards UQ) when an older lady on a touring bike with pannier
cruised straight past us. Despite waiting probably 2 minutes for th
light, I passed her about 1km ahead and said to her "You represent
lot of people when you run red lights - not a good idea". Not sure wha
her response was (was wearing headphones), but I hope she takes it in...
A1: Stop anytime other than late late at night, and then only run the
if no one can see me..

A2: Let them go. Cant be aresed prosletising



--
casurina99

On Tue, 5 Apr 2005 13:24:59 +1000, byron27
wrote:


What do you do when people cruise past you when you're stopped at a
red light, patiently waiting for it to go green?

Its none of my business. Its no ones business to lecture someone on the
rights and wrongs of the road unless (a) they ask for your opinion or
(b) they are a cop, or (c) you have lived the life of a convent
monk/nun and never thought sinful thoughts or taped a show off tv.

Applying Reductio ad absurdum[1] to this position suggests that
if you saw someone repeatly running over a child in the street with
a RAV4 you would not intervene because you're not a cop, the driver
doesn't look like they're interested in what you think, and once you
borrowed a pen from work and never gave it back.

"Tops! The world needs more people like you! They really make the
world a better place for all of us!"


[1] http://www.iep.utm.edu/r/reductio.htm if you're unfamiliar with
the logic behind this.

Carl Brewer wrote:

Applying Reductio ad absurdum[1] to this position suggests that
if you saw someone repeatly running over a child in the street with
a RAV4 you would not intervene because you're not a cop, the driver
doesn't look like they're interested in what you think, and once you
borrowed a pen from work and never gave it back.

"Tops! The world needs more people like you! They really make the
world a better place for all of us!"


[1] http://www.iep.utm.edu/r/reductio.htm if you're unfamiliar with
the logic behind this.



err refer to previous post "common sense over laws any day".

DaveB

Carl Brewer wrote:
On Tue, 05 Apr 2005 12:52:53 +1000, DaveB
wrote:



On ya Suzy, same sentiments as me. Also anyone yelling at me for going
through a red light I consider safe can explain to me how they have
never broken any road rules in a car, on a bike or as a pedestrian.


Anyone who runs a red light and gets seen doing so by
anyone else is compounding the belief in the viewers that
cyclists don't play by the rules. This does "us" no favours
at all. As we're vulnerable (both physically and politically)
it is in our interests to maintain good public relations. Remember,
when you ride, you're an ambassador, not just someone who
thinks they don't have to play by the rules because it doesn't
suit them.

Won't make a difference, you'll still run 'em, but if you
get shouted at, you deserve it.




There are no ambassadors.

Not for cyclists, drivers, pedestrians, skateboarders, rollerbladers,
runners, crawlers, jumpers, whatever.

Why is it that all cyclists must see themselves as part of a great
benevolent global cyclist community?

Why do you feel represented by all other cyclists? Do you feel
represented by other drivers too? Do you shout at cars that run red
lights, or pedestrians who cross on a red?

These are serious questions, btw, I'm not just being argumentative

I don't generally run red lights. I will if there is no traffic around.
I sometimes even ride on the foot path and do a hook turn without
waiting for the green. But I don't impede or endanger others.

And I don't generally abuse people because they endanger themselves
doing things I don't agree with.

--
Nick