Cyclists don’t stop at red

Cyclists are often outed by other road users for not stopping at red lights. But no group is innocent at this.

A TFL study showed that 84% of cyclists in London stopped at red lights, so why is it perceived that we jump red lights?

Cyclists generally cycle through red lights when other traffic has already stopped at them, they cycle slowly, sometimes stop, and check if it’s clear to go. It’s clearly viewable by other road users and in most cases done safely. You get the odd Silly Cyclist who cycles through pelican crossings far too fast and without checking for pedestrians.
Where as other road users generally drive through the amber and red lights just after they have changed, they do it at high-speed and without checking. This can often cause crashes if the light sequence is very tight and you get someone pulling away from the lights early.

Which is worse? Well they are both technically as bad as each other. There is an argument that cyclists do it safely because they wait, look and then go. Where as motorised vehicles drive through the lights at speed and without checking, their vehicles are often considerably bigger, heavier and harder than a cyclist. Doing it safely and slowly doesn’t make it any better. The act of doing something so visibly wrong is damaging to the rest of us that cycle, hence why we are all tarred with the same brush.


3 thoughts on “Cyclists don’t stop at red

  1. Certainly I do see cyclists RLJ, but as you have illustrated so well with your video, RLJing is commonplace among many, if not all vehicle types.

    It’s just that people only remember what confirms their prejudices and since so many people have ‘decided’ to hate cyclists, they remember only the bad ones. I believe it’s called ‘confirmation bias’.

  2. The indifference of those two policemen* tells a story.

    *(traffic wardens? PCSOs? whatever, they’re in police uniform)

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