Is it time to start calling out bad cyclists?

Then you're not doing it right.

Doing it wrong. Get it right. You wrong'un.

The point of traffic rules is to put everyone on equal terms. If everyone took the same view then there would be chaos on the road.

If you don't want to follow the rules, then why should I? Or the next man, or the next man?

lolz

The point of traffic rules is to put everyone on equal terms

I'd say it's more to make everyone act in a way that allows other people to anticipate their behaviour and be prepared for whatever they may do.

Please tell how it's correct to swan through a red with peds crossing please. Also why it's fair for drivers to have to adjust for someone swaning through a red when they waited for their green.

Check my post again, I said it's not cool to cycle in a way that's likely to cause an accident. That would apply to going through a red with pedestrians crossing your path. D'oh!

Your second point, I don't really get. What are they having to adjust for? The fact that you're now ahead of them and the poor dears have to overtake you again? The road layout in this country massively overprivileges drivers rather than cyclists. And you're talking about fairness? I'd argue that them having to maneuver around you because you're pace is different is a tad insignificant given that for most of the time we've got no allocated road space in the first place.

We have allocated road space, it is on the road, in the lane. There is a system of priority, so first come first served. Hold your line, communicate with the road user behind, look at them and make it clear that you know what you are doing.

Just because a lot of cyclists do not know how to handle traffic behind them, it does not give them a right to run through the pedestrians or lights in front of them.

^^^
I get really pissed off when people do stupid maneuvers that could knock me off or cause an accident. That kind of anger is righteous and if vehemently expressed might make someone realise what they've done (even that's debatable, really)

But for running a red light?

I'm sorry but any of the ripostes quoted in this thread would just make me think the commenter was a total cock. The last thing it's going to do is change my approach to traffic lights. The traffic rules we have are most emphatically NOT designed with cyclists in mind, so it doesn't make sense to follow them meticulously.

Check my post again, I said it's not cool to cycle in a way that's likely to cause an accident. That would apply to going through a red with pedestrians crossing your path. D'oh!

Your second point, I don't really get. What are they having to adjust for? The fact that you're now ahead of them and the poor dears have to overtake you again? The road layout in this country massively overprivileges drivers rather than cyclists. And you're talking about fairness? I'd argue that them having to maneuver around you because you're pace is different is a tad insignificant given that for most of the time we've got no allocated road space in the first place.

1. Just to re-iterate I have been and can be a hypocritical cock.

2. I didn't make my second point clear, I was giving an example of traffic flowing from a side road turning right into a major road- all on a green light. A cyclist bombing along that major road RLJs and now is jockeying for a position with the flowing traffic from the right lane. I know drivers that are very considerate and conscientious around other road users that get the fear when presented with this. What argument could you give for the cyclist's action- even though 99% of us could perform that manoeuvre all day without incident?

The same argument can be applied to folk crossing on the green man or on zebra crossing. If I speed up on my bike I can make it through the middle of the crossing without hitting anyone- thus no accident at all. How is that helpful?

james have you ever cycled in a country that has proper cycling lanes? where cyclists have some degree of priority? It's a different world. There's no guarantee that what priority we're accorded will be respected by drivers...or is the "rider down" section 100% down to cyclists not behaving themselves?

I guess you might be making the point again for readers, but in context of what I'm saying, there's no cause to comment on the stupidity of running a red light when pedestrians are crossing. Maybe you're confused because I just said I feel that righteous anger when someone does something that could cause an accident - I didn't actually specify 'cause an accident to a cyclist' and I do consider pedestrians to be human, too. ...most of the time...

• to use Multi's example - ok you might make it through the crossing without hitting anyone but that's not a helluva difference to when, say, another cyclist does some wankhead maneuver that could knock me off but luckily didn't - it pisses me off because it endangered my life - same deal speeding through the red light at a pedestrian crossing would make massive potential for an accident - see above for what I think about that.
  
  

Thanks for clarification on the second example, Multi... I have been known to do that maneuver, but I slow down and make eye contact with the driver I'll be coming alongside before I join the new line of traffic. I kinda like having both legs working and a life free from brain damage, so it makes sense to know they're prepared to give way before getting near. I'd pull over and wait if it was too hectic or they weren't making eye contact and looking happy about it. (and if they're not getting pissed off about it, why should anyone else?)

1. I didn't make my second point clear, I was giving an example of traffic flowing from a side road turning right into a major road- all on a green light. A cyclist bombing along that major road RLJs and now is jockeying for a position with the flowing traffic from the right lane. I know drivers that are very considerate and conscientious around other road users that get the fear when presented with this. What argument could you give for the cyclist's action- even though 99% of us could perform that manoeuvre all day without incident?
   
   
   
   

Ah and for the other drivers who after the first one have to maneuver around you - it's no different than if they'd caught up with you anyway. There could of been a cyclist coming slowly along that road before the light changed, could of been one at the red light coming from the right that they were waiting behind etc etc... If drivers can't deal with overtaking cyclists safely they shouldn't be on the road, it should be a compulsory part of the test.

Having read this thread from start to finish, I am of the view that it may be time to start calling out these bad cyclists.

I concur. Let's start calling them out.

Rlj'er with a 90's pony tail on a Fixie in tulse hill this morning. Do your mirrored aviators change red to green? I doubt it...

Having read this thread from start to finish, I am of the view that it may be time to start chatting up these bad cyclists.

I concur. Let's start calling them.

reported for grooming.

The road layout in this country massively overprivileges drivers rather than cyclists. And you're talking about fairness? I'd argue that them having to maneuver around you because you're pace is different is a tad insignificant given that for most of the time we've got no allocated road space in the first place.

Do you drive?

It's not the roads design or the law, it's cultural.

Drivers and in fact most cyclists think that bikes should be in the gutter and that cars have right of way over bikes. This isn't the case. Ride assertively and some distance from the gutter (and stick to the law of the road) and you will realise the roads are fine for everyone.

It's not the roads design or the law, it's cultural.

This.

We've already seen it working in London, drivers are much more aware around cyclists, a noticable difference to what it was like 7 years ago.

This^^
the more people on bikes that do ride this way this the quicker drivers will get it. They are improving as more people cycling in London. This is why I am wary of segregation which is a backwards step getting people on bikes off the road

Yep, definitely time Balki started asking out bad cyclists. A little love is what the morning commute needs and Balki's love, while a little messy, is plentiful enough for us all.

segregation is not the best solution, in fact I believed that with segregation the problem still exist (i.e. the risk of getting t-boned).

I got honked at more time in Copenhagen than I ever did in London when riding primary on a street without cycle lane - everyone believed that you need to ride in the gutter there.

"give them cycle lane and they'll take it largely without skill"

Calling yourself out for stopping in a red zone, obstructing peoples view at the junction, taking photos of skid marks?

They all seem to stop in time. How do you know it isn't just folks on fixed bikes taking pace off as they approach to be sure not to hit a turning vehicle?

Or is it the rider in the distance changing his top instead of checking his shoulder before moving out to the right?

^^ I really dislike the handling of the cycle superhighways around T junctions. A lot of times drivers trying to join the main road are already fully in the blue lane when I come down cs2 or continue to roll forward despite cyclists approaching in the lane. This is fine if you have space, but a lot of the time there are cars overtaking on the outside, completely blocking you in.

To be honest I found cycling that way a lot easier before CS2 was put there, because it was a lot easier to take the lane, meaning that drivers rolling past the stop line were a lot less of an issue.

They all seem to stop in time. How do you know it isn't just folks on fixed bikes taking pace off as they approach to be sure not to hit a turning vehicle?

It's almost certainly from the noddy peloton locking up as cars turn left accross them at the last minute.

^^ I really dislike the handling of the cycle superhighways around T junctions. A lot of times drivers trying to join the main road are already fully in the blue lane when I come down cs2 or continue to roll forward despite cyclists approaching in the lane. This is fine if you have space, but a lot of the time there are cars overtaking on the outside, completely blocking you in.

To be honest I found cycling that way a lot easier before CS2 was put there, because it was a lot easier to take the lane, meaning that drivers rolling past the stop line were a lot less of an issue.

That's cos all they did was paint a blue stripe on the road.