Is it time to start calling out bad cyclists?

I rock up here every so often. Read this thread. Feel really really really guilty for being a 'bad' cyclist.Then I try my very best to stop at every light, every crossing in fact stop for every other road user where-ever possible. I can kinda do it. I even feel quite good about myself. But then inevitably I am in a hurry to get some where and I go back to my old courier ways of riding fast and not really stopping very much at all if I can help it. I find it much more fun to ride this way, more fluid, but its not right is it. I really must try harder. Does Buffalo Bill stop at every traffic light? I bet he does.

This. I try very, very hard to be good, but deep down I'm bad to the bone. Really enjoyed riding in Bordeaux, no one gives a shit what you do. Mainly they're releived you're on a bike not scooter when pulling an illegal move.

No, you are still wrong.

The central refuge is irrelevant in the context of the question asked.

The question was

The law states that you must give way to the pedestrian on that crossing.

It does not state that you may not go over the crossing, which I inferred your answer "If there isn't [a central refuge] then you can't." is in response to.

Which is demonstrably wrong.

I'm more than happy for you to demonstrate which piece of legislation state otherwise though.

If you read my original response I said that you have to stop at a crossing unless it has a refuge or island on it.

Now go and boil your head.

This. I try very, very hard to be good, but deep down I'm bad to the bone. Really enjoyed riding in Bordeaux, no one gives a shit what you do. Mainly they're releived you're on a bike not scooter when pulling an illegal move.

Mr Fingers I think that you have hit the nail on the head. We live in France a country where the Police jump red lights; for the fun of it and because they can. The Code de Route is about four times the size of the Highway Code and as far as I can tell no-one takes a blind bit of notice of it. You would think that that would mean utter chaos but everyone seems to jolly along. You wait till August when all the French are gone on their holidays and you have the whole City to yourself - its bicycle BLISS . Mate you have put a SMILE on my face.

Yeah that was it: it was chaos, but a glorious chaos that worked, because no-one got uptight about it, and no-one was dashing to their computer to moan about it on an internet forum. I vaguely troll this thread on a regular basis because it makes me laugh about how stressed people get. Yes rules are there for a reason, but at the same time we have a mind of our own and can make decisions for ourselves. I think it works in France because they look after their own shit and don't worry about what everyone else is doing. We seem to work in the opposite.

Calling out Tenners for crashing into me in Regent's Park, generally RLJing and not obliging my DAS.

I rock up here every so often. Read this thread. Feel really really really guilty for being a 'bad' cyclist.Then I try my very best to stop at every light, every crossing in fact stop for every other road user where-ever possible. I can kinda do it. I even feel quite good about myself. But then inevitably I am in a hurry to get some where and I go back to my old courier ways of riding fast and not really stopping very much at all if I can help it. I find it much more fun to ride this way, more fluid, but its not right is it. I really must try harder. Does Buffalo Bill stop at every traffic light? I bet he does.

Not stopping doesn't make you 'bad'. It's just not helpful. It's much more damaging when you rlj in front of peds with the right of way. Less so if you pass behind them. Less so in front of a queue of about 10 drivers waiting.

Sounds like we need a top trumps or league table of badness.

A directory of morrel correctness?

How many of these fine fellows did you earn on your commute:

Yeah that was it: it was chaos, but a glorious chaos that worked, because no-one got uptight about it, and no-one was dashing to their computer to moan about it on an internet forum. I vaguely troll this thread on a regular basis because it makes me laugh about how stressed people get. Yes rules are there for a reason, but at the same time we have a mind of our own and can make decisions for ourselves. I think it works in France because they look after their own shit and don't worry about what everyone else is doing. We seem to work in the opposite.

Is it as busy and as dense out there as London?
I guess they have more space and a better understanding and expectation of cyclists therefore it's not such an issue there?
Remember this thread started primarily in response to seeing mothers with children and prams having to deal with RLJers- that's a million miles away from empty junctions, no?

Is it as busy and as dense out there as London?
I guess they have more space and a better understanding and expectation of cyclists therefore it's not such an issue there?
Remember this thread started primarily in response to seeing mothers with children and prams having to deal with RLJers- that's a million miles away from empty junctions, no?

I wouldn't make assumptions about Bordeaux. There are scooters, trams, cars, peds and cyclists all in the same spaces, all going in different directions. Of course it represents a contrasting milieu to London but the major difference is tolerance and patience. And a willingness to share space. Something is approaching they stop, wait and then carry on.

And no empty junctions. Plus they drive on the wrong side of the road. And no evil rljers plowing into mothers and babies.

But you're right: I don't witness a lot of terrible riding. But when I do I just give a gallic shrug, hop onto to the pavement and speed off down the nearest one way street.

The other day I passed a guy who decided to sit on my wheel. Half a mile later, on the approach to a roundabout he decided to overtake me and because he was now going too fast, and the cars ahead were braking, he had to swerve into my path, almost taking out my front wheel.
I called him out but he just looked at me blankly, then again switched into my (left turning) lane and turned left in front of me. I asked him what he was playing at but got more blank stares.
I turned off later on and he then bellowed some abuse at me. I decided to go after him and give him some advice, and I caught him a bit further down the road, which caught him by surprise, and pointed out the error of his ways. He accepted a telling off and we parted.
Tonight he pulled over next to me at some lights, offered me his hand and apologised quite genuinely.

Nice. Riding a bike is a social skill.

"...Riding a bike is a social skill."

Ftfy!

If you read my original response I said that you have to stop at a crossing unless it has a refuge or island on it.

Which is wrong. You do NOT have to stop at a crossing, even if there is no refuge. You have to give way to the pedestrian on the crossing. If you are on a bicycle (or even a car, with a big enough crossing) you can be on the crossing at the same time as a ped.

I almost always go through once peds are a metre or so clear of my line. Someone turned back and said "wait" once. I stopped and said "why?, I'm nowhere near you" (genuine question). She was really miffed but couldn't say why. I guess people expect it to be a traffic free zone while they're on it, but in all honesty I can't see why I'd sit waiting for them to mount the curb if they're ten feet away from where I am riding.

I have been thinking about this over the last couple of days. I think the thing that you did wrong was more a breach of etiquette than anything else - it's polite to wait for people to finish what they're doing before you continue. Similar to waiting for a vehicle to complete a manoeuvre instead of blasting past as soon as there's a big enough gap. I think people just see it as rude (which it is, a bit, tbh, soz).

My driving instructor insisted I stop and wait for them to get to the other side when I was learning to drive, and I tend to cycle the same way I drive, so it's drilled in. I believe it increases the sense of vulnerable road users that less vulnerable road users are being patient rather than pushy or aggressive.

Duly noted. I'll chill my boots around crossings a bit if this is a perceived improvement to my riding.

^^ Well said, it's a bit like waiting for people to get off the tube before getting on.
^ Also well said.

FWIW I got a disbelieving shake of the head from an outraged pedestrian the other day because I blasted through a green light when she wanted to cross on the little red man. You can't win every time.

You are supposed to wait until a pedestrian has finished crossing before carrying on, I do in a car but usually just give people plenty of room on a bike. A zebra crossing counts as two separate crossing if it has a central refuge, traffic light controlled crossings are one crossing if they are in a straight line with a refuge, or two if they are staggered with a refuge.

Duly noted. I'll chill my boots around crossings a bit if this is a perceived improvement to my riding.

Cool, I was trying to say the same thing as Bothwell but I think I came across as a bit condescending. Sorry about that.

Na man - I read your post as believing me to be jumping reds on lit crossings - which I definitely don't. Either way it's worth discussing this stuff. To be honest the main reason I always visit this thread is to pick up tips and avoid dumbassery so it's a win.

Oh, right. No I didnt mean that. I meant that anyone crossing the road has right of way until they are safely on the other side. A big problem (I dont assume you are part of it) is people setting off when the lights are flashing amber and there are still peds on the crossing. Flashing amber means: WAIT.

Well, it means give way to those already on the crossing.

Sorry, yes, looked it up : "vehicles may proceed if all pedestrians using the crossing have finished crossing the road. If pedestrians who have already started crossing have not finished doing so, drivers should wait for them to reach the other side before moving, even if this requires them to wait after the lights have turned green."

Cars at lights in general (in London especially) drop the clutch and launch as soon as its amber and don't wait for green. In fact I regularly see people get beeped from behind if they have'nt gone on amber. I see the encroaching on the zebra crossing rule with cyclists as just another extension of London impatience.

But Peds aren't meant to start crossing on green flashing man either. It's for those that are in the process of crossing.

The ped-green/road-amber flashing phase is for people already crossing to finish, it is conceivable that someone may be slow enough that they haven't cleared the crossing before the lights go solid. The last bit of that paragraph is just to remind us that a green light does not give you permission to run folk over or brush past intimidatingly close while shouting "waaaaaankaaaaaa". You'd think it's common sense but there really is no such thing.