Police spotting (junction watch)

Then don't ride on the cycle lane, smack bang on primary is usually the best option on that stretch of road.

I usually ride in primary on the left lane, after going a little bit further in when the lane change to three, look back, indicated and change into the middle lane (again smack bang in primary) and hold that position.

Best thing to do is to take cycle training which will help you make a good assessment on how to work with those road.

Happily, there is a set of traffic lights (not pictured) shortly before this known accident blackspot. By jumping that red light (if the road is clear) I can comfortably make it across that 30-metre stretch and live to tell the tale.

Again, not a valid reason to jump a red light, especially if you follow what I've wrote above.

^this

True ^

Anyway, here's an example I prepared earlier.

The cycle lane starts on the far left and then shifts to the right, via three blobs of blue paint, before continuing in between two lanes of traffic.

In this same 30-metre stretch of road that cyclists are being asked to move to the right, drivers wanting to turn left at the junction ahead are being filtered across the cycle lane. This is utter madness.

The whole situation, of course, is made worse by drivers inevitably but illegally doing 50mph.

Happily, there is a set of traffic lights (not pictured) shortly before this known accident blackspot. By jumping that red light (if the road is clear) I can comfortably make it across that 30-metre stretch and live to tell the tale.

Start from the middle, take the lane, make eye contact (if possible) with anyone who looks like they might pull across.

It's not infallible, but if you position yourself square in the middle of the lane and are aware of what is going on around you that junction is 100% fine.

Pfft outside lane doing 50kph unless one of those cars is speeding in which case a bit of motorpacing is required. Bunnyhop everything in the way. Backflip taxis for bonus style points.

Not one of the solutions posted so far, Ed's included, is safer than jumping the red light (if the road ahead is clear).

Gambling my safety on drivers a) seeing me and b) slowng down to allow me to merge into much faster traffic, is laughable in rush hour and fanciful any other time.

I second Dammit that making eye contact is always a good idea if possible. I've recently perfected my "don't you dare pull out now" roundabout stare.

Gambling my safety on drivers a) seeing me and b) slowng down to allow me to merge into much faster traffic, is laughable in rush hour and fanciful any other time.

Again, Cycle Training will help massively in boosting your confident in being able to change lane without worried about getting hit by drivers.

You just need to be more assertive, look back, put your left arm out high and straight, then change lane from primary to primary when there's a sensible gap.

If you're in secondary, you're significantly less visible than you are in front of the car.

Like I said earlier, drivers are not out to hit you, good communication is keys, as Dammit said earlier, eyes contact is vital, you don't even need to try and lock your eyes with the driver's in order to fall in love and have homosexual babies, just looking back is powerful enough.

Diamond has made up his mind already, and it doesn't look like he's going to change it.

^^ It seems people are missing the point that if there aren't any cars in your immediate vicinity, you don't have to worry about any of that shit, and therefore it's safer. I don't see how anyone can fail to understand that.

As for the lights. Regardless of rights and wrongs, if jumping a red is always dangerous, how do people manage to negotiate any junction which isn't controlled by lights?

I carry my own small traffic lights and turn on the correct colour at each junction.

I then leave the red on and ride across anyway.

Lol

Not one of the solutions posted so far, Ed's included, is safer than jumping the red light (if the road ahead is clear).

Gambling my safety on drivers a) seeing me and b) slowng down to allow me to merge into much faster traffic, is laughable in rush hour and fanciful any other time.

If you're in front of them [waiting at lights], they don't need to slow down and can't fail to see you.

As for the lights. Regardless of rights and wrongs, if jumping a red is always dangerous, how do people manage to negotiate any junction which isn't controlled by lights?

Drivers (and even cyclists) who have a green light often don't bother looking for vehicles and cyclists who would be coming from a red light direction. Also you get drivers who see the green changing and so speed up to get through.

If it is an uncontrolled junction everyone is paying attention to every approach before moving through.

Drivers (and even cyclists) who have a green light often don't bother looking for vehicles and cyclists who would be coming from a red light direction. Also you get drivers who see the green changing and so speed up to get through.

I know this is London (my friend), but you do get occasions when it's perfectly clear there is absolutely nothing coming. Also, given the number of one way streets you often only need to be looking in one direction.

If it is an uncontrolled junction everyone is paying attention to every approach before moving through.

Assuming that anyone is paying attention is naive. Assuming that everyone is paying attention is foolish.

Guide to cycling in London.

1. Expect the unexpected.
   
2. Everyone is a muppet, be wary.
   

1. everyone but me is a muppet
   

Guide to cycling in London.

1. Take Cycle Training
   
2. Do a Lambo Rambo anyway
   
   

Fixed.

Anyone who watched that 'war on Britain's roads' documentary has seen video evidence that making eye contact and/or taking primary position does not preclude drivers going straight through you anyway.

But since you are looking at them you know what the fuck they are doing.

And can decide to jump a red if it's going to save your life.

Guide to cycling in London.

1. Expect the unexpected.
   
2. Everyone is a muppet, be wary.
   
   

This attitude is not based on any reasonable risk assessment but on random fear. Ed Hippy and Dammit suggest actual behavior which empowers a person to interact with people positively (Looking back and riding where you can be seen). Once you start riding in this mindful manner you get so many positive interactions from drivers who like you (and unlike muppets) are people using the roads to get to work/home.

making eye contact and/or taking primary position does not preclude drivers going straight through you anyway.

Being rammed by a driver from behind with whom you have made eye contact and are riding in front of doesn't appear much an TfLs crash statistics . They may hoot you to express their belief that you're in the way. Nowdays in London drivers rarely do that and many understand why you are in front of them

I know that getting cycle training amongst some people on the forum is a joke. More amusing is the tales of conflict and stress from drivers, people on bikes (and peds stepping off the pavement) continually reported on threads, most of these will be avoided with a couple of tweaks to your riding style. So if you are getting a lot of conflict and agro out there perhaps asking 'what could I have done differently?' is better than calling everyone else a muppet

So if you are getting a lot of conflict and agro out there perhaps asking 'what could I have done differently?' is better than calling everyone else a muppet

Example is the collision I was involved in with another driver last week.

Two lanes road, was riding on the left lane, she's on the right, she changed lane without looking; a classic *SMIDSY *incident.

Driver admitted liability, issue resolved, case end.

However, this is one collision I could have avoided if I were going slightly slower as I was riding 17mph down Clapham Common South Side, a notorious stretch of road, had I ride slower says 14mph, I would have brakes in time and avoided the entire collision, I also knew that the exact stretch of road where I had my collision were poorly designed which encourage poor driving when the drivers realised they're in the wrong lane and need to change into the right one to proceed forward.

TL:DR - Had a collision cause by poor driving, but could have avoided it if I rode differently.

Had a collision cause by poor driving, but could have avoided it if I rode differently.

This is obviously a sensible attitude. In my head, the calculation is this:

Driver + cyclist making mistake = potential cyclist injury
Cyclist + driver making mistake = potential cyclist injury

When it comes to the crunch, so to speak, the cyclist cannot win. Therefore, where possible, avoid that crunch. Hence my evangelism about the road mentioned above.

This has nothing to do with confident cycling or nonsensical paranoia about deliberate bad driving; it's about the minimising of risk.

There's a limit to how far we can modify our behaviour because others are behaving dangerously/illegally/like a muppet.

Obviously in any real-life scenario you choose life over right of way or highway code, but every accident is probably avoidable, doesn't mean the cyclist did anything wrong by not avoiding it. More likely the driver actively caused it.