Comment by Citizen_Lame
2 days ago
Which in turn means only most aggressive cyclists stay on the road. In London more than half cyclists jump the red light.
2 days ago
Which in turn means only most aggressive cyclists stay on the road. In London more than half cyclists jump the red light.
This sort of comment always comes up. Cars break rules too and there is a more of them. What’s the point being made?
One point is that traffic lights are designed for the benefit of drivers. Most of the time, cyclists can easily and safely navigate through a red light as they take up so much less space than cars. e.g. turning left at a junction (assuming UK driving on the left) can be done without causing any inconvenience for drivers and will often be safer for a cyclist than having to wait at a red light and then deal with drivers who've only just looked up from their phone and might not have seen you.
It's notable how RLJing differs between cyclists and drivers. RLJing drivers will see a light turn to amber and then speed up so that they can get through the junction before the other directions can start moving. Obviously, speeding up to RLJ is very dangerous to pedestrians who might be crossing.
Car drivers potentially face consequences in terms of loss of license, and should be carrying insurance if something happens. No equivalence for cyclists and honestly the Netherlands is the least safe I've felt as a pedestrian in regards to hostile cyclists.
Cyclists that RLJ are breaking the law, and police do stop them. Admittedly they won't be caught by a camera, like a car would.
Equally if something happens (e.g. pedestrian knocked down), they're still liable; not having insurance doesn't remove that.