Red Light Surprise
Yesterday as I approached a light on Mass Ave it turned red. The cyclist ahead of me rode blithely through it. I came to a complete stop. That was apparently a very unexpected move to the cyclist behind me…
Should this really be that much of a surprise?
However, this is why I sometimes signal when stopping at a red. Of course then the cyclist would be confused about what I’m doing with my hand… right before crashing into me just the same.
I normally follow all stop lights, and at least slow down to a walking pace for stop signs.
There are some triggered lights that can not detect a bike. So I wait a minute, then until the coast is clear, and go on through. Fortunately, through my persistance, most of the lights on my short route have been fixed.
As for the one time I ran through stop signs (plural) at speed. Riding home, I saw the gun and heard the shots. I also found out that I can push myself to 25 MPH with a full load of groceries in my bags.
I almost got rear-ended three times in one day the other day, stopping at stop signs or lights. I still think the majority of people on bicycles in Portland do behave responsibly most of the time, but there are those few…
Basically, I observe mostly the same behavior in people driving. Most of them in Portland behave pretty responsibly, and the minority I see doing stupid things.
I thought it was a great anecdote – a couple years ago, we tried to pass an “Idaho Stop Law” in Oregon, which would allow cyclists to treat stop signs as Yield signs – that is, if there is no conflicting traffic, they could roll through slowly, but if there was conflicting traffic, they must stop and yield right of way. (This is already how most people both on bicycles and in cars treat stop signs anyway)
In any case, one legislator was staunchly against the law, until a friend of his made a comment that there’s nothing more annoying, when driving, than a cyclist who obeys all the laws. After that, he flipped his vote to a “yes”. Unfortunately, it still didn’t pass :-/
The real fun comes in stopping for a red light, sprinting on green to catch the jumper then stopping again at the next one…
Omg yes, ever notice that the people that run reds rarely travel faster than 20mph?
yes, I hate that! I stop at the red, slow person with rusty chain runs the red light. Green light, I pass them. Repeat until I catch two green lights in a row…
20?! That’s pretty charitable.
I’m not a good speed judge when people are much slower than I am, I usually crise between 25 and 35 mph depending on terrain and traffic
Average cruising speed on a race bike is between 17 and 18 mph. Being able to cruise consistently at even 25 without drafting would qualify you as almost a guaranteed winner of the Tour de France.
I don’t use a race bike, I use a fixed gear with a high gear ratio (and brakes). in a sprint on flat ground I have reached 45mph. 18mph is roughly what all geared roadbikes cruise at, those bikes are built for endurance, mine is built for speed. At a racing cruise I am going those speeds.
Red light jumpers are generally less fit than those who stop everywhere. I take off like a sprinting track cyclist and sweep past the dawdling light jumpers at 20mph.
Invisible
http://invisiblevisibleman.blogspot.com/
Anyone running into anyone is stupid and bound to get hurt on their bike. If they don’t run into you stopping they’ll probably get doored or right hooked because they assume they’re invincible and their way is the right way. If you ride in the city you have to assume that anyone can get you at anytime. Folks hitting you from the rear are pretty rare overall as only 3% of bike accidents with cars are from cars coming from behind. One might think that bike riders would try to respect their own. That said, there are cars and pedestrians who often do similarly dangerous things. It’s just part of our ‘scofflaw’ culture. Me? I don’t always stop at lights, but there are some lights I always stop at. The whole thing requires using common sense. How to change our scofflaw culture? That’s one of life’s unanswerable questions.
I stop at red lights, but I will go through them, after I stop, if it is safe to do so. I basically follow the Idaho Stop rule. Stop signs are yield and red lights are stop. With that said, I will always yield to pedestrians and those who have the right-of-way.
There is definitely a fine line. I take safety seriously but I don’t consider it unsafe for me or the world around me if I go through a red (after stopping) with no cars comming.