Video: Cyclist seriously injured after ignoring traffic signal warns fellow riders to stop at red

The best reason I know not to jump red lights - apart from the law - is that at the junctions I ride through you're likely to be hit by a car running the red light. I've seen a lot of near misses.

That said, I think there's a case to let cyclists go when the four way (barn dance) pedestrian cycle is showing. At walking speed, obviously. There's got to be some time advantage to cycling, otherwise we may as well drive.

Sniffer - if you are asked to dismount by a "Cyclists Dismount" sign you don't need to worry about breaking any laws if you stay on the bike - those signs are purely advisory not mandatory and no offence is committed if you choose not to dismount.

Just this evening on my way home, a bunch of us (cyclists) were stopped at a red light waiting to go, then it changes to green and we take off across the intersection... and a RLJ'r comes steaming through full speed ahead from the side. I was too annoyed to slow down which in hindsight would have been better, and shouted something to him about red lights. Luckily he somehow managed to squeeze through us without taking anyone out. Next time he'll be flying into a car and be less lucky.

I'm at a loss for words as to why a video like this should be required. Time for another biblical flood I think.

Not condoning RLJing under most circumstances, but there are sets of lights where I live that are triggered by the presence of a vehicle and aren't sensitive enough to detect a bike. I've often been faced with the decision to go through the red or sit there and wait for a car to arrive to make the lights change. I'll usually go for the first option. I've reported them to the council, but little seems to have been done to improve them.

i ride 7 days a week for 25 years
i commute 6 days - only 5 miles each way
i do club rides on sundays
i never jump red lights
If you want to be treated as an equal on the road , even though its unlikely that many drivers will ever treat a bike rider as equal, you have to follow the law.
Its never OK or safer to jump a red light.
If a motorist is sitting at lights and a cyclist comes round him (especially on inside) and ignores the lights it just pisses them off. And rightly so.
Imagine, and i mean really imagine a reverse situation.
Every time you stop at a red light, the car comes up and goes through red. What the cyclist would do is moan about it but probably then follow the car.
as i say i dont not jump red lights for safety- i can easily negotiate a junction without using traffic signals - i dont jump lights so as not to give the motorist the higher moral ground.

And when are the police going to bring out the video of a motorist who went through a red light and caused a wreck?

Or the video about the drink driver who caused a wreck?

Or the driver than couldn't be bothered slowing down and waiting and caused a wreck?

Or the one where they were showing off to their mates and caused a wreck?

Or the one when they were dicking about on their phone and caused a wreck?

Or the one....you get the idea. I'm not condoning red light jumping, but he's gone through, got it wrong and bust himself up but in terms of the dangers on the roads to to other users it's not the biggest threat.

Cycling home the other day I had a police van next to me in the ASL... he saw the red light but just rolled on into it. If they can't lead by example then nothing will change

This guy was a statistic, he got lucky and got a second chance. Same for all other RLJers. If you do stupid shit, you shouldn't be surprised when bad stuff happens to you. Don't RLJ, don't filter when it's unsafe to do so, beware of HGVs, watch for vehicles ahead of you signalling, always shoulder check before swerving out into the road, use common sense... it's not that difficult.

it is not for you (or Sleepy to decide which to follow and which not to

It is everybodies choice what laws to follow. If a law tells me to go jump off a cliff, I'll pass on that, thanks.

Some laws are asinine, I am a free person and will choose for myself which laws to follow.

Roads and road laws were simply not made for cyclists, If breaking a law is safer then my advice is, break the law.

Would you recommend 4 year olds cycle on the roads or the pavements? Cycling on the pavements is definitely illegal.

This doesn't mean I don't follow and agree with most laws, it just means I don't think we should follow every dictate of some corrupt old farts in parliament.

TFL/councils are really annoying sometimes, they time pedestrian lights so slow that many times the pedestrians have long gone and the cars have to stop at some lights which are completely devoid of pedestrians.

They need to be brought to book for this, it is a gross over prioritisation of motor traffic over pedestrian traffic which back-fires, causes danger to pedestrians because they rightly don't want to wait up to 2 minutes for the lights to change and so go traffic dodging and I don't want to have to stop at a pedestrian crossing that has no f**king people at it.

just give cyclists their own space on the road, our own lights and design the roads for all users. It really is crazy when there's so much research and evidence to show how much better it could be.
When I cycled in London, I stopped at all lights. Jumping lights isn't cool or clever. The hard part is remembering it's better to be alive than right.
I don't think realistically it will change that we will spend as much as they do in Holland. Transport just doesn't have priority. Until every cyclist in the country descends on Westminster in an gigantic demonstration, it will never change.

9 points all true, but running red lights is just asking for it. It makes me mad everytime I see a cyclist doing it, it puts them at risk and gives all the law abiding cyclists a bad name too; not to mention putting us at risk from irate motorists.

The highway code is very clear, cyclists must obay traffic signals and stop at red lights ......... period!

That's my view, and rant on this subject over and done with.

I went through a red last Thursday, quite simply I would have probably been run over by the vehicle behind me who seemed to have been completely oblivious to the fact he'd jumped a red.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj5t-eiTfBU

I happened to be caught at the red light at Oval Station this morning. There was a PCSO hiding in the shadows. I presumed he was waiting to nab RLJs. But instead he hopped into the road, and handed a leaflet to the BMW driver who had decided that he would park in the ASL.

As he cross back I said thanks, and he said "it's only a warning this time". So hopefully the Met have been told to clamp down by Boris and co in city hall.

What a twat. If you jump red lights, you will eventually hit something or something will hit you. Pretty common sense really.

I get a bit fed up of repeated claims that sometimes it is safer not to stop at a red light. I get even more fed up that it is rarely challenged by the majority of cyclists who stop at red lights because (a) it is the law and (b) it is safer.

The only time it is safer not to stop at a red light is when you've already done something wrong putting you in a more vulnerable position. Sometimes we get it wrong, as do drivers, and we need to learn to accept when we've got it wrong rather that trying to justify it with excuses.

For example "it would not be safe to stop so quickly" really means "I was going too fast and didn't think I'd be ablen to stop quickly enough" or "riding through on red gets me out of the way of the traffic" really means "I'm not really sure how to handle the junction correctly and safely so I make sure I get across ahead of the traffic (assuming of course the chain doesn't skip, a gear misalign, a tyre spin or some other mechanical occurs)"

Red light jumping on bikes and in motor vehicles is against the law, it is dangerous, impatient and anti-social and in reality lots of us might do it occasionally; but we shouldn't!

Rant over!

I tend to agree with 'mikeprytherch', we all need to ride defensively, assume that nobody has seen us and that we are always in danger. Of course, this doesn't do much for the cycling movement as a whole, but will keep each of us safer on the road in the mean time. I honestly believe I've saved my own life a few times by just interpretting a likely dangerous move from someone else and got out of the way beforehand. Don't undertake long vehicles, don't jump reds, don't turn right in front of traffic unless you're clear and indicating. Simple stuff really and it means you're likely to get home and give the wife a kiss.

Most cyclists are drivers too, so most of us also appreciate the idiotic decisions of cyclists that we've seen. I've lost count of how many times I've been in my car and thought 'I wouldn't have done that' after witnessing somebody do something utterly thoughtless on their bike. Red light jumping, cutting cars up without looking behind or indicating etc...

It has to work both ways, we all (road users) need to be more responsible and the only way to receive the respect we deserve is if everyone is treated equally when they make a bad decision.

Be safe people.

I trust the City of London police also distribute videos showing the effects of other road users disobeying traffic laws.

As a cyclist you need to learn early on that just because a collision is not your fault, it does not mean you can't prevent it. Clearly this incident was the fault of the cyclist, but it would be nice if all road users aimed to prevent collisions regardless of who is at fault.

Sorry but this guy is an idiot and has experienced first hand the result of cause and effect.

He bowled through a red light assuming it was going to change in his favour (suggesting that he wasnt familiar with the light sequence of that particular junction), does so at a speed where he could not stop in time and then has the gall to do a PSA in the style of a crackhead saying "hey kids, dont do drugs".

The vast majority of RLJ's I see go through junctions do so sheepishly and check traffic in all directions. The only ones I see doing so that would end up with injuries like this guys are the fucking idiots that frankly, have it coming.

As for the prosecution of cars in the ASZ: it will never happen.

The Met & CoL police dont want to touch it and Boris Johnson has said that they will be decriminalised and TfL will manage them. BJ has been mayor for 5 years and Ive heard a lot of waffle from the guy but nothing of substance has come about.