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red traffic light.jpgVideo: Cyclist seriously injured after ignoring traffic signal warns fellow riders to stop at red
A cyclist who was seriously injured when he was in a collision with a London taxi after riding through a red light is urging other bike riders to stop at traffic signals. Craig Dortkamp, originally from Sydney, Australia, has made the appeal in a video produced by City of London Police.
Craig, an experienced cyclist who commutes to work by bike each day, rode through the red light at London’s Holborn Circus assuming it was about to turn green; instead, it was traffic signals elsewhere on the junction that had changed.
As he tried to avoid traffic he crashed into a taxi, his head smashing the rear window, cutting his forehead to the bone. His injuries required 200 stitches. He also suffered cuts elsewhere on his face
Craig says he hopes his experience will serve as a warning to others. “Be sensible, don’t take unnecessary risks, don’t run through a red light – you don’t know what is around the corner.
“I hope I don’t see any other cyclists running through a red light. If you don’t take that risk your chances of being hit by a vehicle are much slimmer and you probably won’t end up with scars on your face for the rest of your life like me.” \
Police add: “Craig hopes his experience will both act as a warning to cyclists while encouraging them to take a moment and wait at red lights. Pausing for those extra few seconds while the lights change to green could be the difference between you reaching your destination safely or being involved in a collision.”
It’s an issue that divides cyclists. Stand at any busy junction during peak commuting hours, and you’ll see some tear through a red light without pausing, others set off from the light before they turn green, and others wait patiently until the signals change and give them right of way.
The theory has also been put forward that the reason such a high proportion of serious cycling casualties in London involve women struck by lorries at junctions is precisely because they are more likely than men to obey red lights, and unwittingly put themselves in danger.
However, many others see this explanation as overly simplistic and indeed plain wrong, pointing out that factors such as where women cyclists choose to position themselves on the road, the design of lorries, and junctions, and the working practices of the construction industry in particular all have a part to play in contributing to that sorry statistic.
But until roads, and junctions in particular, are made safer, some maintain that riding through a red light, or at least anticipating the signal changing, is a vital element in keeping safe on two wheels in an urban environment.
Opponents of red light jumping counter that by pointing out the effect that a minority of cyclists riding through illegally through lights that are against them also create a negative impression of bike riders in general; a motorist stopped at a traffic signal will remember the one rider who rode through the junction, rather than the half dozen waiting their turn, while near misses when using a pelican crossing, say, can be alarming for pedestrians.
Last year, we reported that 44-year-old cyclist Andrej Schipka had been fined £850 after he rode through a red light in High Holborn and struck a pedestrian who was crossing the road, leaving him with injuries including a brain haemorrhage and fractured skull from which he was not expected to fully recover.
The message from City of London Police, however, is unequivocal; cyclists, like other road users, are subject to the law, and that includes obeying traffic signals – of the 3,000 fines issued to cyclists in the Square Mile last year, nine in ten were for riding through a red light.
While no figures for that year are available for London as a whole, a Freedom of Information request from London cyclist and road.cc user Tim Lennon that we reported upon in 2011 found that in the year to end-March 2010, in the Metropolitan Police area (all London boroughs other than the City of London), 1,872 cyclists were fined for riding through red lights.
That was dwarfed, however, by the number of motorists fined during the same year for a similar offence – 79,851 drivers receiving fixed penalty notices, although it’s likely that many of those, perhaps the vast majority, will have been generated automatically via cameras installed at junctions, clearly not a possibility in the case of cyclists.
City of London Police does acknowledge that often, it is the behaviour of other road users that puts cyclists at risk, and has listed nine points for riders to be aware of to “keep your nine cycling lives.”
Those are:
1 – Black cabs swerving to the kerb to pick up/drop off passengers
2 – Pedestrians stepping out into the road without looking (and most of us do it on occasion)
3 – Passengers hopping off or on Routemaster buses without looking
4 – Vehicles turning left across you – even more serious if it is a bus or truck
5 – Car doors being opened into your path
6 – Vehicle creepage at junctions
7 – Delivery vehicles parked in cycle lanes
8 – Drivers failing to indicate properly leaving everyone guessing
9 – Vehicles doing impromptu U-turns.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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47 comments
Most of the time you should stop at red lights but it's not that simple - sometimes it's safer not to. Often you have to make your own assessment on what is safer rather than blindly obeying the law.
If all road users followed the law properly, were courteous and showed some awareness of vulnerable road users then I would see no justification for cyclists jumping red lights. Until this day happens (probably the day after hell freezes over) I'm going to use my common sense and judgement as to where it is safest for me to be on the roads.
I drive myself but I would welcome much stiffer penalties for mobile phone use, entering an ASL, blocking cycle lanes etc. As for killing or injuring a cyclist - a mandatory lifetime driving ban if the driver is found to be at fault and whatever criminal charges are applicable. There is a large minority of drivers who intimidate and bully their way through traffic and if plain old human decency isn't enough to make them reconsider their behaviour then the law has to act.
Selectively disobeying the law is another way of saying that you break it. It is that simple, jumping red lights is against the law and no one should do it. The law doesn't state that you shouldn't jump a red light unless a cyclist deems it appropriate.
It seems funny you call for the law to act when you have admitted purposefully breaking it. If you think you're above the law, then the "bullies" probably will too so any changes in the law will then make no difference.
Maybe if everyone obeyed the law and followed the Highway Code, you wouldn't feel the need to break it as it would be a pretty safe place to be, but until then, I find it hypocritical of people to get angry at drivers but who flout the rules themselves.
{/quote} Selectively disobeying the law is another way of saying that you break it. It is that simple, jumping red lights is against the law and no one should do it. The law doesn't state that you shouldn't jump a red light unless a cyclist deems it appropriate.
It seems funny you call for the law to act when you have admitted purposefully breaking it. If you think you're above the law, then the "bullies" probably will too so any changes in the law will then make no difference.
Maybe if everyone obeyed the law and followed the Highway Code, you wouldn't feel the need to break it as it would be a pretty safe place to be, but until then, I find it hypocritical of people to get angry at drivers but who flout the rules themselves.[/quote]
I wasn't very clear - in my earlier comment by not stopping at a red light I meant going beyond the stop line, not crossing the junction. Crossing the stop line is safer in a number of instances such as when traffic is filling the ASL or an HGV is directly behind you and due to the height of the cab you may be obscured from the drivers view.
The law is however inadequate in many instances and cyclists are effectively treated as second class road users.
You may think that the law is inadequate (and I may or may not agree with you) but it is not for you (or I ) to decide which to follow and which not to. Cyclists are provided for in the law and Highway Code, we are not constrained by speed limits, we have the ASLs, there is specific guidance for overtaking us safely and guidance stating we are allowed to cycle two abreast. The problem is that some drivers do not know or understand those rules (amongst others probably) and therefore make cycling less safe than it should be.
What is in law is that we are bound by the same rules regarding red lights, we should not be crossing the line or we are just as bad as those drivers that do the same in ASLs. If there really is no room for me in an ASL box, I'll simply stop somewhere where there is space, making myself apparent to drivers behind me. If there is an HGV behind me, he will have seen me as he pulled up to the line, if he's in front of me and I don't think there's enough space to get in front so he can see me, I'd just wait behind it. We get annoyed by drivers that overtake putting cyclists at risk for very minimal time gains and going against the rules in the process, we should have some patience as well rather than out ourselves at risk or break the law.
Cyclists doing stupid things fuels those angry drivers' reasons not to treat us as equals on the road, we don't have to follow every rule that they do (speeding and filtering) but we should follow the rules that are specific to us, including waiting at red lights, otherwise it puts us in a very weak position when asking to be treated as though we have the right to be on the road too.
Clearly, this is an issue which evokes rants, I guess this was mine and it's over now I hope!
I for one would like to know what were/are the circumstances that gives you the right to jump a red light?
Please elaborate.
I wasn't very clear - in my earlier comment by not stopping at a red light I meant going beyond the stop line, not crossing the junction. Crossing the stop line is safer in a number of instances such as when traffic is filling the ASL or an HGV is directly behind you and due to the height of the cab you may be obscured from the drivers view.
I think there is rarely, if any excuse for going through a junction on a red light.
I agree there's NO JUSTIFICATION for jumping red lights, apart from impatience, which is not covered in he highway code.
If we expect motorists to obay the rule then so should we!
To ride a motorbike I had to go through loads of training, I also did advanced training after passing my test, this training has saved me on at least 2 occasions from serious accidents on my bicycle, situations that without the training I know I would of ended up with serious injurys, many of the principals such as observation and positioning are the same.
My point is this, more should be done to train and teach people on bicycles, sure you need to have the willing to learn and take the courses, but more training will equal less accidents.
One of the first things I was taught is when out of the bike, treat everybody as if they want to kill you, perhaps extreme but the point is drivers are not looking to keep you alive, you are not high on their priority list, so look after yourself first and don't put yourself in danger.
Running red lights and not obeying the law is dump, no excuses really and this guy I'm sure won't be running a red light again, but lets not blame lorry/car drivers etc., we are not in control over their actions, so the first thing to do is ensure our actions are correct, so get some training and look after yourself, it may save your life !
Spot on Mike - incident(s) of the day:
1. Cyclist (*1) moving between traffic at a red light stop - doesn't check over his shoulder almost moves out into the path of other cyclist (*2) moving up through stationary traffic.
2. Green light and traffic is moving slowly - bus is moving through tight bottle neck areas due to road furniture, cyclist(*2) tired of waiting tries to undertake bus. Fortunately the bus doesn't squeeze him to smithereens.
Both of these show poor observation and positioning. Both could have resulted in something far worse.
Education is the key. I think this video is a good thing, and I think a test (voluntary or otherwise is too).
I don't really truck with the break a red light when necessary, but sometimes I admit that I do it. Rules are made to be broken, but when you do that you have to be clear of the risks. I have moved ahead of road traffic lights at road works, because these are sometimes set up poorly, and the tail backs are terrible. Motorists who have waited maybe one or two cycles of traffic are not going to be enamoured if they have to wait another due to a cyclist who is slow off the mark, and may try to make their feelings known. If so, I choose to scoot through where I can. But as a rule, I don't go through regular lights. That too pisses off motorists, endangers the cyclist and pedestrians.
If you're starting point is always 'am I safer breaking this red?' you are probably always going to think you are.
"One of the first things I was taught is when out of the bike, treat everybody as if they want to kill you"
Best advice my dad taught me that, always kept to that way of thinking whether that be in my car or on the bike.
So presumably City of London police, and the Met, will be showing this video to all of their own officers on bikes? I frequently see them jumping lights. Surprising how often they cycle on the pavement as well.
So I don't jump lights on my bike and I have this habit at yelling at cyclists that I witness doing it, but I have to say, as a London resident, while it's cool and all the police are ticketing the light jumpers, do you know what would be super neat? If they would ticket motorists in the ASL. I'd say at least half the time I'm at an intersection waiting for the light to cycle, I have to smash my way into the pedestrian crossing as there's a motorist sitting in the bike box. A couple days ago, a van did this and there were a couple met officers in a marked vehicle right next to them and they did nothing. They probably could have issued the ticket before the light even turned. So yeah. By all means enforce those ticketable minor infractions, it will make the road safer. But do it to all road users.
Watch this space... (but don't drive your car into it)
http://road.cc/content/news/84623-tfl-plans-fine-motorists-and-dock-poin...
Hoorah! I hope this actually happens.
10 - Addison Lee
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