Jon Snow: cyclists ‘behave extremely badly’ and I don’t know a single one who hasn’t jumped a red light

Hmmm. I think those that get hung up about us being 'a collective' are wasting their breath. People will stereotype loose collectives regardless of what you say so move on.

In respect to Snow, he's just saying 'let he that is without sin cast the first stone'. Basically as human beings we are born hypocrites. BUT that if we try to live a good life (I.e. We respect the laws of the road in the main) the world is a better place. A good lesson for a Sunday.

Incidentally went to the World Track Cycling today which was great fun. However I was pretty horrified at the mess Manchester had made of its roads with cycle lanes and tram lines. You'd only want to ride fatties up there.

So based on various articles, comments in the media, press releases and so on, I think I've got it...

1) "Cyclists" can be considered as one group and basically identical, everyone from Sir Bradley down to that kid on a BMX who "nearly killed me". The actions of one can safely be applied to all. Should you see a cyclist RLJ-ing, it means they all do it.

2) Motorists can basically do no wrong and can usually be described in Government press releases as "hard-working" (or sometimes "hard pressed"). Should you see a motorist RLJ-ing, immediately visit Specsavers, you must have been mistaken and it was probably a very fat cyclist.

3) Where a motorist kills a cyclist, it's probably the fault of the no-good cyclist who doesn't pay road tax, probably wasn't wearing a helmet or hi-vis and by riding a bike was "asking for it" (note for editors - do not apply this logic to women walking home late at night who get raped, it doesn't work well).

4) Where a cyclist injures a pedestrian (or comes close to injuring them, or commits any sort of crime whatsoever), we can safely call for all cyclists to be licensed/insured/taxed/MOT'd/helmeted/shot*
*mix and match as applicable

5) If ever a sound bite is needed about "cyclists" (who are all one group remember), ask a celebrity, ideally catching them off guard. It helps if that celebrity is known to ride bikes or at least own one but this is not a requirement. Should the celebrity not come out with exactly the right response, misquote them until the response is what you want it to be.

I think that covers it - any more that I've missed?

Just like to add that I commute from Gloucestershire 4 days a week (train to Paddington, I hasten to add - not quite up to riding all the way) and I NEVER jump red lights, ALWAYS stop at zebra crossings and do NOT cycle the wrong way down one-way streets. I am not trying to be self-righteous (although I accept it may come across as such to some readers) - I just want to add another POSITIVE slant to the cycling statistics.
I would add that my son has just visited London for the weekend (without a bike) and spotted TWO cyclists jumping red lights and several shaking their heads in admonishment.
Statistically insignificant, I know, but hey, most statistics bandied about in the name of anti-cycling are much the same ...

Jon Snow: Britain's answer to Ron Burgundy.

I don't know one driver that hasnt jumped a red light.

Headline makes John Snow out to be a little more evil than he actually is.

Compare:

HEADLINE
"I don’t know a single one who doesn’t jump red lights"

ACTUAL QUOTE
"I don’t know if there are any cyclists who haven’t gone through a red light."

A small twist, but enough to increase the frothing at the mouth!

The question shouldn't be, "is it safe for me to jump this red light". It should instead be, "is it fair to continue my anti-social behavour, when I know (deep down) that other cyclists will get the flak".

There are a few lights that I am forced to ignore. They don't work for cyclists. I'm too light for the pressure switch under the tarmac. So I wait until the coast is clear and then proceed. If they were out for the motorist, that is what they would do.

Some of the so called red light jumping is cyclists anticipating the lights about to change to green and getting across the junction before the main traffic starts moving. Its much safer when you are first away from a junction as you are less likely to be mowed down by a vehicle trying to immediately overtake, or turning left right in front of you. I admit to jumping occasional red lights when its safer to do so (not often), and only when the light sequence is changing from pedestrian green signal to traffic green signal ... there are no cars moving and they can all see you clearly. You MUST be familiar with the light sequence and the junction, all traffic lanes clearly visible and the junction small. NEVER jump a light that is just changing to Red as other traffic may be anticipating the change and not notice you as you cross the junction. I know ... I'm going to get flamed for saying this, but those are the ONLY circumstances I have ever jumped Red. What is really required is a Green sequence for cyclists only, so that they can cross the junction ahead of other traffic.

Whenever I see a cyclist on the pavement, I see a cyclist who has been let down by the infrastructure available to them.

I'm a 40 year old woman, a peculiarity among my friends and colleagues, the majority of whom want to cycle and admire me for being "brave" enough to do so, but they're afraid of traffic.

They also mostly consider me reckless for allowing my child to cycle on our roads.

Lets stop bickering among ourselves about this and campaign for safe infrastructure that encourages everyone age 5 - 95 to cycle without fear on our streets.

No one cares what he thinks despite his apparent "self-appointed" status.

Is he working for tfl?

A lot of cyclist might not like this but I have to agree with Mr. Snow on this one.

first off, well done to those who respect the traffic rules and don't go through red lights, keep it up. I myself don't go through red lights but there are times when I mistakenly miss judge the timing of the amber to red but then again it happens very rarely

I cycle to work everyday and the amount of cyclist I see or witness beating or ignoring the red light happens (and im not exaggerating) every single day that I go to work. I am actually wearing a head cam and im in the process of making a video compilation of these cyclist going through red lights.

Of course there are plenty of cyclist stopping on reds but there's always one who will ignore it.

Quote:

I don’t know if there are any cyclists who haven’t gone through a red light. You do not get that on the Continent.”

I don't know any car drivers that haven't gone through a red light. I don't know any that don't routinely travel above the speed-limit. But somehow you don't hear the AA spokes people flagellating and excoriating motorists.

Hey... I know! John should get some media training!

Quote:

But, he added, separating cars from bikes,

That's the underlying agenda here: segregated infrastructure. In this case the line being pushed is "we're so bad.. save us from ourselves". Now, I'm not against appropriate segregated infrastructure, e.g. adding physically divided lanes along the side of high-speed dual carriageways, but that's not what's need for the majority of cyclists who travel in urban areas. There we need:
1) drivers confined to lower speeds; 2) less drivers (I'll give Snow points for this one); 3) cyclist training in proper road positioning; 4) the police actually enforcing the existing laws against anti-social behaviour by drivers and removing the large percentage of dangerous, aggresive incompetents from the road.

I'm happy going through red lights, cycling the wrong way up one-way streets, cycling on the pavement or breaking 20mph speed limits ***if it is safe to do so*** I don't know why everyone gets so hot under the collar about it, relax a little, we're all different.

Thanks Jon for helping the cause. Not.

I thought you were the head of the CTC which promotes cycling rather as opposed to giving us a bad name.

I never jump red lights. I value and appreciate my mortality and do not want to become another statistic. I ride with clipless pedals and either do a track stand or put my foot down when I have to come to a halt.

As for segregated bike lanes - they just become glorified footpaths and routes for mobility scooters which makes them a no go for anyone who wants to ride their bike at a reasonable speed.

It would of been far better IMHO if he had commented on increasing driver & rider education (and he would not have been caught out).

< Rides in SPD shoes, and stops at red lights on commutes and leisure/fitness rides. So do most other cyclists I see around and about. And the odd RLJer, well, I just drop 'em on the next stretch. Hard.

Well here's one cyclist he doesn't know, as I cycle in London daily and always stop at red lights - include the ones solely for peds when there are none waiting to cross. But to be fair a huge number do RLJ and it pisses me off. Depends on where the light is, if at a busy junction most if not all will stop, if at a ped crossing most will go through. ime.

I suspect that part of the reason for cyclists jumping red lights is the preponderance of 'clipless' pedals. When toeclips & straps were the norm, we rode in traffic with one strap slightly slackened. SPD & Look pedals don't provide that facility. As cycling has become 'trendy' there are many inexperienced and less competent cyclists, like Jon Snow, around. Sadly they are getting the rest of us a bad name.

Two things:
Please don't call him a 'veteran' anything. Lazy style, just put his age in the story somewhere and we'll get the point that he's an old fart (too).
Secondly, the wine, the food and the weather may all be better 'on the continent', but in Switzerland where I live, cyclists jump lights the whole time. I don't, needless to say.
And thirdly - yes, better infrastructure will improve things for cyclists. But I do not believe that 'bad behaviour' leads to road deaths.