Red Light. Stop!

It's an old debate, but one that always comes up when you talk about cycling in a city. Cyclists feel at risk from the vehicles around them and pedestrians feel threatened by those on bikes. Despite my rants about people stepping off curbs, and I'm sure there will be more, I think cyclists have a duty to ride in a way which doesn't endanger anyone else.

There are inconsiderate people on all sides and the way forward is to co-exist. Just as i don't want to have pedestrians step in front of me, or be squeezed to the curb by a car, then more vulnerable people on the street need to feel safe where they are. This means not racing across a pavement and killing pensioners, it means obeying the rules of the road, and sticking to where you're allowed to ride.

As a mountain biker I know the issues with riding where you can. Riding where you're legally allowed to, (ie. not on footpaths) means you protect the right to ride there and present a law abiding and reasonable image which is useful if you want to extend the access you're allowed. Appreciating why the rules exist brings more respect. The same goes for riding the roads, using pavements and attacking pedestrians paints all cyclists as a menace and will only lead to a backlash. In the same way terrorising people using zebra crossings or crossings with lights controlling them doesn't make cyclists look like they have any respect for other road users. I was pulled over by the police a while ago for going over a zebra crossing as someone arrived at it to cross. I was in the right but they were extra jumpy as they'd had to deal with a cyclist barely missing a small girl with her mother earlier in the day. Save yourself and other cyclists the hassle and ride sensibly.

This includes red lights. Time and again I see normally responsible adults shoot through them on bikes, breaking the law where they wouldn't dare in a car. I know they're annoying, and they hold you up, but they still apply. Don't add fuel to the fire of people who think we're irresponsible by proving them right over and over again. Across the world it's not always who you'd expect to be running the lights, either, take this story from Australia, for example. On the streets of London as well it's often not the cyclists in cycling kit who run the lights, but people in street wear, just drifting along and seemingly unaware of the red light. Maybe if we all stopped drivers would respect the bike islands at the front of the queue and we'd all be safer.


Straight Through on Red


If all of that is too much to think about and pedal at the same time then Cytronex have the answer with a bike that means you only have to pedal occasionally and will power you effortlessly up hills and still look like a normal Genesis or Cannondale. Maybe that simply means people going through red lights even faster, and I’m not sure if I approve of people being able to Nitro-boost past me when I’m pedalling hard. It’s like the Fast and the Furious. On bikes.

A