On 16 Jan 2009 at 2:38pm geoff wrote:
Dave, when you whizz through red lights illegally, you are not only putting pedestrians at risk, who expect a road to be clear of all fast moving lumps, but you also risk ploughing into a car that you haven't seen, coming the other way.
A friend of mine was one of those unfortunate drivers. he was driving a large slow moving vintage car, into which the cycle was embedded, after the rider flew over the top, he lasted a few minutes lying horribly injured sprawled in a pool of blood on the other side, before dying in front of my friend. My friend can't forget the look of inevitable disaster in the face of the rider, as he passed within inches of the wind screen.
Now I don't really care if Darwinism weeds out intentional red light ignoring idiots who think they can see everything on the road in all directions, but my poor friend is now permenantly haunted by the experience, as is his wife who was with him, and their friends in the car behind, who had an even better view of the whole grizzly event. The inquest, family, and all concerned agreed that it was a text book case of cyclist being at fault, which is of little compensation to my traumatised friend who even put himself at risk trying to avoid the collision.
Ride how you like, even take a whole load of risks when you aren't endangering anyone, but red lights apply to everyone, for everyones safety and well being, and if your life is as great as you say it is, I fail to see why a few stationary seconds at a red light should be a problem.
On 16 Jan 2009 at 3:32pm Andrew Richardson wrote:
Well said. Going through red lights is not a good idea, as your story shows.
I'd actually argue that traffic lights are a pretty bad idea full stop. Ever noticed how a junction where the lights have failed usually flows better than when the lights are working? The lights take away the responsibility of people looking and making sure the way is clear and defer it to a magic light which doesn't actually stop anyone at all.
On 16 Jan 2009 at 4:10pm Defender of the Realm wrote:
Well said Geoff - It's a shame that such an extreme example of cycling idiocy has blighted your friends life. Dave will argue that he is the most cautious conscientious person on the road and no danger to anyone. This is because he is blinded by the light that shines from his 'arris. This will hopefully make him think twice in future. Better a tit at a traffic light than a dead tit on the tarmac.
Andrew - Traffic lights are essential, can you imagine no lights at the Prison or the bottle neck by the Brewers? Have you got an example of any the junctions that work better without them?
On 16 Jan 2009 at 5:41pm Annette Curtin-Twitcher wrote:
The prison lights were out quite recently, the queues were shorter and there were no accidents afaik.
I used to drive from Croydon to Brixton every day, and one morning the traffic jam in the last mile or two of the journey was non-existent. The traffic lights at the big junction in the centre of Brixton had packed up, and everyone was just driving carefully and taking turns to cross the junction.
For most of the week, my journey was much quicker, until Friday, when the traffic was worse than ever. There was a police officer controlling the traffic at the junctin, and causing a huge tailback in all directions!
On 16 Jan 2009 at 10:07pm Daves wife wrote:
Has anyone seen Dave. he hasn't arrived back from work and his teas getting cold.
On 16 Jan 2009 at 10:27pm chav wrote:
Dunno mate but has anyone lost a bike wheel and a size 9 trainer? I found them in the front of my Peogeut 106 sri
On 16 Jan 2009 at 10:45pm john wrote:
Anyway why is he concerned about looking like a tit? He cares more about that then possibly risking someones life?
On 16 Jan 2009 at 11:54pm juliet99 wrote:
yeh whats up with that? he would look more like a tit if he caused an accident.
On 18 Jan 2009 at 4:05pm Andrew Richardson wrote:
Pevensey bay (there are now traffic jams there when there never were before), Polegate roundabout (they turned these off after about 2 weeks, then only turned some of them back on, and these are pretty pointless). Watch what happens when these "essential" lights fail from time to time. Most of the time the traffic flows better.
On 18 Jan 2009 at 4:59pm Smiler wrote:
Andrews right.
I remember the prison lights and the the lights at the top of Station st. being out and the traffic never flowed so well.
In fact every time I've come across traffic lights that are not working the junctions have always been clearer.
I think they are mainly there for pedestrians rather than motorists.
I could be wrong, it has happened.
On 20 Jan 2009 at 2:19pm Andrew Richardson wrote:
In my simplistic world: wherever there's a pelican crossing, replace it with a zebra. Wherever there's a traffic light, chuck in a roundabout or a regular junction. Wherever there's a health food shop, replace it with a pub.