Northern California - idiots who [purposely] run red light...

I almost killed a cyclist today while driving my car. I was going to US-101 and stopped at the intersection of Ellis and Fairchild in Mountain View. The light changed green for me and I entered the intersection. This guy on a mountain bike was going on Fairchild (towards Whisman Rd.). He didn't even slowed down, just run through the intersection as he had all hell chasing him.

Luckily, I wasn't going fast. Anyway, WT..?! (sorry for the harsh language). Why anybody with even a small portion of common sense would ride through red light at full speed while there a car at the intersection? I don't get it.

(btw, it happened around 7:00 PM. so, dude, if you are reading this forum and this message, please THINK next time, because someone won't slow down or even won't see you and you will be very much dead.)

I have purposely run red lights. I imagine it's better than running one without intending on it, since that shows a lack of attentiveness. Though I don't think I've done it while aiming for a car :)

Maybe that was the problem. Are you sure he even noticed the light? Why on earth would someone blow thru a red when a car was present?

What a sick feeling when you, a cyclist, almost hits a cyclist who's ignoring the rules of the road. I feel for you...and hope the guy you didn't hit knows how lucky he is.

Whether on the tandem or half-bikes, we obey the rules of the road and stop when we're supposed to. Many time we're waved through by cars, which is fine, but at least they're given the choice. When a cyclist
blows through a stop s/he doesn't offer the cars any choice but to hit the brakes and curse the cyclist. And that's the best-case scenario.

Rule-breakers=argh!:wtf:

Maybe that was the problem. Are you sure he even noticed the light? Why on earth would someone blow thru a red when a car was present?

Probably he did. If I don't mistake, he looked up right before entering the intersection (yet I saw this with my peripheral vision only).

I see that all the time. It's like they feel entitled to be able to disobey traffic laws. Argh!
Worse is when an un-helmeted woman carrying a child on a child seat does it.

What a sick feeling when you, a cyclist, almost hits a cyclist who's ignoring the rules of the road. I feel for you...and hope the guy you didn't hit knows how lucky he is.


+1.

To a certain extent, you can't care what others think -- there are always people who will hate you for riding, or for the car you drive, or the way you dress, or....

But when you're so bone-headed that a fellow cyclist in a car (who would therefore give you the benefit of the doubt) thinks that you're a 'tard, well... odds are....

I encounter that kind of bozo almost every day while riding myself. They are a danger not only to motorists, but to other cyclists. I'm hoping that evolution and natural selection will take care of the problem eventually, as the offenders are all eventually killed off and their genes are eliminated from the gene pool. Them and the other numbskulls who ride on the sidewalk, like the guy who ran into my leg the other day. My preferred solution would be designated snipers who could pick them off one by one from tall buildings.

People who run red lights generally do it intentionally.

I encounter that kind of bozo almost every day while riding myself. They are a danger not only to motorists, but to other cyclists. I'm hoping that evolution and natural selection will take care of the problem eventually, as the offenders are all eventually killed off and their genes are eliminated from the gene pool. Them and the other numbskulls who ride on the sidewalk, like the guy who ran into my leg the other day. My preferred solution would be designated snipers who could pick them off one by one from tall buildings.

:lol:
but, seriously, you don't want to be that driver.

My personal pet-peeve is bicyclists who ride on the sidewalk, especially ones who ride on the sidewalk going the wrong direction. Sometimes when I'm running and I see one of these guys coming my way I want to push them off the sidewalk onto the street where they're supposed to be.

Children riding on the sidewalk is ok, but grown men/women take up too much space and should know better.

In SJ, I see idiots on fixed gears zooming down the sidewalks at 15+ mph. Too bad I don't use a frame pump... I would Cinzano their asses for sure :D

My personal pet-peeve is bicyclists who ride on the sidewalk, especially ones who ride on the sidewalk going the wrong direction. Sometimes when I'm running and I see one of these guys coming my way I want to push them off the sidewalk onto the street where they're supposed to be.

Children riding on the sidewalk is ok, but grown men/women take up too much space and should know better.

I don't like when I'm cruising down the road, where I'm supposed to be, and here comes a pack of school kids going the wrong way, not paying attention, and I have to be the one who goes out into traffic to avoid hitting them. Sometimes I yell and tell 'em they're on the wrong side of the road.

I am guilty of running stop signs, but not lights. I don't know if that makes it any better, but at a stop sign if you miss seeing a car coming from the cross-street at least they still have a stop sign too, not a green light where they can keep going right through the intersection.

If I am going straight through in the bike lane of a T-intersection, I don't usually stop for a light. Same if I am turning right from bike lane to bike lane.

Otherwise, I always stop at red lights.

Sometimes, though, if I don't set off the traffic sensors, I will go through.

I also sometimes take a head start on the green if I can see that there is no traffic coming, I figure that is safer on the short lights where it will otherwise turn red while I am halfway through the intersection.

For stop signs, I slow down and look and only do a full stop if there is traffic.

This is just what I do and I'm not making recommendations to anybody else.

I also sometimes take a head start on the green if I can see that there is no traffic coming

I got stopped and lectured and almost ticketed by a Santa Clara cop for doing this. It was very obvious that nobody was coming, but according to him there were other cars around, and people were expecting him to do something, and it would have looked bad if he didn't stop me :rolleyes:

2 things we need to do:

We need lights that aim for cyclists specifically. A lot of people don't see a round red dot in the sky to apply to them unless they're in a petrol-powered vehicle. Like peds, they obey ped lights, we need bicycle lights so that people will obey them.

We need cops to step up enforcement of those who violate traffic rules. That includes everyone.

I got stopped and lectured and almost ticketed by a Santa Clara cop for doing this. It was very obvious that nobody was coming, but according to him there were other cars around, and people were expecting him to do something, and it would have looked bad if he didn't stop me :rolleyes:

If there's a Law Enforcement Officer in sight, it makes sense not to put them in a situation where they have to stop you even if they don't want to.

I blew through a red light at a busy intersection on my way home today, just so I could post about it in this thread. :p

Personally, when on a bicycle, I treat stop signs as yield signs. I'll slow and let any cars through that may be waiting there, and then go. If there aren't any, I might slow a bit, depending on visibility.

Red lights are "no, seriously: yield, dammit!" signs. If I can see that the coast is clear (or if it's a light on a left-facing T-intersection, or I'm turning right), I'll go. If there are cars coming, or I can't see clearly enough to make a safe decision, I'll slow or stop.

Of course, this is the level of risk I'm willing to take. I'm not making recommendations or giving advice, it's just what works for me.

If I am going straight through in the bike lane of a T-intersection, I don't usually stop for a light. Same if I am turning right from bike lane to bike lane.

Otherwise, I always stop at red lights.

Sometimes, though, if I don't set off the traffic sensors, I will go through.

I also sometimes take a head start on the green if I can see that there is no traffic coming, I figure that is safer on the short lights where it will otherwise turn red while I am halfway through the intersection.

For stop signs, I slow down and look and only do a full stop if there is traffic.

This is just what I do and I'm not making recommendations to anybody else.

That is pretty much exactly how I ride.

If there's a Law Enforcement Officer in sight, it makes sense not to put them in a situation where they have to stop you even if they don't want to.


Yeah. Ever since then I always look over my shoulder when approaching an intersection to make sure the car behind me isn't a cop.

I'm color blind. So they all look green to me. ;)

Some of Middlefield's intersections have bicycle buttons similar to the pedestrians walk buttons. But at 5 am when there are hardly any cars on the road I really despise stopping next to the buttons to push them. So, what I've been doing is going in the middle of right lane and slowing down and making sure to run over the sensors on the roads. Sometimes the lights turn green way before I have to stop.

The only times the lights doesn't trigger for me is when I miss the sensors or the roads have been repaved and its hard to tell where the sensors are. In those cases I'll wait and run the light if it doesn't change.

I was stopped at a red light in SF the other day, with the route blocked by a barricade so this cyclist comes up behind me and said, "Keep moving!" The light was red, and I moved over, and shouted to him -- as he ran the red, "I generally like to obey the law when I ride my bike!"

I guess I just don't GET IT, when cyclists think they can do whatever they want at traffic lights/signs! Are we all racing? I am out there to get strong, so stopping and re-starting helps me achieve my goal! If you don't respect the rules of the road, why should we expect cagers to respect us?

If you don't respect the rules of the road, why should we expect cagers to respect us?

+1. I saw this idiot on a mountain bike running 3 red lights in SF today. :notamused:

Stuff like this makes me wonder if a lot of the trouble cyclist have is self inflicted.. to some extent.

Those that ride through red lights at "T" intersections keep your eyes open for a cyclist coming through the green on your left. They will most likely be swinging wide on the right side of turning cars to go into the bike lane, or right side of the road, that you're on. Wouldn't want to take out a "Bro" or "Sis" on two or three wheels.