Originally Posted by
noglider
See if you can find out what the local culture is and what law enforcement is like. The police started to give tickets to cyclists for running red lights a couple of years ago. But it's a big city, and the police can't be everywhere, so most people don't stop at lights most of the time. I'm a very cautious cyclist, so I go slowly at red lights, and I'm careful (1) not to inconvenience anyone with right of way and (2) not to scare anyone. But I do break the law. Enforcement is very spotty. I have even broken the law in front of cops in hopes of getting stopped, but I haven't been stopped yet. I even once rode while drinking from a beer bottle. Nothing, but there were no cops around at the time…
Let me say to folks in the western US who think what I describe is deplorable. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. You have no idea how chaotic things are here. We have a different attitude towards law and order here. Your way works for you. Our way works for us.
My cycling habits are similar to yours (Boston vs NYC), and I have once been stopped for running a red light, though at 6AM On a Saturday in a leafy suburb (going down the famous
Heartbreak Hill on the Boston Marathon route). The officer gave me a warning, and was actually gracious about it, doing it for my own safety.
Unlike you, and not intended as a criticism, though I could likely get away with running a stop, I won’t do so in the presence of a cop, just out of respect.