Originally Posted by EnigManiac
I have always found this issue to be curious. Yes, I see many cyclists blow stop-signs and even red-lights when there is no crossing traffic, particularly in quiet residential areas. I rarely or never see cyclists---even messengers or kamikaze riders---blow red lights when there is traffic. But at virtually every intersection I see, at least two and sometimes as many as four or five cars race through when the light has just turned red or has been a solid red for a second or two. Yet, the carping is about cyclists? It doesn't make sense to me.
A trend that I am seeing in Denver is to completely blow by traffic and run the red light in front of a line of cars. I'm seeing it every day - not just an isolated incident. Some people will run a red light by passing a line of cars on the left at 30 mph (it's a steep downhill) and turning right in front of them as they wait for the light. It does nothing for the rest of us other then make us targets when the motorist see us on the road.
I confronted one moron who had filtered to the front of a group of cars (I stopped behind the last car in line as always). When he got to the light, he looked to see if there was cross traffic (there was) and then darted across the street. When I told him that he was supposed to stop for lights, he told me that he had...he just didn't have to wait for the light to change green. Thanks loads, buddy!
This has sever consequences too. A 14 year old was injured on Wadsworth (a very busy 6 lane arterial with turn lanes - about 80 feet wide) when he blew a stoplight at an intersection. He was probably just following the lead of other cyclist that he'd seen doing the same thing.