Originally Posted by Rob_E

I've been doing our local CM ride for a few months now. It's a lot of fun, and I think our group does a good job about trying not to be too disruptive. The route is often mainly on multi lane roads, and we try to stick to the right lane to allow cars to pass. If the head of our pack gets to a light that is red or yellow, we stop. But we do continue on through lights that change while we're in the process of going through them. I have mixed feelings about this, but I tend to go along with it. I realize we are breaking the law, but I also realize that, as far as disrupting traffic goes, several small groups of bikes with cars trapped in between them probably creates more hazards than one big group. And several cyclists stopping after an intersection to wait for their group to catch up with them would also be disruptive to traffic and illegal. Since the purpose is to ride together, and the consequences of breaking up the group are at least as disruptive as running the light to stay together, I've made my peace with that aspect of CM.

On the other hand, I disagree wholeheartedly with the OPs generalizations that CM participants believe they have a right to ride illegally. I think they have a right to assembly, and the traffic violations are a side effect of exerting that right. And I don't find that the Critical Mass ride does anything to encourage people to ride illegally in other situations. When riding solo or in a small group, I always obey the traffic laws as much as possible (there's always a few lights that won't change for me, and I do admit to going by stop signs if I can see that no other vehicles are going to be in the intersection at the same time), and I routinely see other cyclists doing the same. It may be that it's different in other areas, but my feeling is that when someone sees a cyclist breaking the law, it sticks in their mind, and when someone sees a cyclist obeying the law, they have nothing to get upset about, so the incident does not stick in their mind. As I cyclist, I notice all the other cyclists and notice whether they are law-abiding or not. I find that the vast majority are behaving as they should, but even with me, the girl on the road bike who seemed perfectly comfortable riding in traffic and waiting at the stop light this morning will soon fade from memory, but the idiot riding in the bike lane going to wrong way and making me swerve into traffic to avoid him last month will stick with me. So I can easily see how the idea that cyclists are mostly law-breakers could get started, but I also don't think that it's actually true, and it would be great if cyclists in particular could try to avoid spreading that particular myth.

For me, Critical Mass is about asserting our right to be on the road and about making the public aware that a sufficient number of cyclists are on the road. It's not about breaking the law, but that's not to say that an occasional law does not get broken. Also it's just a fun ride.