One way to get flattened
 

After a nice ride to Saint Paul and back needed to get some dinner for the kids. So we pile into the van and are waiting at a red light; two cars in front waiting to go straight. The light turns, the first two cars go, I start to go through the intersection and a cyclist zooms right in front of me. Not only ignoring the red light but also decided it's smart to do that in between a line of cars at a short light.

Death wish extroadinaire?(not you, the guy you saw)

He's lucky you were paying attention.

Makes all those rim/disk - cable/hydraulic discussions seem irrelevant.

There are several threads where red light runners explain why their judgement is better than anyone else's and that's why they don't need to stop.

Coming home tonight about 1/2 hour ago, it's dark but my headlight's on, came to a four way stop first. I stopped and then went to go through but a car coming from my right blew that stop without even slowing down. On a bicycle you MUST maintain situational awareness at all times.

Cheers

Oh Dear God, please, not another red light scofflaw shaming thread. Must I point out the obvious, that in no post thus far has a red light runner been killed or even injured! The majority of red light runners manage the issue of their safety and longevity a darn sight better than the mass of conformists that get t-boned, doored, right hooked, and other manners of roadway mischief. Get off my pip and sell salvation to the self-righteous toadies that need it.

Perhaps people who have died doing it don't post for some reason.

My (clarified) point is that no one posting here can say that they have seen a red light scofflaw receive their comeuppance. I was specifically talking about this thread, so far, but I could pull back and take in a wider spread of A&S and Commuting forum threads over time, and for all the talk about how dangerous red light running is supposed to be I have yet to read a single eyewitness account of a fatality or serious injury because of it. OTOH there are endless first, second and third person accounts of serious injuries, and worse, of cyclists that were "following the law". Seems obvious to this writer as to how I should comport myself when among the caged ones. Banzai!!

I got hit after I ran a read light. Fortunately, I wasn't badly injured (or killed).

When I lived in Toronto, Canada I saw a number of red light/stop sign running bicyclists get hit. i saw a LOT more auto accidents those scofflaw bicyclists caused as cars tried to avoid hitting them. 99% of the time the bicyclist causing the accident took off.

Running red lights/stop signs can be dangerous to all road users. I'm talking about those idiot bicyclists who don't even bother to slow down at red lights/stop signs but just blow through in the hope that everyone else will yield to them.

Cheers

You didn't mention if you had to slam on your brakes or not? I make that move all the time. When the light turns green for crossing traffic, they don't all go at once. The first car goes, a gap appears behind them, then (at last) the second car starts rolling - leaving a gap behind them. Then the third car starts moving and so on. If any of the drivers are looking at their phones the gaps can be many car lengths between vehicles. A savvy city cyclist can see these gaps forming and hit them at speed. My buds and I even call the gaps "cellphone gaps". I hit them on a daily basis and never make the crossing traffic react to me. So....

...If he made you smack your brakes - shame on him. If you didn't have to do anything at all - how did this hurt you??
.
.
.

You were way too easy on him. I don't expect to get the truth from people who get worked up about stuff like this. I also find it difficult to find credible anyone who really thinks that there are cyclists who maliciously fly through intersections at speed , expecting cross traffic to react in a way that ensures their safety. That crap only happens in action movies and it takes several takes before they get something they can put in theaters. In real life if you sail at random into an intersection against the light in areas built up enough to need controlled intersections, you will be killed. If, however, you have made a note of the progress of cross traffic towards the intersection and plotted their arrival at same against your own, you have excellent chances of making it across with no disruption to the orderly flow of vehicle traffic. Why this needs to be said, I don't know. This need that some Americans have to control the behavior of others by shaming, by blackmail, and if those fail, by violence or even murder is distressing.

Go int the business sections of Toronto, Canada and watch a) the bicycle messengers and b) the don't know what they're doing bicycle commuters and you'll see many of them at riding speed whilst running red lights and/or stop signs. That crap does NOT only happen in movies.

Cheers

I don't think @Leisesturm meant it NEVER happens as related to real life cyclists running red lights. I took it to mean that - like in a chase scene in a movie - when the stunt drivers are running red light after red light at speed without any regard to the wants, needs, or safety of crossing traffic - THIS would be impossible if not perfectly scripted, timed, directed, and implemented by trained pro drivers. The very thing that many people right here on BF claims cyclists are doing - "blowing" through red lights without a care in the world, and without looking, only could happen in a movie. Cyclists who would do such a thing in real life would be killed the first week, and I am sure some of them do meet that fate.

The vast majority of the rest of us know what we are doing and aren't afraid to go when there is no chance of affecting other road users - other than damaging their tender sensibilities - which, obviously, we don't really care about.
.
.
.

I actually pay attention to the lights and the cars in front of me so I tend not to leave a gap. I tap on the gas as the car ahead starts to roll. I didn't say this hurt me, I said it's a good way to get flattened. Some people I know punch the gas pedal pretty hard on green and if I did that he would have been rolling in the road. Luckily I accelerate gently and as he flashed into my peripheral vision I was able to use my brakes normally.

Just because you do something stupid doesn't make not a good idea for everyone else. At the University students ride in the dark without lights going the wrong way on a one way and ignoring stop signs. I'm sure they avoid cars 99.99% of the time and when they don't it's their own fault.

Ignoring a red light in active traffic is stupid.

If you had to react then the cyclist is a jerk.

Ignoring traffic anywhere outside of a strong building is stupid.

Have you ever been honked at from behind because the light just turned green? Those are the type of people would have flattened that cyclist.

Just because risky action has not yet resulted in negative results does not mean that the risk is diminished. A lot of drunk drivers and texters use that kind of logic to justify how good their driving is as they continue doing those things.

When a light turns green I wait a second or two before entering the intersection - just in case a red-light runner is there too. A number of times that extra second or two has saved me because indeed there was a red-light runner there.

Ditto for stop signs. I come to a stop and check all ways before going into the intersectio with my fingers on the brake levers just in case a stop sign runner is coming. A lot of red light or stop sign intersections don't have good sight-lines but in many cases that does not stop the red light or stop sign runners. Again, I'm talking about the ones who blow through without slowing down.

Cheers

Me too. When operating a car.

A bicycle is an entirely different creature no matter what "they" tell you. It is possible, on a bicycle, for a skilled and focused rider to break all the rules and live a long and happy life. I started at 15 and I am 58 now. Never been touched by a car at a traffic signal. My only rule is to avoid DEPENDING on the reaction time of any motorist. When I run a red light there is more of a chance of being struck by a meteorite than a car. I am not looking for meteorites.
.
.
.

You know those detective series like "Murder She Wrote"? Didn't it ever strike you as strange that one person would see so much murder up close? I mean... you go on vacation to relax, and the total stranger in the next room is killed in grisly fashion... you visit a foreign city to attend a Private Detective conference and the convention organizer winds up dead the night before they are due to present their latest paper on Forensic Psychology...

I slow for most intersections, and also stop for far more in Portland than I ever did in NYC. The intersections I am confident about and plan to run I do not slow down for! What would be the point? To an observer, it might look like I blew through without slowing down... because I did. It was as planned as anything else I will do that day. For those intersections with bad sight lines or traffic light patterns that are unfamiliar I will follow the letter of the law. It works well this balance of caution and recklessness, you should try it. Bike messengers do not get paid to watch the hair on their arms grow at long interval traffic intersections. They hustle because they must. You aren't paying them, why are you bothered?

I have not seen a car run a red light here in a while. Weeks. Where do you live that drivers are so criminal? Toronto? Surely not. The vast majority of drivers and cyclists alike are quite law abiding and conservative. It really pings my BS detector when posters like you rant about the rampant scofflaw culture that you (incorrectly) perceive as being the case. BS!!! Total BS. You cannot use the limited area served by bike messengers in NYC, Chicago, D.C. and Philly, (and Toronto... who knew...) as being indicative of the conduct of the mass of vehicular cyclists. But many do. A driver sees a cyclist saunter through a dead intersection and its a whole culture of lawlessness that must be corralled.

You will join us and exercise your right as a cyclist not to squander the inherent advantages given to you by God of low mass, low impact and extremely small footprint. There is much more likelihood of you being converted to the Dark Side, than that any current scofflaw will become a letter of the law goody goody. I suppose though an accident might bring about a sea change in behavior... until then, however... Banzai!!

Pretending one case = all cases is poor logic.

:)

:thumb:
.
.
.

Thanks for keeping your speed down, so that near-misses stay misses.

My father's house cleaner witnessed a fatal electric scooter vs car accident on the way to work. The scooter is very similar to a bike so this is relevant:

The scooter was at a red light waiting to go straight. The car was approaching from the perpendicular direction, also going straight. The accident occurred through a combination of the scooter starting too early (the lights here have countdown timers) and the car failing to stop for a light change. Obviously someone was running a red, because the the rider was t-boned at high speed by a car which was accelerating to squeeze through the end of its light cycle. In her own words:

"I saw the rider get hit. He struggled for a few moments, but then his belly swelled up dramatically (from internal bleeding) and he ceased to move".

---

The moral of this story is a) whether you are driving or riding, don't run red lights; b) even if it's your green, look both ways before you cross, because you never know when some inattentive driver is going to come around and end you.

You sound young. Hopefully you'll grow a brain before you become this guy. I don't know you and I have zero interest in convincing you or changing your mind. Your actions are your own responsibility. Good luck.