lilHinault

I was tooling along at about 19mph on Evelyn, and ran a red light, it was one of those t-intersection things in mountain view, and I was on the closed side of the T, so no potential car interference BUT.... a pedestrian stepped out to walk on the crosswalk there, and I almost hit her! If she'd been aware of me and froze, I probably would have.

I just want to make one thing perfectly clear: I suck.

Moral: It's not just cars, there can be pedestrians "hiding" behind the lamp post, the light and crosswalk may be there for a REASON, at the very least slow the heck down and look around!

Man I feel bad.......

red house

Nah..-she shoulda been on a bike

heckflosse

Just curious?
If it was a car which jumped the red light and almost hit you would you have had the same attitude and said you where 'hiding'?
Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't stop lights there for a reason? Shouldn’t you always STOP and not “at least just slow down"?

tippy

What exactly do you feel bad for? For almost hitting a pedestrian or for violating a traffic law? or both? Seems to me that your post is trying to warn people to watch out for pedestrians "hiding" but says nothing about the potential cause of the incident ... a driver in/on a vehicle ran through a red light.

If you are presented a green light at an intersection, do you wait for the cross traffic to stop before proceeding into the intersection or do you assume they will stop because they are supposed to when they have a red light. If you were presented a red light then the pedestrian might have assumed that you were going to stop (or they could have been daydreaming and not paying attention).

Where I ride, cyclist blow through red lights and stop signs all the time. I don't. People look at me as if I were green. Some even get confused when they see me stop. Either way, I make every attempt to obey the traffic law.

d.tipton

dobber

Were you participating in a Critical Mass at the time?

lilHinault

Yes stopping is the best way. No, I was not participating in Critical Mass at the time lol.

Roody

Will "feeling bad" make you consider changing anything about the way you ride? Doubt it.

red house

geez...kick a man when hes down

Roody

Bet he's feeling better than the ped he almost mowed down.

cheebahmunkey

wow, you guys really are being harsh. I try and follow all the laws myself but I have to admit, when it's a -l intersection and the light is red (assuming the shoulder is oversized) I don't always stop. I mean if the light just turned before I got into the intersection I'll porbably go through. However, if it's been red and there are cars backed up I'd probably stop along with the cars. So sue me. I stop at stop signs, I pull into a parking lot if I'm holding up traffic, I stop at red lights, I let anyone who is going faster than me pass. But if I or the OP doesn't stop at a -l red light, we're horrible people? Give me a break.

red house

I refer to; "I just want to make one thing perfectly clear; I suck" He is remorseful...this is not the sentiment of a wreckless person...however, we all get wrecked sometimes, -and do things we hopefully live to learn from, yes?

-but more importantly, whats a cheebahmunkey?

lilHinault

This is funny, I was walking across the street today and heard something like a car, and looked, and it was a family, 5 people on bikes, riding along. I said, "The five of you sound like one car" and got smiles.

Helmet Head

I run reds at T intersections, but I do so in a similar mode as when I pass stopped cars on their right... at a slow speed and with a plenty of caution. In particular, I'm always looking for "hidden" peds.

my58vw

I have one of those annoying itersections of my commute, and it is right on the top of my only real "climb" of the route (well almost at the top). On my giant loaded I am doing about 12 MPH. I never see people walking on the right, I am looking to the left to avoid the cars making a left turn... very close to me, expecially when I am riding VC... at that point I usually move over to the right anyway.

On a bike we can not watch anything, and even if the light is green a ped can get in our way, but since it takes me 10 - 15 seconds to cross the large intersection at 12 MPH I am bound to run the red... oh well. Personally (not to sound cold) I would rather hit a ped than get hit by a car anyday.

BTW wrong way cyclists are more of a problem on my route than PEDs will ever be.

I-Like-To-Bike

Does the "looking" provisio make such behavior "lawful" for vehicle operators in California?

[Added Edit] I assume that the correct answer is no, it is illegal behavior. Is such presumably illegal operation of a vehicle considered "VC riding" by those who would like to measure the phenomena? If yes, who makes the determination about which illegal behavior is "VC riding" and which illegal behavior is only for non-VC riders?

tippy

If in violating a traffic law no ones safety is jeopardized, then no, you are not a horrible person. If by violating a traffic law (running through a red light in this case) and some ones safety IS jeopardized (..."I almost hit her" ...), then yes, not stopping (when you are supposed to) makes you a horrible person.

The OP glossed over what should have been very prominent in his "moral" and that is: the light and crosswalk may be there for a REASON. The truth is, they ARE (not may be) there for a reason.

d.tipton

lilHinault

Bingo, short of stopping dead etc I think this is the way to do it.

Roody

I have nothing against running lights IF you can absolutely see traffic (or rather, lack of it) AND IF there is no place for pedestrians to be "hiding." Obviously, this was not the case in the OP or little eno would not have "almost hit" a ped. Sorry, but he should feel bad.

I-Like-To-Bike

I agree with you about nothing against running lights IF you can absolutely see traffic (or rather, lack of it) AND IF there is no place for pedestrians to be "hiding."

But would you call that illegal behavior "VC riding"?

lilHinault

And as I pointed out, I DO feel bad. Spot-on, Roody! There's a telephone pole and a light pole, or light pole and sign, I forget, but yeah it can kind of hide someone, and there are office buildings there and it's people leaving those buildings to walk across the street. A lot of t-intersections are wide open and you can see where everyone is, this isn't one of them.

pakole

Look, we all know the laws. Bikes are consider vehicles, and thus should abide to traffic law. If you do not follow them, do not follow them. If you do, thanks for making my streets safer. Just don't rationalize why you follow this rule, but not this one. Laws are to assist with establishing order and keeping people safe, not restricting people's freedom. I stop at almost all lights. The only times I do not stop is when I am late similar to a person in the car. I am willing to tak ethe risk of the ticket, but I would rather follow all the laws.

Roody

No.

But then, you're the only one who insists on categorizing people as "VC" or "not VC." The rest of us don't worry about your labels. We're just trying to figure out the safest way to ride our bikes.

John Wilke

I'm curious ... what's the beef with stopping for a stop sign or red light? Too lazy to put your foot down? Then practice your track stand. Afraid of running late? Then you'll be practicing your acceleration, or work on your timing.

Having just spent 2 weeks in the hospital ... trust me it's no fun for you or the person you clobber.

John Wilke
Milwaukee

PaulH

I stop at all red lights, regardless of whether any other bicycles, cars, or pedestrians are visible. I also can't understand why anyone would blow a red light.

Paul

chipcom 

In Ohio, all bicycles are required to follow the same laws as motor vehicles. I'd wager that these folks who don't care about traffic laws on their bikes, giving us all a bad rap, also don't care about them when in motor vehicles and are dangerous to all of us as well.