This is what I end up doing, and at the stop signs it usually ends up being a 1-2 second stop/track stand. At lights I put a foot down.

Well put, thank you LetzRide. Excellent first post.

Enuff with the sanctimonious hot air and PC "stuff" from the old hands of BF who apparently can't view the traffic situation at any intersection, no matter what the sight lines are, without slowing down, stopping, and/or waiting for permission from inanimate objects.

I would add that waiting or even slowing down for imaginary traffic, or complying with traffic signals/signs at empty intersections in order to be Dudley Do-Rights isn't necessary for staying alive, it is also a waste of time when cycling and detracts from the pleasure of cycling.

When I want to play at being a lawful motorist I use my car.

If some pious/anal cyclists get their pleasure from waiting at empty intersections and proclaim themselves the standard bearer for righteous cycling, good for them; but they are fooling themselves if they think they are earning some sort of brownie points from the public for themselves or for cycling in general.

:D

Anyone have any popcorn?

I stop for red lights, its better that way.

I don't generally pretend like I'm in a race, so I usually have no issue with waiting for a light. Unless its down town at night and it's just not changing.

Obviously, you didn't click on any of the links--the links answer your questions.
The links indicate a problem in my city with SOME officers "running red lights" though they are not responding to a call. My issue with your response: you assumed I was in the way and inhibiting law enforcement. I also can provide the link (a judge in my town) has recently decided--police officer's can no longer ticket for running red lights.

Nevertheless, I won't continue to confuse you with facts.

:)

Applause. Applause.
My god, the self-righteous indignation and pointing fingers at salmoners, red light runners and on and on is suffocating. Are they deliberately trying to diminish the enjoyment of cycling? I am already on edge staying aware of negligent car drivers but now other cyclists waving cycling statutes in my face.
Don't make this more difficult.

Arrive alive.

I don't know if this was aimed at me, or not, but... Here's my two cents.

If the intersection is totally empty and there's a clear line of sight for a good distance in that scenario going through a red might be possible but I still don't, and it's very rare that I encounter an empty intersection here and most don't have as good of a line of sight as I'd like to consider doing so safely.
Many times I've been waiting at an empty intersection and seen cars going well over the speed limit come out of nowhere and blow through the intersection or make a fast turn (they do have the green light and right of way, so, fair enough they aren't expecting cross traffic). Sometimes they're doing this on a yellow, I've seen people speed up to race through instead of stopping. These experiences and others have led me to consider it better to feel a little silly waiting for nothing to happen than to take a chance.

It's not so much a PC issue for me, it's a defensive/staying alive position that I maintain, it only takes one powered vehicle that I didn't see to take my pleasure out of riding by running me down. If I'm out enjoying a ride, stopping a minute for a red light certainly isn't going to ruin it for me. It's an opportunity to take a drink from my bottle and catch my breath.
Sure, sometimes it happens that I waited there and nobody drove through and nobody saw me patiently waiting my turn, and nobody cared but me. Personally, I don't mind. Take your chances, and maybe you'll be fine too and probably will be in most cases, but when I'm riding on the road I follow the rules of the road.

If you choose to wait for green lights and make full stops at empty intersections with clear lines of sight, in order to avoid collisions with vehicles that come from nowhere, so be it.

If I had a similar fear of collision with vehicles coming from nowhere I wouldn't feel safe from these magical vehicles even with a green light, or after a full stop, or anywhere else while cycling; with the rules of the road or without them.

Cars do go through intersections here at 100km/h+ and it's fairly hilly. If I can't see as far as a car can travel at that speed in the time it would to take me to cross the intersection there's no point risking it. It has nothing to do with magic, I just make it a point to be never be in that much of a hurry unless it's an emergency. I also never trust drivers to be paying attention or behaving safely and you may find it silly, but this kind of defensiveness has saved my bacon many times.

Here's some direct quotes from those links you claim I didn't bother reading:
"In Coral Springs, 128 police and fire vehicles from several agencies have been caught by the city's red-light cameras since Aug. 15. All but five were dismissed because their emergency lights were on when they went through the light."


"Most officers running red lights are doing so because they're on a call, McHugh said."


"The town started fining all red-light runners in September. So far, only one officer in an unmarked unit from South Bay has been ticketed, Engle said."


"Since cameras came to South Florida about two years ago, cities have been wrestling with how to handle violations by cop cars. For the most part, each one is reviewed and ultimately dismissed if the officer was on a call or responding to an emergency."


"McCurrie (in a squad car) was going straight through the intersection of Northeast 56th Street and Dixie Highway when Meyer was making a left turn; both had green lights, but Meyer did not have a green arrow." Which means the officer actually had the right-of-way with or without lights or siren and the person you'd like to paint as a "victim" actually caused the accident.

So - please - don't confuse YOURSELF with any more 'facts'. Your post is starting to look more like a troll post all the time, and providing links to this kind of information and imagining it backs up your claims of police abuse just makes you look more and more like a basket case.

And let me quote you: "My issue with your response: you assumed I was in the way and inhibiting law enforcement."

According to your own post you WERE in the way. Which explains why (as per your original post): "a police officer approached in a marked squad car, blew his "horn", turned on the sirens and did the microphone/intercom thingamajig at me. That intercom thing was LOUD. He yelled, "GET OUT OF THE WAY! NOW!"

But yeah - if your posts here are any example - I can see where that might confuse you.

Makes sense because you can see that the intersection is not empty or your vision is blocked enough to create doubt about the presence of approaching vehicles; your earlier posts indicate that you would wait at an intersection regardless of the presence of other traffic until you got the go signal from a traffic light.

In NYC we now have a few intersections designed for bike, cars, and peds, but mostly not. So I prefer to proceed safely through the light rather than be there when it changes to green and all hell breaks loose. Better for me, better for the cars.

In the UK I stop at red lights, if I want to cut past a line of traffic I hop off the bike and walk it along the crossing instead. It isn't unusual to see cyclists going through red lights here although it can be risky when people coming through green lights don't expect to see people coming through the red light.

John