0 comment Thursday, July 24, 2014 | admin
I'm now a full half-year into my little "never run red lights" experiment, and starting to waver a little bit. The more bicyclists I see on the streets this summer, the more I realize that I'm in a very small minority of people who wait for green lights. I mean, I think if I were to sit at an intersection and keep track for a few hours, I would guess 95 percent of cyclists I saw would run red lights.
Of course, sitting there on my top tube at all those red lights, I've had some time to think about all this. I wonder where we get the idea that it's okay for us, cyclists, to break the law. Is it because we figure we deserve it? Maybe it's like the speed limit, which a very small number of drivers actually obey. Maybe we see everyone else doing it and assume we're an exception to that one traffic law. Maybe we know cops don't care if they see us running red lights in broad daylight (from my observations, they don't). Whatever it is, I'd like to know.
Why do you, or don't you, feel like it's okay if you run red lights?
I'll go first: I stopped running red lights because I think it might, in some tiny way, build a little respect for cyclists, and cut down on some of the animosity motorists feel towards us. I notice every time there's an article about cycling on RockyMountainNews.com, the comments section is full of non-cyclists whose No. 1 complaint seems to be the fact that we run red lights. I'm not real convinced it's doing anything at all, but I feel like I'm trying.
Of course, sitting there on my top tube at all those red lights, I've had some time to think about all this. I wonder where we get the idea that it's okay for us, cyclists, to break the law. Is it because we figure we deserve it? Maybe it's like the speed limit, which a very small number of drivers actually obey. Maybe we see everyone else doing it and assume we're an exception to that one traffic law. Maybe we know cops don't care if they see us running red lights in broad daylight (from my observations, they don't). Whatever it is, I'd like to know.
Why do you, or don't you, feel like it's okay if you run red lights?
I'll go first: I stopped running red lights because I think it might, in some tiny way, build a little respect for cyclists, and cut down on some of the animosity motorists feel towards us. I notice every time there's an article about cycling on RockyMountainNews.com, the comments section is full of non-cyclists whose No. 1 complaint seems to be the fact that we run red lights. I'm not real convinced it's doing anything at all, but I feel like I'm trying.
Labels: Discussion