thanks!

[handfab]

This morning I was commuting southbound on N. Vancouver about to turn right on Russell and I noticed someone had wrote on the pavement "cop" with chalk.

I was about to roll through the red light like I always do but managed to hit the brakes enough to slow down to a "roll". Right behind me was another rider who didn't stop on the red light and sure enough a motorcycle cop pulled out of the shadows stopped the other rider. pheww!

Thanks to who ever wrote the warning. I narrowly missed an expensive ticket. Sorry to the other guy got the ticket.

[Russell]

Congratulations on avoiding monetary consequences for violating traffic laws. We should all be so lucky.

[brock]

I put my safety above the letter of the law, so I've been known to roll through stops and proceed through reds in certain cases. As always, I'm hyper-attentive of my surroundings when I do.

I've always maintained that if you didn't see the cop waiting there to pull you over, you simply weren't paying enough attention, and likely deserve what you got.

[Krampus]

If your safety comes before all else, why would you decide to break the law and risk being fined? It only adds to the assumption that drivers view cyclists as feeling entitled. I would not be happy if I saw cars running red lights as often as I see cyclists doing it.

This week alone we've seen what running a red light on a bike can do. I'm sure that cyclist thought they were being attentive as well. It doesn't matter how attentive you are if other people on the road aren't paying attention.

[brock]

Well, risking breaking the law and being fined still has nothing to do with my safety... Maybe the safety of my bank account...

As to adding to the assumption that drivers view cyclists as being entitled? I'm very aware of the impression I create, but my safety supercedes this. There are plenty of situations (aka, almost all) where I do follow the law exactly. The times that I don't are when I recognize that removing myself from the situation is safer than staying there.

I'm not sure how much the cyclist you reference thought they were paying attention. Given the number of cyclists doing stupid things that I see every day, I'd speculate they are not, at least not as much as they should be. I propose that anyone getting tagged by a stop sign sting was not.

"It doesn't matter how attentive you are if other people on the road aren't paying attention." - I disagree. In such a vunerable position, it does matter that I'm paying more attention, and my attempts to remove myself from dangerous situations are based on this. If there are vehicles anywhere in the vicinity, you bet I'll be following the law, exactly because they may not be paying attention.

[jr98664]

Unless it's in the dead of the night, I'll rarely run a red light, and that's normally just the ones that I know won't turn for me. Mind you, these are normally at intersections where you can see cars for blocks and blocks away.

The problem that I encounter more often, however, and especially so downtown, is that I'll accidently run a red light when there is no opposing traffic. It's not that I wasn't paying attention, it's that I actually pay attention to other cars. Which is actually going to kill me, running a red light with no cars, or going through a green and being hit by a car running a red light?

If I were to ever get ticketed by a cop, I would simply say that I was too busy paying attention to traffic to notice the color of the light. It's kind of like gorilla suit video, except then you are asked what color somebody's hair was.

[brewcaster]

This angers me sooo much. Follow the fucking laws. You are not above them. Trust me.

[Krampus]

Originally Posted by brock

Well, risking breaking the law and being fined still has nothing to do with my safety... Maybe the safety of my bank account...

As to adding to the assumption that drivers view cyclists as being entitled? I'm very aware of the impression I create, but my safety supercedes this. There are plenty of situations (aka, almost all) where I do follow the law exactly. The times that I don't are when I recognize that removing myself from the situation is safer than staying there.

I'm not sure how much the cyclist you reference thought they were paying attention. Given the number of cyclists doing stupid things that I see every day, I'd speculate they are not, at least not as much as they should be. I propose that anyone getting tagged by a stop sign sting was not.

"It doesn't matter how attentive you are if other people on the road aren't paying attention." - I disagree. In such a vunerable position, it does matter that I'm paying more attention, and my attempts to remove myself from dangerous situations are based on this. If there are vehicles anywhere in the vicinity, you bet I'll be following the law, exactly because they may not be paying attention.

I guess I simply fail to see how breaking the law increases your safety on the roads. I've yet to read a compelling argument in favor of that sentiment.

[shnshni]

I don't think that following the law to a t lways the best thing to do. Stopping to a full stop at every stop sign, waiting until the light is green, stopping at every 4 way stop sign, completely? Come on. I come to a stop at every stoplight, but if there are no cars between my intersection and the next, no one in front or behind (no one is around) I will probably go. Similarly, if I see the other light is turning yellow, and no one is coming (I usual;y do this on one way streets, which are easier to be careful on), I may jump the light. I'm sure some of you will say I'm a crazy reckless biker. I think we all agree that blowing red lights is stupid, and being very attentive and cautious and wearing a hemlet is common sense, but where we fail to meet is considering the 'law' to be the final word, to be followed to a t at all times. For those of you (not me) who have a car, don't you drive 5 miles above the speed limit sometimes? Or roll a stop sign or a right turn at a red light? P[erhgaps you don't, but for those of you who do, minor, safe, cautious violations of the written law are the same thing.

[brock]

Originally Posted by Krampus

I guess I simply fail to see how breaking the law increases your safety on the roads. I've yet to read a compelling argument in favor of that sentiment.

Here's an example, probably the most common place I'll procede through a red - waiting in the middle of Barbur to take a left turn with a red arrow. No one in the immediate vicinity. Wait there for the light to change, and soon two lanes of 50+ traffic buzzing by on either side of me. Go when no one is around, I'm not there when the cars come.

I know you guys read my post and immediately imagine me as some scofflaw, probably the one you saw just the other day that pissed you off so much. But that's not me. Life's a little more nuanced than that, sorry.