Cyclist Blowing a Red Light on Google Street View

I came across this image while investigating a bicycle route to Daley Plaza.

And these are the cyclists that give other cyclists a bad name. We can't have anything nice in the City with someone ruining it for everyone else.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Zumwalt on June 17, 2014 at 1:28pm
And if you can find me running a green light from Sheffeild onto Lincoln about 2 weeks ago I waved to the google maps car.
Permalink Reply by Davo on June 18, 2014 at 9:57am


I agree with what you have to say but what is the difference between cyclists blatantly disobaying and motorists bending the rules. It may just be semantics but it seems like motorists are more allowed to do this than cyclists. I don't know of your exact experience but we need to equate any blatant or bending of the rules the same for cyclists and motorists. I have yielded and then went through red lights but when I see a group of cyclists stopped I have noticed that I am more likely to stop. I feel that in a few years we will see less cyclists running red lights as there are more and more out there that obey the rules of the road.  

Jeff Schneider said:

Most people (whether they are driving or cycling) bend the rules as far as they think they can without causing harm.  While cycling we have much less (though not zero) potential to cause harm by bending the rules, which I think encourages us to bend them more.

In a typical day, I spend a couple of hours driving and similar amount of time cycling.  What I see is that cyclists blatantly disobey the rules of the road more often, but drivers make bad judgement calls when they bend the rules, and this much more often causes someone to be endangered.

My preference is to stick pretty close to the rules of the road as both a driver and cyclist.  I just feel safer doing that.

Finally, if you get into the mindset (as either a driver or cyclist) that you need to be outraged by the bad behavior of others, you will be angry ALL the time.  I can't live that way.

Permalink Reply by Davo on June 18, 2014 at 10:40am

Im a newbie driver and I see cars double parked and blocking intersections all the time. Is this the norm, I feel that it is ok to do this since I do what others do.

Jacky Chau said:

I am a newbie biker, and I see other bikers run red all the time.  Based on the responses here, I guess this is accepted by most members here, which is a shame.  

When a car driver runs a red, everyone knows he's breaking the law, and he will be ticketed if he was caught.  But when bikers do it, they are setting an example for beginner bikers that it's ok to run a red and that there's no consequence.  I wish there are "bike cops" in the city that can hand out tickets to bikers that violate rules of the road.

Permalink Reply by J.P. on June 18, 2014 at 2:20pm

I don't see *any* cyclists who consistently obey red lights. (And I mean, not a single one) I am riding down Wells from Oak to the Loop every morning. I don't see anybody obeying red lights, unless they absolutely have to. And what kills me is, we all know it. I wish we would stop pretending it isn't so or make some lame excuse along the lines of 'well, this  motorist parks in a bike lane, so I am going to run red lights". What are we, a bunch 5 year olds?

(before somebody jumps in, it's not only on that short stretch of Wells - that just was an example, it's everywhere on Clark, Division, California)

By the way, calling for the Idaho rule is a load of BS. Most people who run red lights, don't even come to a stop, which the Idaho rule requires.

Permalink Reply by Reboot Oxnard on June 18, 2014 at 10:33pm

But nobody (at least not here on thechainlink) says, "what an idiot" when they see a cyclist doing something like this. Instead, the response is usually more like, "no harm, no foul" or "Idaho stop." Or, more specifically, "Yawn."

Why is it that if we see a cyclist behaving bad 'we all get a bad name', yet when a motorist breaks the law people say 'what an idiot' and move on?

Permalink Reply by Michelle Milham on June 19, 2014 at 1:38am
That's not true.

I talk about how people blow red lights like idiots when cars are coming all the time.
Jumping busy left turn arrows is particularly dumb.

But I do believe in Idaho stop, and I believe that bikes should be able to go at t instersections. And therefore, this case doesn't bother me, and I don't feel its a big deal.

As for cars in bike lanes: that reflects bad on drivers because the laws, including bike lanes, have been totally and entirely designed to keep THEM safe, and yet they flaunt them at the expense of our safety and sanity. Whereas for us, the laws often don't aid our safety or ability to ride (see: stopping EVERY BLOCK at stop signs is exhausting and unnecessary when no one is there, which designers would know and not expect if they had ever ridden a bike before.)




Reboot Oxnard said:

But nobody (at least not here on thechainlink) says, "what an idiot" when they see a cyclist doing something like this. Instead, the response is usually more like, "no harm, no foul" or "Idaho stop." Or, more specifically, "Yawn."

Why is it that if we see a cyclist behaving bad 'we all get a bad name', yet when a motorist breaks the law people say 'what an idiot' and move on?

Permalink Reply by Simon Phearson on June 19, 2014 at 3:09am

J.P., I don't know when you're on Wells, but I can look out my office window right now and count maybe about a dozen cyclists down a half-mile stretch of Wells, standing at stoplights. During rush hour proper, it's much more dense, and likewise many more cyclists stop at the lights. I'll agree that light-running is more common in the earlier morning hours (when I typically ride on Wells), as it indeed is throughout the rest of the day (when traffic volumes are generally light). But I think your experience must be very limited, if you're confident that no cyclists consistently obey red lights on Wells. 

J.P. said:

I don't see *any* cyclists who consistently obey red lights. (And I mean, not a single one) I am riding down Wells from Oak to the Loop every morning. I don't see anybody obeying red lights, unless they absolutely have to. And what kills me is, we all know it. I wish we would stop pretending it isn't so or make some lame excuse along the lines of 'well, this  motorist parks in a bike lane, so I am going to run red lights". What are we, a bunch 5 year olds?

(before somebody jumps in, it's not only on that short stretch of Wells - that just was an example, it's everywhere on Clark, Division, California)

By the way, calling for the Idaho rule is a load of BS. Most people who run red lights, don't even come to a stop, which the Idaho rule requires.

Permalink Reply by Simon Phearson on June 19, 2014 at 3:11am

This is an utterly bizarre comment, given that many commenters have said exactly that - including the OP itself. Unless they're all just your sockpuppets, Reboot, I think you might be exaggerating a bit.

Reboot Oxnard said:

But nobody (at least not here on thechainlink) says, "what an idiot" when they see a cyclist doing something like this. Instead, the response is usually more like, "no harm, no foul" or "Idaho stop." Or, more specifically, "Yawn."

Why is it that if we see a cyclist behaving bad 'we all get a bad name', yet when a motorist breaks the law people say 'what an idiot' and move on?

Permalink Reply by Chitown_Mike on June 19, 2014 at 10:13am

Is it different if I think that but don't type it for fear of being flamed?



Reboot Oxnard said:

But nobody (at least not here on thechainlink) says, "what an idiot" when they see a cyclist doing something like this. Instead, the response is usually more like, "no harm, no foul" or "Idaho stop." Or, more specifically, "Yawn."

Why is it that if we see a cyclist behaving bad 'we all get a bad name', yet when a motorist breaks the law people say 'what an idiot' and move on?

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