Running Red Lights & Pedestrian Cross Walks

I am a casual commuter bicyclist. I ride to work down Milwaukee via my bike or the 56 bus. (Bucktown to West Loop)

One thing I notice during my commutes is that at certain "T" intersections 19 out of 20 bicyclists will not stop at the red light and pass through it. It doesn't matter if there are pedestrians at cross-walks or incoming traffic. Some will not even slow down.

Personally, it drives me crazy. I find it to be completely irresponsible, dangerous and discourteous at these times of day. It wouldn't concern me as much if it was not during rush hour. However, we are talking about people trying to use the crosswalks and cars attempting to drive normally and merge onto busy roads.

Example:  Milwaukee & Wabansia - This intersection has 2 crosswalks across Milwaukee. It has a day care & public library. Foot traffic is high with parents/kids/strollers and commuters. Bicyclists do not stop even if there are people crossing or traffic coming onto Milwaukee. I have seen them swerve around strollers and disregard any safety concerns. Personally I have almost been hit once, saw 2 near collisions with strollers and people held up from crossing because of a stream of unconcerned bicyclists.

Example:  Milwaukee & Noble - This intersection has one highly used crosswalk across Milwaukee. It is by a school with a lot of student pedestrians (with a crossing guard) and a good amount of senior citizens. Again, Bicyclist run this red all of the time even if there are people crossing. Personally, I have seen near collisions with groups of students, 3 seniors and cars making left turns.

If this was a rare occurrence I wouldn't be posting. In fact, this issue alone prompted me to create an account and post at Chainlink.

I want to understand WHY people think this is okay and don't think it is a danger to themselves and others?

Why can't they stop?

Why do they not care about the safety of others?

Why do they not care about the rules of the road?

The mindset is what I'm looking to understand. Right now I just think they are selfish a-holes who value their time/safety/space more than others. On days with near collisions I even get angry to the point of yelling. (I saw an old woman missed by nearly 3 inches. [http://abcnews.go.com/US/bicyclist-us-guilty-vehicular-homicide/sto...])

I want to be proven wrong and have an understanding of why this happens.

Thanks,

KZ

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Alex Z on August 2, 2013 at 8:57am

What do you think about running the red when going SB on Milwaukee at Elston?

Permalink Reply by KidZero on August 2, 2013 at 9:04am

I stop at all red lights on my ride down Milwaukee even during non-rush hour.

I personally think that the laws the should be obeyed, but understand people who run reds during off hours when there are no peds and traffic.

I don't understand how people will run them during times with high foot, bike and car traffic.

Alex Z said:

What do you think about running the red when going SB on Milwaukee at Elston?

Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on August 2, 2013 at 9:07am

Sounds like we have a similar commute. I am disappointed by the general disregard for pedestrians' right of way.

KidZero said:

I stop at all red lights on my ride down Milwaukee even during non-rush hour.

I personally think that the laws the should be obeyed, but understand people who run reds during off hours when there are no peds and traffic.

I don't understand how people will run them during times with high foot, bike and car traffic.

Alex Z said:

What do you think about running the red when going SB on Milwaukee at Elston?

Permalink Reply by Duppie on August 2, 2013 at 9:09am

Same reason as why you see drivers yapping on their cell, or pedestrians cross streets with their face buried in their cell-phone: We have a) internalized that our actions are safe, or b) decided that the rules do not apply to us.

While it may be frustrating to see this behavior, keep in mind that you are responsible only for your own actions. Not the action of others.

 

Permalink Reply by SlowCoachOnTheRoad on August 2, 2013 at 9:27am

You seem extremely upset about this (enough to open an account and post).  I can think of several reasons: a) you are worried about all the near-misses and concerned about potential accidents; b) you are less familiar with the use of biking transportation and don't understand what you see; c) you wish you could drive the same way as those you are upset about (I think this is called reaction formation, when you take on the opposite feeling as the one you originally feel because that one is too threatening to acknowledge); d) you are not really a casual commuter bicyclist but someone pretending to be so you can take on bikers here on the net (maybe you already take them on with your automobile); e) when you see laws broken, no matter which, it really upsets you (this is what Lawrence Kohlberg called Stage 4 morality - it goes up to 6 - the kind in which rules and laws must be followed without question).  My guess is you are just concerned about the safety of others, but also you want so much to be the honest citizen that when others aren't, it pisses you off ("why do I bother keeping so meticulously to the rules when others so flagrantly disregard them?").

The best answer I can come up is that most biking behaviors were acquired from experience.  People on the south side are more paranoid than people on the north side - they each have different expectations about safety, neither are inherently right or wrong, they both respond to different situations.  Most bikers will at least stop at red lights and only move on if there is no cross-traffic at all.  Incidentally, the law does state that bikers must stop at red lights, so we all should, but once we've done that, we should take other factors into consideration: a) it is an advantage to stay a bit ahead of cars so you can place yourself sufficiently to the left that they don't take advantage of you and thereby jeopardize your own safety; b) stop signs are not even stopped at by cars - also about 19 out of 20 (as you stated about bikes) slow down but don't actually stop, so bikes do the same, they brake a bit as they approach and if there are no cars coming across, they just move on; c) bikes can see traffic in all directions better than cars so the decisions they make are often more informed; d) the Wicker Park neighborhood probably has the greatest proportion of cocky white people who think they are oblivious to danger and more narcissistic (but I speak of a greater number, not of all residents, obviously) - but would that not also be because of their age?  Have you considered that most teenagers and young adults also are more sure of themselves, and to a degree that makes them more vulnerable to bad decisions and consequences - so this could also be a matter of human development that has been well studied by psychologists.  But you are right, we all see bikers who make bad decisions and many of us are not always pleased about them.  It is like the anarchists at a protest who go around smashing windows because they are not privy to democratic decision making and give the protest a bad name - they think they are free but really they are behaving like the Black Shirts in Nazi Germany.

So, don't necessarily assume all bikers are irresponsible, however we all have to be careful on the road if we don't want to be another statistic.  And that is going to mean being aware of how cars will take advantage of you or even hate your existence, and that may mean sometimes taking over the lane or biking in an assertive way.  But I do agree that the more responsible we bike the better the name we will give ourselves.

Permalink Reply by Joe Schmoe on August 2, 2013 at 10:22am

....and we mentioned the Nazis as well. 

Permalink Reply by Jason W on August 2, 2013 at 10:42am

Seems like there are a few in this thread...

Permalink Reply by Cheryl on August 2, 2013 at 11:14am

I commute on Milwaukee every weekday and see a lot of the same behavior as KidZero. Is every bicyclist behaving that way? - definitely not. But there are quite a lot of them out there, to the degree that I am often concerned about getting rear-ended by another bike when I stop for a red light or stop sign - which is really something I shouldn't have to worry about!

Taking a practical approach to T intersections, etc while yielding to peds in the crosswalk is one thing and I don't have any issue with that. Not even slowing or pausing to yield right of way is another thing altogether, and not behavior I can excuse or condone.

Permalink Reply by Elizabeth M. on August 2, 2013 at 11:17am

I hate it when bikes run that light! I take Elston to Milwaukee and I can't tell you how many close calls I've had with other bikes running through that light when I have the green. 

Also, as someone who spent her first 5 years in Chicago as a pedestrian I can tell you what KZ describes happens ALL THE TIME. My encounters with bikes as a pedestrian was one of the main things that had me terrified of trying to ride a bike in the city. Even now that I have conquered that fear I find I have more close calls with bikes than I do cars. I understand not stopping and sitting at every single red light. But there is a staggering number of people out there who don't even appear to pause to consider who has the right of way. 

Alex Z said:

What do you think about running the red when going SB on Milwaukee at Elston?

Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on August 2, 2013 at 12:01pm
we don't get tickets.... and we assume since we are not a car that we can Dodge peds or vice versa.
Permalink Reply by Elizabeth M. on August 2, 2013 at 12:07pm

It's the vice versa that is troubling. Why should pedestrians have to worry about dodging bikes when they have the right of way? 

Julie Hochstadter said:

we don't get tickets.... and we assume since we are not a car that we can Dodge peds or vice versa.
Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on August 2, 2013 at 1:29pm

Good question.

Elizabeth M. said:

It's the vice versa that is troubling. Why should pedestrians have to worry about dodging bikes when they have the right of way? 

Julie Hochstadter said:

we don't get tickets.... and we assume since we are not a car that we can Dodge peds or vice versa.

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