London Banter - View Single Post

Nick Cooper 625 · October 19th 04, 01:09 PM posted to uk.transport.london,uk.rec.cycling

Jon Senior wrote in message .. .
In article ,
says...
Normally, when a pelican crossing is on a pedestrian cycle, the traffic
stops to allow pedestrians to cross the road.

The above statement comes across as a little naive to me. Certainly the
crossing outside my flat often bears witness to drivers approaching with
wheels locked because they didn't notice in time, or simply driving
straight through on red.

The cars had stopped, the
"little green man" was green, and the audible indicator was beeping.
Cyclist came up inside a bus, where he couldn't be seen, and zoomed
straight past, utterly ignoring the three facts mentioned above.

As someone once pointed out. Every other driver could be a red light
jumper and you'd never know because it only takes one car to block them.
The same is not true of cyclists so you tend to see the real proportion
of people who believe that the law doesn't apply to them.

Not just a river in Egypt....

There is a five-way junction outside Lambeth North Tube station, which
I use as it's the closest to where I work, and so have to negotiate
it as a pedestrian at leat twice a day. Despite the heavy traffic, I
genuinely can't recall the last time I saw a motor vehicle jumping the
lights. Cyclists jumping reds or avoiding them by swerving onto the
pavements, though, are virtually a daily occurance.