congokid wrote:
police or traffic-light cameras. It's rare to see cars go through red
traffic lights (I see maybe one every couple of months)

That's odd. I used to see motorists drive through red at virtually every
junction on my commute to work from Fulham to the West End. Every day.

Yes, I have to say that at a junction you will see people accelerate on
amber (even though there's nobody behind them) or jump red. However,
you may get one car or perhaps two but after that, it sorts itself out.
This is why red light cameras are such a good idea, but surprisingly
rare compared to speed cameras.

When it comes to cyclists, they go through red at any time. Even if the
lights have been red for 10-20 seconds, and this is what makes it so
much more dangerous especially for pedestrians.

Cyclists will also ride the wrong way on a one way street (so a
pedestrian may not even look, although common sense says you should)
which a car would only do by mistake in 99.9% cases I'm sure. Cyclists
will also turn left/right on a straight ahead only junction, which
again puts pedestrians at risk. A car must give way to a pedestrian
when turning into a side road.. you try crossing if a bike is coming
your way (at best you'll be called a blind c**t, at worst they'll try
and clip you).

So, while a car jumping lights may well be far more dangerous IF they
hit you, I think on the whole it's the cyclist that is more likely to
come into contact with a pedestrian. You can usually tell if a car
isn't going to stop, while a cyclist will often slow but then go ahead
anyway. If a car is braking (i.e. the car is dipping) I'd say it's
unheard of for them to suddenly accelerate through you as a bike
would/does.

For anyone not clear, I am talking about London (inner and outer) and
hope it isn't like this throughout the UK. If it is, god help us all
and how did we allow it to get like this?

Jonathan