From the Trib via the Washington Post: Why Cyclists Blow Through Red Lights

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Permalink Reply by Filka Bean on June 29, 2015 at 1:02pm

This article: "Forty percent of [cyclists] charge across a red light intersection, according to one recent study."

But the linked study says (my emphasis): "We conducted a national survey — the results of which were published in Accident Analysis and Prevention earlier this year — in which 2061 cyclists were asked the following question:  When you are riding do you stop at red lights?  The majority (63 per cent) said yes, while over a third (37 per cent) said they had ridden through a red light at some time when they were riding.

Next someone will quote the Post article saying "nearly half of cyclists routinely threaten the well-being of pedestrians and motorists by willfully disregard traffic signals..."  Grrr!

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Permalink Reply by Maurice on June 29, 2015 at 3:06pm

I'd never "blow" a red light, which I read as "completely ignore or ride through without slowing down."  I rarely see other cyclists do this either.  I'll admit to Idaho stopping if there's no traffic, which is often the case when I ride home at 11pm on a weekday.  The article seems to unreasonably conflate these things.

 

Blowing a red light is extremely dangerous, and I shudder every time I see a cyclist or motorist do it.

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Permalink Reply by Jeremy on June 29, 2015 at 4:15pm

I often wonder how much commercials with cars are to blame for driver angst.  Most commercials show cars driving with no other vehicles in sight (think about the Lexus commercial where the man is fixing his upstairs neighbor's leaky faucet).  I think some people see these commercials and feel like they are missing out on some utopia where they never wait at a stop light or never have to circle looking for parking.  Any delays in real life, and frustration builds.

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Permalink Reply by Filka Bean on June 30, 2015 at 2:04pm

bikeyface's "myth of the open road" is a pretty classic take on that...  I think you're right.

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Permalink Reply by Filka Bean on June 29, 2015 at 5:02pm

Checking out all of the "references" in this article (which were almost all misleadingly quoted, I think) and the reader comments took me to this thoughtful article about driver perceptions.  The author concludes that cyclists are feared because we're "new" for a lot of pedestrians and motorists...

https://medium.com/cycling-in-the-city/why-bikes-make-smart-people-...

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Permalink Reply by Mike Zumwalt on June 29, 2015 at 9:32pm

Same reason drivers do, so they don't have to wait at the light. Also crossing a large road the signals aren't timed for bikes,so you're 2 lanes into crossing Western,Wacker... or waiting in 6 corners and since you're already in the intersection you must proceed.

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