The Chainlink

Red light etiquette

This has happened to me a number of times already this year on a number of different streets with bike lanes.  I'm riding in a bike lane approaching a light that has just turned red.  A car is turning right, which limits the space for bikes and cars going straight.  I slowly approach the red light, only to be passed by cars speeding up to get to the red in front of me, leaving me very little to no room to get between the car turning right and the car going straight.  Why do cars insist on doing this??  Why, when the light is red, do cars not just slow down, allow the biker to get beside the car turning right??  Speeding up to get ahead of cyclists at red lights makes no sense.  

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Permalink Reply by Vitaliy on May 6, 2013 at 7:43pm

Sometimes cyclists arent supposed to be the first ones to accelerate when the light turns green. I often wait behind 1-4 cars while still in the bike lane, this is just the nature of the traffic.

Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio on May 6, 2013 at 7:46pm

With the Dearborn bike lanes, this is a conversation we could be having about bicycles only!  With the weather getting better I find myself in "traffic" on the Dearborn lanes waiting for a red light and cyclists passing the stopped bikes.  I think David Barish has the right idea no matter what.

Permalink Reply by Tominator on May 10, 2013 at 1:47pm

One thing I know NEVER occurs to cyclists: what's wrong with NOT going to the front of the red light and just lining up behind traffic like another vehicle?

If cyclists want to be treated like "just another vehicle" then we should act like "just another vehicle."

I'm not saying I do this all the time either but it's not a bad way and is probably the safest.

Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio on May 10, 2013 at 1:55pm

I am not much of a cyclist, but sometimes I do line up behind cars at red lights because it seems to be the safest thing to do.

Permalink Reply by Mark Potts on May 10, 2013 at 2:05pm

Whoever is in front gets to decide, if someone drives like an ass to get in front they are in the wrong.  This goes for any vehicle.  Impatience leads to a life of problems, as does selfishness... as well as not paying attention to the world surrounding - and most of the time this is the problem for both sides.

Permalink Reply by WillG on May 10, 2013 at 2:57pm

The problem I see with stopping at a light 'behind traffic like another vehicle' is that I am not guaranteed to be seen by all drivers when this happens. Yes, the drivers BEHIND me have seen me, but the ones ahead and, most dangerously, just slightly ahead and to either side in another lane, may not have. One of these drivers that has not seen me might mistake the gaps in cars where I am as simply an empty gap, and accelerate into it (and me) when the light changes to green. I have seen this happen once or twice.

I believe that this is the reason cities like Portland have adopted the 'green box' approach to intersections and cyclists. Cyclists are allowed to filter up through traffic and occupy the green box in front of the automobile traffic.

Advantages of filtering up through stopped traffic included NOT being passed immediately prior to or inside of an intersection which are THE MOST DANGEROUS places for a cyclist and the places in which most accidents occur.

Also, if we're discussing urban riding, cyclists are often faster than the cars anyway, at least that has been my experience, particularly during periods of heavy congestion. The last thing I want to do it sit behind a bunch of cars inhaling the exhaust. I will make it to the next red light ahead of the automobile traffic anyway, at which point I will filter to the front and repeat the process again.


Tominator said:

One thing I know NEVER occurs to cyclists: what's wrong with NOT going to the front of the red light and just lining up behind traffic like another vehicle?

If cyclists want to be treated like "just another vehicle" then we should act like "just another vehicle."

I'm not saying I do this all the time either but it's not a bad way and is probably the safest.

Permalink Reply by Gort 12-mile Pinklegneep on May 10, 2013 at 5:33pm

It is impossible for cyclists to act "just like another vehicle" because we are physically incapable of being that dangerous and oblivious. 

Permalink Reply by Mark Potts on May 10, 2013 at 10:42pm

Cyclists can absolutely be dangerous - see the case where a cyclist killed a guy in San Francisco goin for a Strava KOM.  I've personally had my oblivious moments just as well - and have caused dangerous situations for myself and others - both on bikes and in cars!

Its certainly a two way street.

Peenworm Grubologist said:

It is impossible for cyclists to act "just like another vehicle" because we are physically incapable of being that dangerous and oblivious. 

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