When logic and proportion have fallen sloppy dead

[venta]

This morning I went through a red light on my bike.

I don't usually do that. Even though at the junction in question the traffic flow often means it would be safe to do so.

What was worse was that I pulled up to the line and stopped. On a green light. When it changed to red, I went. I was over the junction and off at the other side before I realised that that's not how these things are supposed to work.

I did subsequently successfully negotiate several more sets of traffic lights in a rather more conventional way. But still. Aaargh.

I have no idea what my brain was thinking.

Comments

[exspelunca.livejournal.com]

It patently wasn't (since you don't suffer from Daltonism).

[venta.livejournal.com]

Well indeed :(

I wait for further evidence of my clearly-vanishing grip on reality.

[erming.livejournal.com]

Sounds like you are just becoming used to cycling in London where it is quite rare the gits stop at red lights instead choosing to try and mow down any pedestrians trying to cross. Likewise those that think 20mph on the pavement and expecting people to get out of the way is a good idea.

[venta.livejournal.com]

I think you'll find most London cyclists don't stop at green lights. I (normally) stop assiduously at red lights. I also rarely cycle in London (my bike lives in Reading).

I do cycle on pavements, but only because quite a lot of the pavements in Reading are shared use pedestrian/cyclepaths. Not that the pedestrians acknowledge this in any way, so I mostly end up trundling along at walking speed anyway.

[erming.livejournal.com]

That is true, most people don't stop at green lights unless they are a good driver and don't think they can make it across the junction by the time the lights change. And that is pretty rare for someone to do that.

If a pavement is also a cyclepath then fair enough, just lots aren't in London.

Reading is quite a nice place at times, but walking around showed that there are a couple of nasty hills there. Mount Pleasant? springs to mind on the way to the uni.

[sushidog.livejournal.com]

I once pulled up at a red light (in my car), and waited patiently for it to change to green. Then a police car pulled up behind me (lights still red), and I went.
Obviously I got pulled over, but they were nice, and didn't charge me or anything.

[venta.livejournal.com]

I always wondered what would happen if I was pulled over for doing something illegal and used the excuse that it was a temporary moment of madness/forgetfullnes/etc. There've been a few occasions when I've realised I've done something really strange when in a car and been very pleased nothing bad resulted/no police were around.

I feared that "I went temporarily insane" would actually land one in more trouble than "I was in a hurry so ignored the light"!

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

If you were just pulled over for it, you could probably get away with it, as long as you looked like you were fairly sane¹ the rest of the time.

I suspect though that if you caused an accident during such a moment, the court might take a less friendly view.

---

1 Where by "you" I don't mean you, of course, but "one" :-)

[d-floorlandmine.livejournal.com]

You too? [grin] I thought I did that, but it turned out that the light had actually been green when I pulled off, and I was panicking about nothing. They'd pulled me over because one of my brake lights was faulty.

Although I have stopped at green lights on completely empty late-night junctions before.

[ulfilias.livejournal.com]

Hey we all make mistakes. Glad you are here to feel the embarasment of being a numpty !

[huskyteer.livejournal.com]

I have done exactly that on a motorbike, but luckily there wasn't a traffic light camera (or anyone for me to plough into).

Also: the White Knight is talking backwards, and the Red Queen's 'Off with her head!'.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Also: the White Knight is talking backwards, and the Red Queen's 'Off with her head!'.

They are indeed, one kudo to you :)

[huskyteer.livejournal.com]

I think that's my very first!

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

You were thinking "yay I can walk across the road now". I used to often do the reverse when there's no traffic around and find myself walking down the road a bicycle width from the kerb.

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

Do adjust the tenses in that comment to make sense as you read it, sorry...

[venta.livejournal.com]

Yes, I did wonder about that. In general, though, that applies to traffic lights at ninety degrees to the direction of travel rather than ones pointing right at you.

Either way, it's a worrying development and one I hope won't become a regular feature :(

[lnr]

Yes, I was going to suggest this was a possibility. I have occasionally had to stop myself doing exactly the same thing when cycling through a junction that I often use as a pedestrian. The sound of the pedestrian crossing beeping to say "go now" sometimes triggers me to want to set off even when it isn't a crossing I've used on foot.

Thankfully I mostly catch myself before setting off through a red, but I've definitely stopped for a green more than once. Although in some cases I think it's partly that the light is *usually* red when I reach the junction, and I'm just operating on autopilot.

[damerell.livejournal.com]

Last time I did it I was riding on the wheel of someone else who was making a fairly safe path through London - but not, as it turned out, a legal one.