Are cyclists who run red lights a menace? Feat. Oritsé Williams & Daisy McAndrew | Vanessa

More than half of cyclists say they do it in London… but the problem is not confined to the nation’s capital! Do you want to scream and shout at cyclists who charge through crossings? Or do you think there’s no harm if they’re careful?

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Are cyclists who run red lights a menace? 020786222. That’s the number. More than half of London cyclists do it. That’s according to a new survey. I think I saw loads of them doing it on my way into the studio this morning. I was driven right through um Regent’s Park. There are tons of cyclists. You just see them. They seem to appear from nowhere. It’s quite an amazing site. 16% of them say they do it regularly despite the risk of a 50 fine if they get caught. They blame poor road design and lack of dedicated traffic lights for bikes. Of course, it’s not just a London problem. It’s all the way around the country. There’s a good chance you’ve been using a crossing when a bike has come speeding through it. But if a cyclist is considerate and careful, maybe you don’t mind them slipping past a red light or do you think it’s unforgivable? If you’re a cyclist, why do you do it? What are you doing it for? Uh, do I don’t know if you’re a cyclist. I’m not, but I have seen cars put pressure on cyclists to kind of get out the way at red lights, especially around Westminster. I’ve seen I’ve seen that a lot where they’ve where it’s a red light and they’re beeping the cyclist cuz they as they don’t want to wait for the cyclist to start moving once it goes green. So, I just feel like and also I mean we’ll all be lying if we didn’t say we’ve kind of you know been through a red light or two in our I mean you not on purpose not on purpose not on purpose but you know we’ve all kind of just missed missed the the amber. Oh, this drives me absolutely insane when cyclists do and and as you said, they seem to be doing it more and more. And I just think you are so vulnerable, you the cyclist, you’re also putting other people in danger. You blatant disregard for the rules of the road. You’re not paying to be on that road, you know, unlike the rest of us who are paying our car tax and whatever else it might be. And and you just think that the rules don’t apply to you. And and I’ve had plenty of friends who’ve been knocked off their bikes. Um and so I know how vulnerable they are. And you just think a you’re putting yourself in danger, but also, you know, if there was a motorist who wasn’t doing anything wrong and ends up knocking you off, how traumatized they’re going to never get over it, would you?
You know, dreadful. You see all these, you know, those white ghost bikes that you see around who which in commemoration of people that died and you see and it really brings it home how dangerous it is and I just think you absolute idiots, stop it. Rick, we were going to hear from you on this. I am a cyclist and I do take my kids to nursery on the back of my bike. Uh I do also drive but not as much. So I kind of see, you know, both sides of the story. I’m terrified uh when I’ve got the kids on the back. So I do take um low traffic neighborhoods. I take cycle paths when I’ve come. I’m just naturally worried, but it makes sense for me to cycle much more than it does driving because traffic in central London is absolutely awful. So, I take it as safe as I can. And I’m going to admit on on your show that I do go before it’s gone green.
And explain why.
Well, because if I have two seconds, I stop at red lights.
That absolutely I stop,
but I go just a couple of seconds before. Sometimes you have your own bike late uh bike light lane, which gives you a couple of seconds, but I’ll just go a couple seconds before. In case some truck comes quickly, takes the corner at the same time I’m going, it gives me those two seconds when I know the traffic is crossing the other way, has stopped to get out there and get someone to notice me before I go. So, you think it’s safer? It’s it’s it’s just a pure safety procedure for me that I go a couple of seconds early.
All right, let’s bring in my caller, Claire in London, who really has personal experience of this situation. Claire, I’m so sorry to hear this. What happened to your son? Um he was crossing the road on a green van and um there was like a white van parked waiting to go at the lights which it should have been there wasn’t breaking the law. Um, and basically a guy came up the side of the van and jumped the red like jumped the red and hit my son on the green man um breaking his leg in two places. That’s awful.
Oh gosh. So, what’s your take on this conversation then, Cla, with your son with a leg broken in two places? I mean, you must have very f firm views on this, I’m sure.
Um, yeah, very. because I think it’s I think cyclists need to be insured. Um cuz there’s nobody held accountable for it if like who who can you claim from? So in in our situation um the guy was actually on an electric bike which was going over 50 mph.
Oh gosh. um which was actually an illegal one because some are legal and some are illegal. Um but had it have been a legal one, he wouldn’t be able to get any like insurance claim or anything unless the um bike rider actually has insurance themselves. and and and I and I mean everyone’s always suggesting the idea of um you know bicycles being registered in the way that cars have registration plates because at least that way you know riders are tra
electric bikes should be registered and so should scooters. I I feel like one of there’s a there’s a big difference here between someone stopping at a red light and going a couple of seconds early at the end and an electric bike doing 50 mph like CLA says down a cycle path or a scooter as I constantly see them in big cities in Manchester and Liverpool going the wrong way down a cycle path. It seems to be completely lawless out there for the for these for this bit of kit. They’re supposed to be trial in various cities across the UK. These trials have gone on for years. Can we actually have some decent law, some decent legislation and some decent punishment and people out there, police out there policing these bike lanes and taking these electric scooters with illegal engines who are knocking people over and hurting people like Cla’s um son or daughter, sorry, don’t know his son. and and actually get a grip on this because I feel like in some ways it’s the cyclists who are kind of being punished for much of the problem I see now is the people who’ve got these electric bikes who are just breaking the law and nothing is done about it.
Let’s talk to Mike who’s in Kent. Let’s see what he’s got to say. Mike, what do you think about this? Um I am against anybody really that is allowed to go on the roads um without having any sort of um training um passing their um you know what the highway
code test or any other test I mean that’s a valid point
and they’re not insured they’re not taxed and as much as I understand the cyclist who was on just now about taking two seconds to go early because he felt it was safer.
If I was on my motorbike or in my car, if I did the same thing, I would get penalized.
Mike, can I just point out on that there is a separate line. Yeah, I mean the thing is I don’t feel that these cyclists are trained or governed properly and they need to as your speaker just said there needs to be something out there.
Vanessa, can I just clarify that point though?
In in many of the big cities in the UK, cyclists have a separate light and it gives you two seconds. That’s supposed to happen so you can get away before everybody else. There is a separate bike light on the side. Some of the crossings simply don’t have these.
So I I’m just doing what I would do if there was a separate bike line.
Let me go to Sandra. She’s on the line in London. Sandra, you’re seeing incidents with cyclists often in your area.
Yes, I do.
There’s a few times that I’ve been out with my granddaughter who’s got medical problems. She’s not well and we’ve gone cross the road like the lights changed and we’ve just stood out and his bike just nearly hit us and it’s been like three or four times and it’s happened with my daughter when she’s taken her out. It’s really bad around here. There is bike lanes. Sometimes they use them, sometimes they don’t. But it’s when they don’t stop at the lights, it’s the worst thing. I had one bloke when I was crossing the road. He actually stopped and I said thank you to him because he stopped and let me go past and I thought that was really nice and it’s one out of hundreds that I’ve seen on on the roads in London.
Um I just wanted to come back to S’s point but also what Mike was saying before about training because I have a a motorbike license, full motorbike license. I had to pass my test. You’ve got a motorbike license. So, you know that we got taught defensive riding and I see, you know, and so you’re constantly taught everybody on the road is going is trying to kill you. That is basically what they teach you. Every door on a parked car is about to open. You’ve got to make sure it’s your responsibility to make sure you’re out of the way. You’ve got to assume that everyone on the road is an idiot. And and it’s a completely different method of teaching. And I just think cyclists need to be taught that as well because any idiot can get on a can get on a bike and take off. You don’t need any sort of what Mike was saying. Anyone can do it.