Sometimes when I mention I am a cyclist, somebody will go off on a rant about how “entitled” cyclists think they are, and how they don’t respect the rules of the road. To hear them speak, you’d think almost all cyclists completely ignore the rules of the road. That has not been my experience at all. And I’ve just found an infographic that shows some actual research to prove it!
When commuting by bike, I feel as if the biggest danger to me is caused by motorists coming out of side streets in quiet areas and simply running the stop sign. This is especially likely if I am the only person on the street they are entering. Most often, they simply don’t even notice me. But sometimes they will see me and actually speed up to run the stop sign – presumably so they don’t face the horrible fate of being “stuck” behind a cyclist, and thereby wasting a few valuable seconds of their time.
On the other hand, when I bike commute at rush hour, I notice that most of us cyclists are obeying the rules of the road.
When I bike commute at rush hour, I notice that most of us cyclists are obeying the rules of the roadIn my experience, when a cyclist does jump a red light, it’s an exception, and he or she is often the object of disapproving looks from other cyclists. In any event, Transport for London conducted some research to see how many motorists and how many cyclists jumped red lights. Based on their findings, they concluded that “most cyclists are angels” and that the vast majority of accidents at intersections were caused by motorists failing to stop at red lights. You can see the details in their infographic below.
It’s good to get some objective verification of my perception that very few cyclists jump red lights! Note that if you click on the infographic, it gets larger. (It also takes you away from my site, which is too bad. Please come back soon!)
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