Should cyclists stop at red lights? Why do we feel such a strong urge to keep rolling? Should our behavior be guided by the law of the land or the laws of common courtesy? What would Isaac Newton and Thomas Aquinas have to say about the matter? Bringing their expertise to a discussion of the physics and philosophy of cyclists and red lights are Nigel Warburton of the Open University, the popular Philosophy Bites podcast and author of several classic textbooks on philosophy and Mark Miodownik, head of the Materials Research Group at King’s College London and writer and broadcaster.
Red light means go (or does it?)
December 15th, 2009 by Jack · 11 Comments
Tags: Advocacy · People · Podcast · Road safety · Science
11 responses so far ↓
1 Should cyclists stop at red lights? A debate on The Bike Show « Adelaide Cyclist // Dec 16, 2009 at 4:57 am
[...] December 15, 2009 Should cyclists stop at red lights? A debate on The Bike Show Posted by anguskingston under cycling, urban Leave a Comment via thebikeshow.net [...]
2 Doddsy // Dec 18, 2009 at 8:46 am
Its dangerous to expect cyclists to wait at red lights and take off with motorvehicles.
Using red lights to avoid the danger that is motorvehicles is the safest urban cycling practice (especially joining in with pedestrian crossings to turn right instead of waiting in the middle of busy intersections).
3 Colin Garnett // Dec 18, 2009 at 10:43 am
Having just decided to cycle into work as I attended a staff Christmas party last night and didn’t want to risk driving. I can inform you that cyclists shouldn’t jump red lights as the police in Barrow-in-Furness are clamping down on this.
I ended up getting stopped and recieving a £30 fine for rolling slowly across a red light junction.
The problem though isn’t the police, it’s their lack of awareness of what is dangerous. Perhaps they need to spend a few days on a bicycle rather than sitting in Volvo’s eating do-nuts.
4 Jack // Dec 18, 2009 at 11:10 am
@ Colin: With the greatest respect, if you didn’t see the police that nabbed you, it shows you probably weren’t sufficienty aware to jump the red light safely! Consider it a £30 lesson in cycle training!
But I agree that the police response here is probably disproportionate to the danger posed by you slowly running the light.
5 Jumping red // Dec 18, 2009 at 5:43 pm
[...] bike show (on Resonance FM) had a really interesting discussion about jumping red lights a few nights ago- I’m not particularly interested in the arguments for and against jumping [...]
6 Benek // Dec 21, 2009 at 4:08 am
I disagree with Mark’s point about the utilitarian boons of cars not stopping. This is only a short term pro. In the long run, car driving should be made less and less attractive. Having cars stop at traffic lights longer will make driving slower and thus less appealing. This’ll equate to a reduction in emissions. Perhaps the most provocative way of doing this would be installing dual traffic lights with a ‘clearing’ period for bicycles and then cars following afterwards. Then drivers stopped at the car’s red light will think why don’t I get a bike as they watch cycles filter through their green light.
7 Jack // Dec 21, 2009 at 8:25 am
@ Benek: When Mark talked about cars not stopping I think he had his tongue firmly in his cheek. I absolutely agree about dual traffic lights – both to make cycling safer and to tempt car drivers to get on their bikes.
8 Skully // Jan 15, 2010 at 6:25 pm
Get rid of all traffic signals. Simples.
9 We’re all Aristoteleans now | The Bike Show - a cycling radio show and podcast from Resonance FM // Feb 10, 2010 at 1:27 am
[...] Warburton, whose Philosophy Bites is among the brightest stars in the podcasting firmament, appeared on The Bike Show late last year, talking about the ethics of running red traffic [...]
10 rebecca // Jun 28, 2010 at 7:44 am
I ran a red light at a major crossroads this morning, along with lots of other cyclists. There were no pedestrians crossing and it was safer for us to do so than be overtaken by buses and trucks. A driver pulled up alonside us at the next set of lights and shouted ‘I hope you all get knocked off your bikes – especially you’ and pointed at a woman. Why is there such animosity towards cyclists?
11 Jack // Jun 28, 2010 at 8:50 am
@Rebecca: I don’t know but I think it’s mostly envy.
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