European Cities Allowing Bikes to Run Red Lights

[marmar]

European Cities Allowing Bikes to Run Red Lights
By Alex Goldmark | 02/09/2012 – 11:30 am





While running a red light on a bike in the U.S. could cost you upwards of hundreds of dollars, several European cities have amended laws this month to permit the practice, mostly for safety reasons.

In Paris, where bike share began and cycling is rampant, the municipal government decreed it legal for cyclists to flat out run red lights, according to The Telegraph. Several reasons were cited. According to officials and public documents about the law, the goal is to reduce bike backups clogging intersections. Cyclists are slower with less control as they accelerate from a stop, making them more likely to swerve or fall into a car lane.

Likewise, a crowded gaggle of them waiting for a green light means they will pack closer up against cars in more dangerous proximity once everyone starts moving at different speeds. Plus, drivers of cars densely packed together waiting for a light may have lower visibility of a cyclist up ahead in a lane over. In all, when there are too many cyclists waiting at a red it becomes a danger.

So, in Paris, bikes can now go straight through a red light or turn right on red at certain pilot intersections when adhering to certain conditions. ................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://transportationnation.org/2012/02/09/european-cities-allowing-bikes-to-run-red-lights/

[Fumesucker]

1. That sound you hear?

[RC]

2. If the bikers there are anything like the bikers here,

The will just keep looking at their front wheel go around as the peddle through the intersection.
Lots of bikers leave the streets, some permanently, for trying that.