Cyclists in the UK – above the law?

As a car driver, I find myself waiting at traffic lights quite frequently.

Today, I was at the head (front) of the queue, patiently waiting for them to turn from red to green. There were two lanes of traffic, I was in the outside lane (2) – it was a pedestrian cross too. Whilst waiting, I was dumbfounded to see, in my offside wing mirror, a cyclist approaching at speed, straddling the centre line between us and on-coming traffic. The lights were still red. The cyclist, a he, proceeded to weave through two pedestrians using the crossing. He then returned to the inside lane (1) and continued his journey.

I see this a lot. I know that as a car driver, I am obliged to stop at red lights. Do cyclists have some sort of exemption that allows them to go through red lights? Surely not? [of course, this is a rhetoric question]

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2 thoughts on “Cyclists in the UK – above the law?”

  1. But weaving in and out of pedestrians will more likely injure the pedestrians than preserve the life of the cyclist.

    Either the law needs to be changed or roads need to be better designed for cyclists. I cycle occasionally and I recognise that certain situations and drivers make it very hazardous for me.

    My own feeling is that we need very clear delimiters between pedestrians, cycle lanes and motorised traffic. The problem is that it is expensive and in many places there just isn’t the room.

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