r/Glasgow Tools

Title
Author	smcsleazy
Comment	ok. i'm gonna say it because even though i've not read the comments, i know there's going to be lot's of people saying "but cyclists do it all the time" as someone who's both a cyclist and a driver, i see as much more illegal stuff from drivers than i do cyclists. i'm not saying cyclists SHOULD run red lights, but in some cases it's safer to run red lights or ride on the pavement. if you've ever got ahead of a taxi driver or an audi driver in glasgow, there's usually a good chance they'll try to bully you off the road (riding right up your ass, bumping your rear wheel while your waiting, yelling at you, honking their horn, punishment passing you) so you kinda learn "ok, it's going to be a good idea to put as much distance between me and them as possible" i do want to say there's also a difference between a cyclist running a red light and a car running a red light. mainly that the bike and rider is less than 1m wide, is slower, lighter, easier to thread through traffic AND less likely to cause bodily harm in the event of a collision than a car is. but i still think it's wrong hence why i don't run red lights. where as a car is a 2 ton death machine more designed to protect the occupant than anyone else. i do see a lot of people on their phones when i'm cycling in city center (maybe 1/10 cars i pass) but the issue is, if you say anything about it, your just another rude cyclist. this lead to an interesting case a few days ago when i was cycling down renfield street recently where i was waiting at the traffic lights and a dude on his phone in a silver toyota yaris ran a red light going 20 miles an hour shouting "get the fuck out my way" and coming within 2 inches of hitting me. so i nearly got hit by a car for waiting at a red light..... funny that. even if you have footage of it, police scotland refuse to do anything. i do also want to say, for those saying "well cyclists shouldn't be on the pavement or on the road" good, then give us cycle lanes that we can actually use. so many of glasgow's cycle lanes are poorly thought out, poorly maintained, poorly enforced and unconnected. sometime try playing "the floor is lava: cycling infrastructure edition" in glasgow. it's fucking impossible. the idea is, you've got to get from one side of city center to the other without going on the road or the pavement. you just can't do it. if i wanna get from near the tesco on suchiehall street to st. enochs square, you at least have to do a wee bit on suchiehall street then either split off down renfield street (one of the most dangerous roads in glasgow for cyclists) or stick with the pedestrians on buchanan street. not an easy choice. TL;DR. don't run red lights but keep in mind there's a difference between a car running a red light and a bike running a red light. don't operate a phone while driving or even riding a bike. cycling infrastructure in glasgow sucks and if you don't want to share the road or pavement with cyclists, build them better cycle lanes they can actually use or shut the fuck up.
Reddit Link	https://www.reddit.com/r/glasgow/comments/wdmgbl/so_many_drivers_casually_drive_through_red_lights/iije8s3/
Created	Mon 1st Aug 2022 7:20pm
Status	normal ()

ok. i'm gonna say it because even though i've not read the comments, i know there's going to be lot's of people saying "but cyclists do it all the time" as someone who's both a cyclist and a driver, i see as much more illegal stuff from drivers than i do cyclists. i'm not saying cyclists SHOULD run red lights, but in some cases it's safer to run red lights or ride on the pavement. if you've ever got ahead of a taxi driver or an audi driver in glasgow, there's usually a good chance they'll try to bully you off the road (riding right up your ass, bumping your rear wheel while your waiting, yelling at you, honking their horn, punishment passing you) so you kinda learn "ok, it's going to be a good idea to put as much distance between me and them as possible"

i do want to say there's also a difference between a cyclist running a red light and a car running a red light. mainly that the bike and rider is less than 1m wide, is slower, lighter, easier to thread through traffic AND less likely to cause bodily harm in the event of a collision than a car is. but i still think it's wrong hence why i don't run red lights. where as a car is a 2 ton death machine more designed to protect the occupant than anyone else.

i do see a lot of people on their phones when i'm cycling in city center (maybe 1/10 cars i pass) but the issue is, if you say anything about it, your just another rude cyclist. this lead to an interesting case a few days ago when i was cycling down renfield street recently where i was waiting at the traffic lights and a dude on his phone in a silver toyota yaris ran a red light going 20 miles an hour shouting "get the fuck out my way" and coming within 2 inches of hitting me. so i nearly got hit by a car for waiting at a red light..... funny that. even if you have footage of it, police scotland refuse to do anything.

i do also want to say, for those saying "well cyclists shouldn't be on the pavement or on the road" good, then give us cycle lanes that we can actually use. so many of glasgow's cycle lanes are poorly thought out, poorly maintained, poorly enforced and unconnected. sometime try playing "the floor is lava: cycling infrastructure edition" in glasgow. it's fucking impossible. the idea is, you've got to get from one side of city center to the other without going on the road or the pavement. you just can't do it. if i wanna get from near the tesco on suchiehall street to st. enochs square, you at least have to do a wee bit on suchiehall street then either split off down renfield street (one of the most dangerous roads in glasgow for cyclists) or stick with the pedestrians on buchanan street. not an easy choice.

TL;DR. don't run red lights but keep in mind there's a difference between a car running a red light and a bike running a red light. don't operate a phone while driving or even riding a bike. cycling infrastructure in glasgow sucks and if you don't want to share the road or pavement with cyclists, build them better cycle lanes they can actually use or shut the fuck up.