Stopping at red lights

STOPPING AT RED LIGHTS

like most cyclists, stopping at red lights seems to be an unnecessary delay to the point a to point b thing. but the red light is there for a reason, to permit pedestrians and traffic traveling the other direction to safely pass the intersection. A small number of people genuinely have no clue what this means, and a larger population thinks that any short cut is a good thing. These people use whatever means possible to shortcut a red light intersection, like traveling in the oncoming lane of traffic, cutting off cars who have the right-of-way, and generally causing traffic accidents and generally making people hate cyclists.

Short message: don't be an idiot! take the time to stop at a light. whether you treat it like a red light, and wait for the green, or as a stop sign and cross the intersection when there is no traffic is your decision. but we at cycle fun montreal believe that when the other vehicles have the light, they have the right of way, and you must wait for the intersection to be clear before you cross it.

face facts, we all complain about the other idiots on the road. don't be one of the idiots!

For 2008, CycleFunMontreal promises to stop at every red light. life is not about taking every opportunity for a shortcut, legal, safe or mind-blowingly stupid, it's about civisime, respect, and doing the right thing, at least some of the time!

Ride safe.

THE CFM STAFF

PS, accelerating away from red lights and stop signs builds power, something every cyclist needs more of!