Cars that sit in the bike box...

[AyBee]

...when the lights are on red. Do you make a concious effort to pull infront of them and therefore delay their getaway and annoy them, or leave them to it?

[Mars]

No, I acknowledge that despite the driver being ignorant, I am far more vulnerable than they are and I want to get home to my wife and kids.

[splodge s4]

Red lights?

[cjs]

Although I make a concious effort to avoid driving into bike boxes it is often difficult to avoid doing so, especially in heavy traffic. Not exactly the crime of the century, if a bike does move in front then I just let them go first, like I do at any junction.

[jodypress]

A policeman told me not that long ago that it's illegal to move into the cycle box when light is red. It's considered the same as going through a red light for a car. Yet they hardly ever ticket people.

BTW he said this to me whilst he was in a car in the bike box and I was on my bike....lol.

[Kermit power]

I will always make a point of moving in front of them.

I don't do it to be arsey or to delay their getaway or any such rubbish, but simply because by the time I discover there is a car in the advanced stop box, I'm generally to the left or right of the main traffic flow, and feel much safer pulling back in front of it rather than stopping to the side.

For every cock who stops in there through choice, there's a few more who just happened to be there when the traffic stopped on them, so by trying to wind up the occasional selfish cock, I'd just end up winding up far more perfectly blameless motorists.

[walm]

Kermit power said:

I will always make a point of moving in front of them.

I don't do it to be arsey or to delay their getaway or any such rubbish, but simply because by the time I discover there is a car in the advanced stop box, I'm generally to the left or right of the main traffic flow, and feel much safer pulling back in front of it rather than stopping to the side.

This.

It is 1,000% safer to be right in front of them rather than at the side. (As you would be if they weren't in the cycle box in the first place.)

[blinkythefish]

jodypress said:

A policeman told me not that long ago that it's illegal to move into the cycle box when light is red. It's considered the same as going through a red light for a car. Yet they hardly ever ticket people.

BTW he said this to me whilst he was in a car in the bike box and I was on my bike....lol.

yeah, crossing the stop line (the one at the back of the box; the one at the front's the advanced stop line) is a same as running a red light.

I appreciate the irony of the drivers who bemoan bikes running red lights while doing this...

[HundredthIdiot]

I don't feel under pressure to get in front. The concertina effect means it's easy to pull out into a gap as the cars pull away.

[Kermit power]

HundredthIdiot said:

I don't feel under pressure to get in front. The concertina effect means it's easy to pull out into a gap as the cars pull away.

That's fine, so long as you don't get someone turning into you because they've not seen you or indicated.

[SoliD]

I usually make a point of showing that I am there, but not being totally in the way!

I actually stopped on a green bike box the other day, not on purpose, as a van pulling into the road I was pulling out of stalled, and so the car in front of me stopped leaving me in the way, sods law a cyclist comes along and starts moaning at me, yes I know I shouldn't have pulled away without making sure it is clear, but obviously dont expect these things of other drivers.

[DrMekon]

Totally in the way. Having been on the left in the box and had Merc run in to the back of me when the filter lane to the left went green, I know any less than right in the driver's line of sight isn't enough to ensure you've been seen. Not being a dick about it' I just know drivers have more important things on their mind than my welfare.

[AyBee]

Interesting responses - I was thinking of it more as cars would be getting arsey about a cyclist deliberately blocking their way, but it makes sense to sit in front of them so that they see you. I either do this, or sit right on the corner of the bonnet of the car in second so that I can let the first one go but the second lets me go...! I will now start sitting infront of those in the box

[HundredthIdiot]

I just noticed...

Kermit power said:

For every cock who stops in there through choice, there's a few more who just happened to be there when the traffic stopped on them, so by trying to wind up the occasional selfish cock, I'd just end up winding up far more perfectly blameless motorists.

There is no good reason to be stuck in that position, since they should be treated like box junctions (terminology?). You wait behind the stop line until there is a space to enter on the far side of the junction.

So the motorist who does this isn't "perfectly blameless", though the behaviour falls short of the "drag them screaming from the vehicle and beat them to death with a spare chainset" threshold.

[Kermit power]

HundredthIdiot said:

I just noticed...

Kermit power said:

For every cock who stops in there through choice, there's a few more who just happened to be there when the traffic stopped on them, so by trying to wind up the occasional selfish cock, I'd just end up winding up far more perfectly blameless motorists.

There is no good reason to be stuck in that position, since they should be treated like box junctions (terminology?). You wait behind the stop line until there is a space to enter on the far side of the junction

That's not strictly true. If you look in the highway code (on this page), box junctions are MUST NOT enter, as opposed to "should avoid encroaching" for ASL boxes. Semantics, maybe, but it is defined differently, and I do generally find that, on my commute at least, most drivers do make the effort to avoid ending up stuck there.

I did also just discover that you can go into a box junction if you're turning right and it's only oncoming traffic preventing you from doing so. I didn't know this.

[HundredthIdiot]

Kermit power said:

That's not strictly true. If you look in the highway code (on this page), box junctions are MUST NOT enter, as opposed to "should avoid encroaching" for ASL boxes. Semantics, maybe, but it is defined differently, and I do generally find that, on my commute at least, most drivers do make the effort to avoid ending up stuck there.

I did also just discover that you can go into a box junction if you're turning right and it's only oncoming traffic preventing you from doing so. I didn't know this.

A-ha! Good spot.

OTOH, the clarity of the "should avoid encroaching" is somewhat undermined by the caption on the picture wich states "Do not unnecessarily encroach..."

[Kermit power]

HundredthIdiot said:

A-ha! Good spot.

OTOH, the clarity of the "should avoid encroaching" is somewhat undermined by the caption on the picture wich states "Do not unnecessarily encroach..."

This is true, however the main difference is that stopping in a box junction is an offence, whereas with ASL boxes, the only applicable motoring offences are proceeding into the box or leaving it when the lights are red.

I tend to think of it like Statues at a kids' party. When the music stops, the motorist has to stay still, wherever they are!

[megaphone]

Bit of a thread resurrection!

Well it looks like they will start enforcing this in London, can only see this ending in tears for lots of 'innocent' motorists.

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/transport/60-fines-...

Edited by megaphone on Wednesday 29th May 17:17

[IroningMan]

That's going to make for a cracking thread in GG. Some of the usual suspects will run out of tissues.

[Kell]

Kermit power said:

I did also just discover that you can go into a box junction if you're turning right and it's only oncoming traffic preventing you from doing so. I didn't know this.

I got asked that question in my driving test - so I knew the answer...