[danielf]

In the BBC article that Matt linked to earlier, someone stated that cyclists run the red light to get a 'head start' to avoid being left-hooked by cars or lorries turning left. As someone who does a lot of cycling this just strikes me as incredibly stupid. What you do to avoid being left-hooked is the following:

When you come to an intersection and the light is red. You either move to the box in front, if there is one, or you take your place in the queue in the *middle* of the lane so you are clearly visible, and a car will have to run you over squarely rather than left hook you. When the light goes green, you move with the traffic and stay in the middle of the lane until you reach the point where there is no risk of left-turning traffic. Only then do you move to the left to make way for other traffic. At the speeds around traffic lights, you will not be moving much slower than cars (well, they might have to wait a little), but it's much safer all round. Both for yourself and pedestrians/other traffic that don't expect a cyclist to come sailing through a red light.

I never run red lights. It's stupid, and gives cyclists a bad name.

/lecture over