As a biker in Philly - I'll start following the rules of the road when the cars do. I've lived in other cities where I obeyed every traffic law, just like I was in a car. If you do that in Philly, you get run over by a car or hit a jay walking pedestrian.

This attitude is exactly why some people hate bikers. It's not productive, if everyone takes this attitude then nothing is going to get better. Step up and be a model for the behavior you want to see around you.

I'd rather not die.

Don't be so dramatic. Waiting at red lights isn't going to kill you, in fact it may do the opposite.

I do stop at red lights or at least slow down and make sure the way it is safe to cross, that isn't the problem. I just have to constantly jump up onto sidewalks. After stopping at the light - especially if there are cars trying to take a right and the way is clear - I will go before it turns green. I rarely stop at stop signs for four way stops.

In general, traffic isn't paying attention. They will swerve blindly into the bike lane to get around other cars to take a right and I can't depend on them to be watching out for me.

Once I stop moving I remove the option of swerving out of the way. After my first month of biking here and almost getting hit several times, I just gave up and I ride as aggressively as everyone here drives. I hate it. Biking in New York, Portland or anywhere else I've lived is just a different game. Philly is the most stressful place I've biked.

Just an FYI in many states, cities, etc. It's legal to move to the bike lane for a right lane. That's why it's often a dotted white line.

Not saying that's safe... But it is legally accepted

It is legally accepted, after checking to see if the lane is clear.

Waiting at red lights _can_ be more dangerous than not waiting. Ask motorcyclists how they feel about being the lone vehicle at a redlight.

Are you going to elaborate on that, or should I conjure up a motorcyclist from thin air and ask them how they feel?

It can be dangerous to be the only person or vehicle at a red light if you are a motorcyclist or bicyclist because cars can fail to notice you until they are quite close. Many motorcyclists apply and release their brakes, and sometimes add modifications to their tail lights so that they flicker when coming on to make it even more noticeable.

I pay at least as much attention when I am the lone cyclist at a red light (particularly at night) as when I am actively moving and riding in traffic, and have had a number of vehicles come to a stop a bit close or a bit too quickly for comfort. This is in an area with _a_lot_ of cyclists.

Thanks for elaborating. It sounds to me though that the solution is modifying your tail lights to be more apparent, rather than running all the red lights.

I will also concede that motorcyclists are generally much better on the road than "analog" bikes, at least when they aren't in a group and their loud-ass bikes aren't waking me up at 1 AM.

> It sounds to me though that the solution is modifying your tail lights to be more apparent

My tail lights on my bike are rather bright and flashy. It's still happened before. There isn't really "a" solution. It's better awareness, better visibility, everyone being more proactive, etc.

If that's a riddle to you, you are the danger

Come on, I don't even drive. Get out of here with your pretentious angle, none of this helps your cause.

I obey stoplights on my bike, but it's really punishing sometimes. Bikes don't trip the sensors so the light will ignore you until a car pulls up behind you. This can require three or four cycles of the lights if traffic in your direction is sparse.

I mean, this is a very good example for the kind of care taken by the people designing and overseeing roads in respect to cycling.

Can you fucking imagine shipping a product that just plain doesn't work for a large part of what the law defines as a vehicle? For something as crucial as a light? Can you imagine installing that as the government, not in some test locations, but all over?

I'm not quite sure what specifications lights need to conform to but a good fricking starting point seems like the law. These things are just plain defective.

In the UK at least, you can often see a rubber strip in a square where the sensor has been added to the road (they cut a slot then re-seal it). I try to stop with my wheel rims right on strip and it often triggers the lights. In fact, I wonder sometimes if it actually senses stronger because the metal wheel rim is so much closer as I've had the light turn immediately if I get it just so. (the specific junction I use is only detector triggered, it doesn't time back and forth at all)

Sadly, the roads around here don't have visible seams where the sensors are. I'm going to have to guess.

They sell magnets for motorcycles that are supposed to help trip the light sensor. Might be worth checking out?

I've heard that if you get off and lay the bike on its side, it can help trip the sensor. Usually they're electromagnetic, so on its side the bike is a good inductor, but not in its normal position.

I'll give this a try. It should be pretty obvious if it works.

I am from philadelphia as well so I know there are bikes who stop at red lights and stay on the streets. I am not so nieve to think everyone does as I have also run across people who don't obey any traffic laws, but over the last 15 years biking in philly has grown up a lot, and people who used to rationalize their behavior because of lack of infrastructure are changing their ways and coming in line with what is expected of bikers in an urban setting. There will always be those who don't follow the rules, just like there are pedestrians and cars who don't follow the rules, but the situation in that city has gotten so much better, not because new laws were passed or cops cracked down on people running stop signs. The situation got better because more people bike, we put up bike lanes, and drivers got used to bikes being in the street with them.

I obey traffic laws when it is safe to do so. There are some dangerous interections around here where the bike lane disappears then starts up again. If you ride with the traffic as you're supposed to, cars behind will try to pass in the middle of the intersection. In those cases, sometimes I will ride up on the sidewalk to bypass the dangerous part of the itnersection. I would feel better if there was a separate light in the bike lane that allowed the bikes to proceed first.

This is the correct answer.

One of my safety heuristics is "clear the intersection". Sometimes that means jump the light, or follow a car thru a 4-way, or full stop (foot on ground) to clearly signal I'm waiting my turn.

> > most bikers observe the traffic laws

> Not in Philadelphia, at least.

This is mostly solvable by building better infrastructure. Just visit Netherlands or Denmark to see how well things could be organized.

When the infrastructure is bad, bikers (or people in general) will resort to odd behavior just to get by.