In The Hague, also in the Netherlands, police actually hand out tickets (€180!!) when cyclists go through a red light, EVEN WHEN THE CORRESPONDING PEDESTRIAN'S LIGHT IS ALREADY GREEN. (geen broodje aap)
Explanation for non-Dutch: Pedestrians' lights usually turn green 2 seconds before the general traffic light turns green, so they can already get on the crossing.
@paulschoe @quixoticgeek @CiaraNi @patrickhadfield I've seen an explanation of that. The Dutch traffic engineering includes not only clearance time of a conflict zone, but also entering time. So, the green signal is being put for pedestrians earlier because they are slower, and they need more time to reach the conflict zone. On the bicycle you need to wait those two seconds extra to make sure you are safe to enter because the other traffic has passed.
Speaking of, in Eindhoven red signal for bicycles is considered rather like a guidance. However I am not going to verify that running the red light in the front of a police car.
Also, I'm driving other vehicles and I would rather not get into the habit of running red light driving (or riding) them 😊
@agturcz Interesting. The thinking behind the seconds-differences seems solid. I also like the term 'conflict zone' in this context!
@CiaraNi @agturcz @paulschoe @quixoticgeek @patrickhadfield If you like 'conflict zone' in this context, just wait'll you hear what it's called (maybe only in North America?) when all the pedestrian signals are [WALK] and all the traffic lights are red in all directions!
They call it a "pedestrian scramble".
@isocat Oh my. 'Pedestrian scramble.' I both like and do not like that all at the same time, as a pedestrian!
Ciara
Patrick Hadfield
Quixoticgeek
Paul Schoe
Agnieszka R. Turczyńska
Isocat