And what about red lights?

My recent confession that I tend not to stop at stop signs when biking, prompted a reader to ask me about my attitude toward red lights.

To me, a red light pretty much unequivocally means "stop". I even go as far as to not try to beat traffic by using pedestrian signals to go around the intersection at three-way crossings, such as Elston-Western-Diversey which may be familiar to you if you live in Chicago. I wait for green, and proceed across the intersection with other vehicular traffic.

I guess you could say that stopping at red lights while riding a bicycle is a pretty strict rule for me. But a rule is proven by exceptions. I would, and have, made exceptions, when I've felt that my safety was endangered. This is when I think running red lights is justifiable:

1. You are approaching a red light on a deserted street at, oh, 2 am in 10 degree weather. Go ahead. I would (after looking both ways, of course). If you stop, you could lose valuable body heat that you need to get home.
2. You are approaching a red light on a deserted street, in a neighborhood where you have legitimate reason to fear for your safety. Why you would be there in the first place, I don't know. But if you find yourself in that situation, I would encourage you to just keep moving.
3. You are ahead of a long line of cars on a really busy street without much of a buffer zone (think Sheridan Road), and you have an opportunity to safely proceed just before the light turns green. You may want to avail yourself of the opportunity to jump ahead for the car traffic, so you can safely claim your space in the lane. This is especially useful if you intend to quickly get off that road anyway at the nearest opportunity.
4. You are crossing the "T" part of a T-intersection (eg. heading northbound on Elston at Sacramento, or biking in any right lane, where there is traffic merging into the left lane from, say, a highway ramp). Your movement isn't going to impact the flow of traffic. While your safety is not at risk, and I personally might choose to just wait for my light, I think proceeding on red in such circumstances is justifiable.

Have I ever blown a red light just because I could? Yep.

And the only time I didn't feel sheepish about it is when there was no one, not a soul, to witness it. Otherwise, I've always felt like a bit of a cheat. It's almost as if I've taken away some of my own legitimacy, as though I've said to the drivers waiting in their cars: "Oh, I'm not really a vehicle. These rules don't apply to me."

Sometimes I feel that way too if on a short bike hop to the store I decide not to wear my helmet. If I happen to see a helmeted cyclist along the way (which I almost always do), I always feel I am less of a cyclist than that person.

Why don't I feel that way about running stop-signs? Well, usually, the reason I run them, is precisely because there is no one else there. If there is another person there, and he waves me through, that means that he has recognized how ridiculous it would be for me to come to a complete stop. And if this other person elects to exercise his right of way, I do in fact stop, and act like a vehicle.