in message o.uk...
"Mr Pounder" wrote in message
...

"NY" wrote in message
o.uk...
"Mrcheerful" wrote in message
...
NY wrote:
[snipped my self-imposed rules for safe but unselfish cycling]

and then I woke up.

Sorry, I'm not sure what your point is. Are you saying that you don't
believe that I abide by these rules, or are you saying that I am wrong
to abide by them and that I should be more selfish/assertive?


"that it will take longer for me to be clear of the junction if I do
happen to go through on amber".

Do you know what amber means?

"NY" wrote: Amber means stop, just as red does. But it is
a grace period in which no opposing traffic will yet (legally!) be able to
set off. It is present because if the lights change from green to amber
when you are very close, you will be unable to stop before the light: if
you are closer to the lights that your vehicle's stopping distance at the
speed at which you are travelling.

Because of this, it is not regarded as an offence to go through an amber
light. The amber phase is necessary to make red enforceable because only
with it is the road user given sufficient warning that he will be able to
stop before the red light.

Going from green to amber I would tend to agree with you but when the lights
are in the opposite sequence and are going from green to amber there are far
to many cowboys who look upon that amber light to get their clog down.
I much prefer our system here in N America where our lights go from red to
green with no amber in between and that green does not appear until the red
in the cross direction has been lit for five seconds after showing the
warning amber.
Another great traffic mover I find is the practice in Ontario to allow a
right turn (left in UK case) on a red light provided you come to a complete
stop first and only then proceed when it is safe to do so.
Truebrit.