tfl wtf?

[Clockwise]

Ok so I was on youtube and this pops up.

Driver and Cyclist Safety Tips - YouTube

Now with the 1st section upto about 1min 20sec look at the position of the cyclist while the box lines light up light green.

"cyclists you should not pass the 2nd line of the advanced stop box"
"mototists, when the light is red should not pass the 1st or 2nd line"
"if the light changes from green to amber you should stop before the 2nd line if you can't stop before the 1st line" - with the cyclist in the box in that space?

I don't always get annoyed by these things but them green boxes are awful imo. You can hardly ever safely reach them, I worked out a while ago that I put myself in more dangerous positions seeking out the boxes than I did sitting still in traffic. When you do reach them often they are "retro fitted" onto existing lights so you then can't see the traffic lights as a cyclist will be looking from 1ft off a line that has been moved forward right upto the crossing and a driver in a car will be looking from 3ft+ off the intended line. If you are lucky you might see a tiny bit of the light but most of the time it's just the hood/cover things.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

What they're saying is that if the lights suddenly turn to amber, and you can't stop at the first line safely, you must stop at the second line. There shouldn't be any cyclists in the green box because they would already have crossed the second line. If a cyclist had seen the lights go amber, so was intending to stop in the green box, any following car would have to stop at the first line.

Anyway, I think I agree with you. Why can't they make the first line the compulsory line for motor vehicle? It would make it a lot clearer. You don't have twp lines at normal traffic lights.

 

[Clockwise]

What they're saying is that if the lights suddenly turn to amber, and you can't stop at the first line safely, you must stop at the second line. There shouldn't be any cyclists in the green box because they would already have crossed the second line. If a cyclist had seen the lights go amber, so was intending to stop in the green box, any following car would have to stop at the first line.

Anyway, I think I agree with you. Why can't they make the first line the compulsory line for motor vehicle? It would make it a lot clearer. You don't have twp lines at normal traffic lights.

Most cars speed up at amber lights but ignoring all those who are technically jumping the lights will talk about the others.

If I am going along at my usual 10-15mph and "suddenly stop" as I see the lights go amber I could easily be hit inside the box by the car behind me doing 30mph that takes longer to slow. The stopping distances just don't make it safe at the majority of lights. Remember that the advised route for a cyclist is to go from the left side to the middle of the lane while waiting, I wouldn't pull out or veer into traffic like that but then I'm not the guy/girl who is going to borrow a boris bike and not know better.

They can't/won't make it compulsory as the stopping distance in the highway code is something crazy like 6 cars distance(more than between some lights).