I saw a good article on c/upliftingnews about AI improving traffic signal controllers. It's good and all, I just can't help but think of the "look at what they need to have a fraction of our power" meme while reading it
Yes, but you don't need lights if there are only bikes. Lights are there to prevent heavy vehicles from colliding. If there are no heavy vehicles, then the lights aren't needed.
So you're ok with getting hit by another bike (or several) when you go through an intersection.
Unless you live in a small town, if everyone used bikes, city centre intersections would be mostly mountains of crashed bikes and people trying to get out of that mess while more bikes continue to pile on.
Just reload and watch the video. Humans evolved for that speed, which is the reason we don't need traffic lights to avoid people bouncing into each other in busy pedestrian areas. The same translates well for bicycles.
Only once we start putting tons of metal around us, allow for super fast acceleration, and isolate ourselves from our surroundings by blocking view and and sounds, this becomes an issue.
You're right. I was just imagining crossing an intersection at the same speed I normally cycle at, but of course I'd slow down at the intersection, the same way I stop at the red light.
Edit: Why the downvotes? I'm conceding I was wrong.
Edit 2:
Alright, this is actually funny.
I made a few off the cuff comments without thinking it through, while I was doing something else, and was shown that I was wrong, so I said as much, because why wouldn't I? I don't mind learning, right? Who cares?
Well, it seems you care. You care very much. To the point of toxicity. Confirming your reputation as a community.
So from today, I'll make it my mission to troll you. I've never done this, and I'm even a cyclist for fuck's sake, but you're so easily triggered and so toxic... It's going to be fun! :D
Yes, after you repeatedly spewed bullshit about things you have never experienced in your life, and when people helpfully handed you videos that explain things you insisted it wouldn't show what it shows (and yes, that is an intersection in the second video).
Just stop trolling and talking out of your ass and you won't get downvoted. Easy, huh?
Dude, seriously: are you ok? Is something going on in your life that makes you so upset at such a trivial thing? I'm here if you need someone to talk to.
Honestly. I've been through some shit, I know how it is. Forget this discussion, and talk to me.
The average travelling speed in Copenhagen is 15.5 km/h for cyclists and 27 km/hour for cars. In places with green wave for cyclist the average speed is 20.72 km/h.
I live in the Netherlands. There are so many bikes there is traffic jams out of bikes, there are piles of bikes everywhere.
No, you don't need traffic lights for bikes, only if there are high speed heavy vehicles. I wouldn't even say it's just the heaviness, it's the heaviness coupled with speed that makes them necessary.
Ok, I need to experience this myself, but I'll take your word for it.
I was just thinking of the normal speed I cycle at when going to work, which is 25 - 30 km/h, and can't imagine that not causing issues on intersections if there were no red lights.
Of course the answer is to slow down at intersections :)
The trivial point was; car wait times are reduced when there are less cars.
The main point is; even from a bike perspective its not about stopping/not-stopping, it's about wait time. I have NEVER had so many bikes in front of me that I missed the cross-walk signal and had to wait a whole other red-light cycle. Comparatively I regularly have that happen to me in a car. Idk if its a 30% improvement but its less time waiting at red lights.
Finally, technically no, bikes don't always have to (legally) wait at red lights. This is only a technicallity but some crosswalks, like several in my town (or the iconic one in Japan), we get the walk signal on red. My town is also unusual by officially allowing bikes on pedestrian paths. So bikes can legally cross on red.