It's easy to complain about speeding traffic-- and why not.  Speed kills.  Bicyclists and pedestrians are especially vulnerable to speed.  One town in England is taking the bull by the horns.  Essentially.  In urban areas, the speed limit is set at 20 miles per hour.

If you happen to own a car, you can set the speed limit at 20MPH too.  On two lane city streets, your car sets the speed limit.

Civilstreets.org

Many cities are putting in new cycling facilities-- successfully attracting new riders.



Our image among the cycling community is one of "rogue" users.  As I think about all the things that cyclists can do to improve our image-- stopping at a red light seems the most visible and by extension the most powerful. 

Here's a radical proposition-- for those on the fence about stopping at Reds-- consider that the best time to stop at a red is when there are the most people watching you.  The synergy there is that you are making a statement to the broadest possible audience.  Furthermore, stopping just might encourage a few other cyclists to stop-- increasing the image of cyclists being nice.

I look forward to your thoughts!