Cyclists Jumping Red Lights - this week I've been mostly breaking the law...

This week I've naughty. It started with a cheeky shuffle through the lights, on a not so busy junction. But heck, I liked the feeling.

Soon, jumping the lights proved to be a gateway drug. Quickly I was throwing caution to the wind, and cycling the wrong way down the back streets. Then yesterday, when retrieving The Austrian's bike from outside a fondue yurt, I took the final naughty move - I cycled home in the dark WITH NO LIGHTS!

Yeah, and here is the thing - I'm still alive.

And another thing - I don't seem to be the only one. 

In Geneva these things are acceptable, nay, encouraged. Bike paths throw you against the flow of traffic (and where they don't it's still accepted). Cycle paths are well lit so you can cycling at any hour without dressing up like a Christmas tree, and the junctions, heck, some have dedicated cycle lights that chuck you out into the junction when the cars are still idling behind you. Where there are no lights, no one bats an eyelid at a casual push out or a brazen ride through the turn.

In fact, I've heard no shouting, beeping or swearing since I've arrived her. Everyone is as calm as a hindu cow, even the people sat for hours in traffic jams (excluding me). 

Meanwhile in London, common sense and common courtesy (not to mention safety) have to be officially requested.

But London isn't the only place where signage has to be so obvious.  

Below is a poster from South Africa, where those in positions of law are either making Oscar Pistorius throw up or making the roads safer for cyclist. 

I honestly don't know what needs to be done in the UK and beyond, to further cycle safety and promote it as an option for personal transport. In Geneva it's easy. The infrastructure is already there, but so is the cultural acceptance. The car drivers look out for the cyclists, because on any other day the car drivers are the cyclists. 

How do you begin to change a cultural view on cyclists and how do you calm down drivers so they don't want to kill every person on a bike? Now, if I had that answer I'd be pretty darn well off.