How to convince fellow cyclists to follow the rules, like stopping at red lights? I'm basically a year-round cyclist in Toronto, Canada. The popularity of bicycling as a form of transportation and commuting here has been growing over the past few years, and I'm generally happy people doing things to encourage the practice.

However, on my travels I often see cyclists blowing through red lights, at both minor and major intersections. I also see cyclists blowing past the open doors of the streetcars/trams that we have in Toronto: by law vehicles (which bicycles are) must stop 3m/10' behind them. I mention this as I have a friend to got hit by a bike when getting of a tram and ended up with a broken arm, and often see close calls.

Personally I don't see the point in breaking the rules, as the light is going to change in 30 seconds anyway (I usually end up catching up with these folks a few blocks down the road). One of my concerns is that by acting this way they "ruin" the reputation of more reasonable cyclists, and give the activity a bad name.

There are also the folks who ride the wrong way one one-way streets, even though there's another street going that direction a few tens of metres down the road (the blocks are fairly close together in the urban parts of Toronto--basically a grid). These may seem like small things, but it gives a certain perception of cyclists that is not entirely positive.

Does anyone have an effective strategy for convincing these folks to obey the rules? Is it worth approaching them and talking to them at all?

(This is assuming that they're reasonable people, i.e., people who listen to reason and logic.)
Coming from Vienna, Austria where most of the people are known to be rather grumpy, I would recommend to avoid talking to people directly. I have made some rather bad experiences with this approach and very few successes.

I have read a Book about Psychology named "Die Kunst kein Egoist zu sein" by Richard David Precht, and as I remember he states something interesting:


  Everyone tries to maintain a good self image.  So, in the moment
  someone decides to break a rule, that someone declares for himself
  that this rule does not apply for him in this situation. For example,
  when he runs a red light, he already made the decision to, and in the
  same moment made an excuse for his action, to have a clear conscience.


So, in my Opinion, in the moment you speak to him, you break his peace of mind. I think he won't be to happy about it. He already made the decision, and in this moment you are in a bad position to talk to him.

So to convince folks to obey the rules, there should be better education for bicyclists (handouts, information, courses) as well as better infrastructure (like having crossings where you do not have to wait for one traffic light as a car but three traffic lights as a cyclist).  This can be reached if cyclists unite and advocate for this. If some cyclists know the rules and follow them, other cyclists will do the same. So be a great example! Our bicycle union in Austria has some flyers to give to cyclists, where a basic description of important rules is included. I only give these to people I know or people that look like it is their first day on a bike, but that also might be an option.

There will always be some gung-ho cyclists, but at least for me I am lucky that this people do not steer a car with the same gung-ho attitude.