Stuck at a red light

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timboellner

timboellner

Member
Apr 1, 2009
435
0
16
Towson Maryland
What do you do when you sit at an intersection when the traffic light is red , no other cars
either behind you or on the other side of the intersection and the darn light won't trip to green?
It's aggravating and you don't want to sit there forever, and you don't want to run the light either.

Putting a strong magnet like those out of a computer hard drive under your bottom bracket works at the lights that use those embedded strips in the road, but I don't know what trips other kinds of lights.

I've been getting off of the bike and walking it across.
Sometimes I'll go right on red but I don't always have a way to get where I'm going turning right.

What to you guys do?


By the way here's a cool link that addresses traffic light stuff.
YouTube - kipkay's Channel



TIM
 
Dave31

Dave31

Active Member
Mar 1, 2008
11,199
47
38
Aztlán, Arizona
I have one of those traffic lights near my house. I tried a few magnets but nothing worked. So I break the law and run the light when its clear.
 
2door

2door

Moderator
Staff member
Sep 15, 2008
16,302
175
63
Littleton, Colorado
Tim,
The lights that do not respond to a magnetic field are activated by metallic mass. There is a loop of twisted wire embedded in the road (loop detector) that senses the metal above it. Bikes and some motorcycles will not be seen by the loop depending on the sensitivity set into the controls. I have two of them at the exits from my neighborhood. When traffic is clear I simply run the red light as I would if I were on a pedal bike. I suppose it would be interesting to see what a cop has to say about this but until I need to explain myself I use caution and cross when the traffic allows. Caution is the key word here.
Tom
 
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reb1

New Member
Aug 15, 2010
116
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CALIFORNIA
My brother worked in City of Industry a few years ago. He had an afternoon shift and pedaled there. On the way home he was ticketed for not waiting for a green light. The police officer wrote on all 17 tickets that he was running the red light. Yes my genius brother not wanting to be bothered did not even tell us about being stopped by the same cop over and over. We were there when he was questioned by the judge. My brother told him the light did not work. The judge asked him if he even stopped to make sure it was safe to go and he said yes. The cop verified this also. The judge pointed at the cop and motioned for the cop to approach. We did not hear what he told him but the cop had a red face when he turned and went back where he had been standing. The judge smiled and said everything was dismissed.
 
bairdco

bairdco

a guy who makes cool bikes
Aug 18, 2009
6,537
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living the dream in southern california
i just run it (when it's safe, and after looking around.)

when i used to work nights, i'd get home anywhere from 2am to 7am, and there was one left turn light in my neighborhood that wouldn't work after 2am (it's near 4 bars, too.) i'd sit there in a big ford dually work truck and the sensor wouldn't trigger. after a few hundred times of stopping and worrying about it, i just started running it, wouldn't even slow down. as long as there was no oncoming traffic, i'd just barge right through.

i finally got pulled over, and told the cop the light was mysteriously broken after 2am every night, and since i was sober and trying to go home, i just run it every time.

he let me go, but he told me that by law, if a light doesn't change, you're supposed to sit through 2 full light cycles, then proceed with caution.

i had another cop tell me on the 4th of july to just look both ways and run it when it's clear.

i figure, if my bike can't set off the sensors, i'm not gonna sit there all day, or if i have to break the law to ride my bike on the sidewalk to push the button, i might as well just break the law by running the light.

i think the main thing is to come to a complete stop, give the light a chance, then run it when it's safe. that's probably the best way to talk your way out of a ticket.
 
WildAlaskan

WildAlaskan

New Member
Sep 30, 2010
578
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alaska
bairdco i am glad someone else has brought this up i have experienced the same dilema as i ride in the streets early in the morning and the lights do change for me i proceed with caution

i thought i was crazy for being the only one to experiene this it is good thinking that if you wait thru two lights it makes it easy to get off from a ticket
 
RebelHellbilly

RebelHellbilly

New Member
Apr 22, 2009
222
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Salisbury,North Carolina
it depends on wut light imma at. sum if nuffing iz coming both ways i ride thru. sumtimes if imma at 1 of those long wait lights with alot of traffic i shut my motor off. pedal when it goes green, start motor back up N cruise. i dont like wasting gas idling and it builds heat in the motor.
 
NunyaBidness

NunyaBidness

Active Member
Jun 29, 2008
1,062
2
38
memphis tn
They recently passed a law here in Memphis that bicycles or motorcycles do not have to stay stopped at a red light. We are legally allowed to stop and then go when it is clear at red lights now.

I did that anyway before they passed a law making it legal for me to do it.
 
Kevlarr

Kevlarr

New Member
Jul 22, 2009
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Mi
You think that's bad, years ago I had a Toyota pickup and there was this light at one intersection that simply would not change until another car came up behind me. Got to the point that I would cut behind a business on the corner to avoid the light. Well one night at about 1 am I cut behind the business only to find a cop sitting there doing paperwork, he stops me and was going to ticket me for "using private property to avoid a traffic signal" until I told him that the light refused to change for me and I was willing to go sit at the intersection until he believed me. I didn't get the ticket. laff
 
bairdco

bairdco

a guy who makes cool bikes
Aug 18, 2009
6,537
264
63
living the dream in southern california
i was sitting at a left turn lane yesterday on the red light. there was a cop stopped next to me, checking me out. when his light turned green but my arrow stayed red, he yelled "run it!" as he took off...

yup, there are a few cool cops...
 
B

bitsnpieces

New Member
Dec 9, 2010
195
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Melbourne, AUS
Well... I got my license suspended because there are a lot of dodgy yellow lights on these roads which don't give you the appropriate amount of time to cross before turning red, where the law states to keep going if it isn't safe to slow down and stop when the lights turn yellow.
Now you tell me, if I'm going at 60-80km/h and the light turns yellow as I'm about 5-10metres away from the line, I don't care if any car has ABS or not, perfect weather or not, would you stop?

I can't wait for the day this happens to me where I go through a red light on my bike personally for the camera to take a snapshot. It's just a hilarious thought personally.

Back on topic, I think go. If the lights aren't changing, I'll try the sensor again to make sure. If it still isn't changing, I'd go.
 
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pinjas

New Member
Nov 27, 2010
15
0
0
St. paul, MN
I guess I have an entirely different understanding of the way this works. I was under the impression that the sensors were weight based, I remember when I was a child, sitting on the back of a motorcycle it was explained to me that you had to position the tire in a specific spot to put weight on the sensor so the light changes. I've tested this on foot and the results seemed to support my theory.
There have been a few nights where I was just strolling about and I'd just go around standing on and off the sensors to change the lights repeatedly. I've timed it to make the cross traffic have to wait, : D. Hah
 
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mbuna420

New Member
Oct 9, 2010
225
0
0
Oregon
Pinjas I like that, if any body was watching ya they probably were a bit miffed as to why you were standing in the middle of the road repeatedly lol. I am a pretty big guy and can almost always make the weight activated ones work I have my own trick that some times works on the lights with sensors on the light for emergency vehicle lights to trip the system in to green. If you quickly flash your lights about 15 to 20 feet before you get to the intersection the light will change automatically. There is also a YouTube vid of how to make a tv remote work to do this but I have yet to find a remote that will trip the lights, here are a few articles about the subject


Traffic light sensors
http://www.wikihow.com/Trigger-Green-Traffic-Lightshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_signal_preemption
 
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mbuna420

New Member
Oct 9, 2010
225
0
0
Oregon
Pinjas I like that, if any body was watching ya they probably were a bit miffed as to why you were standing in the middle of the road repeatedly lol. I am a pretty big guy and can almost always make the weight activated ones work I have my own trick that some times works on the lights with sensors on the light for emergency vehicle lights to trip the system in to green. If you quickly flash your lights about 15 to 20 feet before you get to the intersection the light will change automatically. There is also a YouTube vid of how to make a tv remote work to do this but I have yet to find a remote that will trip the lights, here is a few articles on the subject

Traffic light sensors
How to Trigger Green Traffic Lights - wikiHow
Traffic signal preemption - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
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