I was just wondering what everybody does when they are stuck at a red light. Living in a college town with alot of traffic to trip the lights for me I don't have to worry about it too much, but the tight streets here have ALOT of "no turn on red" signs, so there have been times when I was stuck and no cars came up behind me for a long time. When you can't turn right to get through, there's not much left to do but hope there is a pedestrian crossing button to jump off and push... Once those two options are exhausted, I finally turn around and find another way out of the neighborhood.
So if you are stuck at an intersection that isn't aware of your existence....what do you do?
Are there state laws that allow you to procede after a certain period of time or number of signal cycles?
Do those magnets you stick to your bike really do anything?
I've even heard a rumor that gunning your engine will sometimes trip the light via the field generated by your alternator.
just curious..
take it easy all... rubber side down.
In order-
No, Yes, Never worked for me.
I just look around and then drive right through it. If I WERE to get a ticket my defence would be that the light was defective and not working properly. How long would I or anyone be expected to wait at a light that won't change? Would the judge sit at a light for an hour? 15 minutes? 5 minutes? I would be sure it was safe before crossing. A light should detect ALL street legal vehicles or it IS defective.
As far as I know they are metal detectors buried in the road, not magnet detectors. That is why it doesn't always "see" your tiny bike.
I had an MC cop as one of my MSF instructors, and this was one of the questions brought up. He said the sensors are supposed to work for bikes, but as most of us have noticed they often don't work. His advice was that you park right over the top of the sensor (you can usually see it cut out in the pavement). Next step would be to roll forward a little (not into the intersection) so a car behind you can get over the sensor. In wisconsin, it is not legal to run a red light, even if it appears to be defective. Some states do have laws that say you can run the light after you've waited a really long time and you've thouroughly checked for traffic, so you have to look up your local laws. His other advice was to move over and make a right turn, then a U turn to get back to the intersection. This is kind of a pain, but safer this way. When we brought up situations where we could do none of these things, ie. a left turn lane with curbs on either side, he said, "You gotta do what you gotta do." He also noted that if a cop sees you, he will probably pull you over and it's up to him if he cites you or not.
We have the same problem here too and the local police are a little hesitant to let us run red lights. But after hearing a few opinions from different officers it can be read between the lines that "it's OK to cross on a red light if there's absolutely no other traffic". So when I get stuck on those intersections I just look around and gas the heck outta there. :)
I've had this specific problem where the Left turn signal didn't come on.
I waited through 1 full light change then went anyways.
I asked an RCMP officer about that one day because there is a light just down from work that NEVER sees me (sucks when getting off at midnight and nobody else is around to trip it). I always just went through after stopping.
His response was that if you are at a light that you know is faulty (not changing for you qualifies as faulty), then you are allowed to treat it as a stop sign. Of course, different cops may have different opinions. :dunno:
I look for alternate routes.
Off the subject.... did you get an SV650S?
If you're stuck at a pedestrian controlled stop light, ride up onto the side walk and hit the "I want to cross the street" button, and then ride through once the light goes green for the crosswalk! (just keep some donuts in your pocked in case the cops see and you have to get out of a ticket) :thumb:
Quote from: Meighanjust keep some donuts in your pocked in case the cops see and you have to get out of a ticket :thumb:
yeah, and pork rinds are a :nono:
most of the time, i pull the right-turn+u-turn maneuver. when i used to leave my campus late at night, i would just turn left (after checking for traffic). because let's face it... campus police are a joke :mrgreen:
on a somewhat related note... the school parking garages had swing arms with buried sensors. the sensors would feel my little gs, but as soon as i was off, they would close the swingarm... getting bonked on the helmet is not cool :(
Hey Jag, yeah, I traded the R6 on it. the SV RULES! It is all kinds a fun around town.. snappy as hell and sounds awesome when the throttle is on even bone stock :thumb:
I will do the right on red and then turn around trick that manofthefield described when that is allowed. But as I stated in my original post, there are ALOT of no-right-on-red lights in this town.... I was hoping to see more lights recognizing the SV better than the R6 becuase of all the aluminum in the supersports these days, but no luck... they still don't seem to know I'm there :(
have you tried strapping a bag of sand to the Buddha Loves You seat?
vtlion --- how do like the ergos of the sv650s ? What has been your longest ride? Can you compare the GS500, R6, and SV650s (ride, power, comfort, in-town riding, longer distances .... etc..)
I know that these are alot of questions, but I am still looking for a second bike and the sv650s is one of my choices.
Thanks,
Jag69,
I started to PM you, but then thought maybe some of the other forum members would be interested, so I posted my answers in another thread.
:cheers:
Quote from: MeighanIf you're stuck at a pedestrian controlled stop light, ride up onto the side walk and hit the "I want to cross the street" button, and then ride through once the light goes green for the crosswalk! (just keep some donuts in your pocked in case the cops see and you have to get out of a ticket) :thumb:
Congratulations Meighan. :cheers: I was looking for someone to suggest pushing the crosswalk button. That's what I do. But, rather than ride over to it I'll put the bike on the kickstand, walk over and push it, then run back and away I go. :thumb:
Quote from: vtlion
When you can't turn right to get through, there's not much left to do but hope there is a pedestrian crossing button to jump off and push...
I guess what I was really asking was, in the absence of these two possibilities.... what's your opinion on running the light... good idea or bad.. legal or not?
Quote from: vtlionI guess what I was really asking was, in the absence of these two possibilities.... what's your opinion on running the light... good idea or bad.. legal or not?
Normally, I would not condone breaking the law. However, in this instance I would make a turn on red, but I would wait at least a minute or two first. This way, if I get pulled over I could use it as my defense. Oh yeah, be sure nobody is around when you do it.
I have a few lights i hit like that.... since turning right on red is allowed, i usually make 2 rights if i wanted to go straight originally, or turn right and pull a u-turn if i wanted to go left.... I do it right in front of cops... never even been pulled over for them to ask about the unusual situation
Normally, I would not condone breaking the law. However, in this instance I would make a turn on red, but I would wait at least a minute or two first. This way, if I get pulled over I could use it as my defense. Oh yeah, be sure nobody is around when you do it.[/quote]
Here in Green Bay they have several lights on the streets crossing Holmgren Way that use sensors - except between 6:30 AM and 6:00 PM when they are on timers that make the cross street traffic wait (depending on time of day) up to THREE minutes - You better wait until you are absolutely sure that you have waited out what should have been a cycle of the lights before you go.
Other than pushing the pedestrian light you do have the option of becoming a pedestrian (it would at least increase your odds of beating the ticket). Turn the bike off, push it to the crosswalk area and across the street - then back on the street and re-start. If caught, the bike died, would not start. You were reduced to being a pedestrian and pushed the bike - after a while you tried to start and Miracle of Miracles - it started!
QuoteTurn the bike off, push it to the crosswalk area and across the street - then back on the street and re-start
as the @$$hole in the hummer SUV points and laughs.... sorry, not me!!!
Quote from: cummuterguyQuoteTurn the bike off, push it to the crosswalk area and across the street - then back on the street and re-start
as the @$$hole in the hummer SUV points and laughs.... sorry, not me!!!
If the @$$hole in the SUV is there the light will change - otherwise you look like, at worst, someone who has a breakdown.
I've heard someone suggest that if your flash your lights (high/low/high/low etc) as you approach the intersection and it'll change the signal. Reason being, the flashing simulates an emergency vehicle arriving at an intersection and the lights have some sort of sensor to detect and change. I've never tried it.
-Kel
You should check your local laws. Other than that... I've heard those thingys you buy to trip the signal work. Or somewhere I read that if you turn off and restart your bike, that generates enough of a disturbance to trip it (not sure how true that one is).
"So if you are stuck at an intersection that isn't aware of your existence....what do you do? "
I give the metal detectors something to detect. When I'm over the detector area, usually a square or eight sided cutout in the lane before the limit lines, I reach back with my left foot and push the centerstand to the pavement and hold it there a few seconds then move and do it again until I find a spot that triggers the signal. On my small bikes I put the sidestand down for a moment. As a rule I am left of center in a controled left turn lane and I have found that by puting a stand down near the inside of the cutout I can often trigger the signal.
The emergency vehicle trigger, I believe, works on a specific frequency of strobe light. The chances of you getting that frequency and duty cycle correct approach 0.
I have the same problem on my bicycle, and there seem to be two main situations:
- I'm there, but there are NO cars around to trigger (wait a cycle, then go)
- I'm there, and there are cars to trigger. (try to convince car behind me to move forward, an act usually involving lots of pointing at the pavement behind me, smiling, giving them the universal "move forward, goober!" hand signals, etc. Amazing how many people just won't move--it's as though they suspect I'm trying to get them to run over a cat or something....)
In the exceedingly unlikely situation where you're trying to enter a busy road but have no traffic on the cross-street, it might be worth preventing a ticket to hop off and hit the pedestrian button.
But when there's nobody around, there's probably nobody to give you a ticket.
If a cop did pull you over, you could always offer to demonstrate the lack of response to your bike. Ask them who to contact about the sensor.... Show them you're concerned and responsible, and I think they'll treat you fairly.
My city website shows an email address to report lights that don't trip; it took them about 2 weeks to fix the one by my house that wouldn't trip for bikes (faster than I can get my washer fixed by Sears).
Try making a list, prioritizing and reporting one every couple of weeks. (I suspect that if you just reported 20 lights at once, nothing would happen... and this comes from a professional tester!).
Magnets improved my light change rate dramatically. Not every light, but a lot of them, worked for me.
John.
someone told me if you turn off and restart your bike thing it triggers something and causes the sensors to pick up the bike. electromagnet something .. i honestly forgot what they said. anyone ever hear of this?
I found this really awesome article a while ago that explains how the sensors work and where to sit on the different kinds to activate them properly. It's for bicyclists, but it still applies:
http://www.humantransport.org/bicycledriving/library/signals/green.htm
There's a link at the bottom to a really nice paper that explains how the sensors work in great detail.
Oh, and in California, it's legal to run a red light when the signal is malfunctioning. I think you're supposed to sit there for something ridiculous like 5 minutes before running it, though. Still, "um, I wasn't wearing a watch, and it seemed like a really long time," could maybe be a reasonable defense (IANAL).
I like the centerstand idea. I'll have to try that one.
jgary is right. I put magnets on the center stand cross-bar. It worked for all of the lights that have the sensors in the road surface. 100% recommended. :thumb:
I agree. This is an excellent reference for traffic signals. I think all bikers should read this:
raindrift said:
"I found this really awesome article a while ago that explains how the sensors work and where to sit on the different kinds to activate them properly. It's for bicyclists, but it still applies:
http://www.humantransport.org/bicycledriving/library/signals/green.htm
There's a link at the bottom to a really nice paper that explains how the sensors work in great detail."