Sitting At Red Traffic Lights

[Bob_Roller]

This came up in another thread, but I'd like any input from our members .

Has anyone attached a strong magnet to the underside of their bike, to help 'trip' the magnetic sensors in the pavement, to turn the light green for you ?

If I work late, and there isn't any traffic sitting at the light at the end of my exit from the expressway, I sit, until another vehicle shows up , which can be 10-15 minutes depending on how late it is.

I normally exit one exit early, as it has a timed sequence, all the lights go through a complete cycle in 2-3 minutes .

[Semper Gumby]

Not yet.  But sometimes the BSAs don't trip the lights so I might put one on them.  No problem with the R65 though.

[Bob_Roller]

Both of my bikes have problems tripping this particular light, but every once in a while the light does work with no other vehicles around, and I don't know why it happens, usually it turns green before I even come to a stop .

[Barry]

I'm on the wrong side of the pond here.  All I know is our lights are sometimes triggered by an induction loop buried under the road surface. When vehicle passes over the loop the magnetic field is changed and the vehicle is sensed. I suppose a magnet and it would need to be a very strong one might make up for the reduced mass of a motorcycle.  Positioning over the loop is probably important too.

Lights are bad enough at the best of times without having to wait 10 - 15 minutes. If I had to wait more than 5 mins I'd be long gone and it would be "the lights are broke officer".

[JDS]

I got a ticket last yr for going through one of those lights I sat at for 10 minutes. tried to argue in court still pd the fine.

[msbuck]

Bob, you should be able to get in touch with the DMV or Dept of Transportation and get them to change the 'trigger' for the light so that it will 'see' motorcycles.  I think it's a sensitivity setting ro something.

At least that works in these parts...  

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

I bought 4 neodymium magnets from this place. http://www.kjmagnetics.com/

We have a gate at work that to exit, you need to trip a buried loop.  Or I can call and bug the guys in the office to open the gate for me.

The magnets did nothing.  I never put them on the bike, I just carried them to the loop in the asphalt and ran them back & forth, to no effect.

They live on the side of the fridge, now.

They are extremely powerful, and while playing around with them, I caught a bit of my finger between two of them.    Not good.  Blood blister, I think it is called.

I think the one's I bought were 3" x 1/2" x 1/4" thick
http://www.kjmagnetics.com/proddetail.asp?prod=BZ084

Now I just exit the building outside the parking lot, set my stuff down, open the gate with my card, and go inside and push the bike out (it's right next to the gate) and pack up and put my helmet on out there.
It works.

Traffic lights suck, though.  I've not gone through too many, and I've never been caught.

[Bob_Roller]

I was just wondering if anybody had any real life success with magnets, obviously not !!!!

[Yikes]

Wow JDS, that's a sad story.  What are you supposed to do after sitting for 10 minutes?  Turn right on red and do a U turn and right again?  I believe that's illegal too.  you know, I really do want to trust the good judgement and fairness of the police and courts, but when I hear stuff like that....  
When I get stuck at a light like that, when possible I ride over to the sidewalk and push the pedestrian crossing button to switch the light.  Probably illegal too.

[bruce_launceston]

It used to be a problem here and I have ridden through a few red lights, but I haven't been stuck for years. Perhaps the sensitivity of the detection loops has been adjusted to pick up motorbikes, it's something the Motorcycle Riders Association may have been lobbying for.
There was talk a long while back that we wouldn't be booked if we went through a red light if we had waited long enough (and obviously give way to everything).
I do make sure I stop directly over the long edge of the loop even if that means pulling up at a bit of an angle. You can nearly always see the cut in the asphalt.

[nhmaf]

I put a cow magnet onto the bottom of my Kawasaki, which was much stronger than the "green light traffic trigger" magnet sold by WhiteHorsePress.  It hasn't made any difference on one particularly problematic light near one of my customer's offices.   Sometimes, I get my bike up near the edge of the loop and push the sidestand down so that it touches the loop.   Sometimes this works - though it is very akward to do and it doesn't always work either.   The police have been notified, but they don't consider it a priority.

[darrylri]

I've often wondered if the magnet makes a difference, either.  There are several left turn lanes around here that are difficult to trigger, but I've found that the real culprit is that it's not clear where the sensor loop is.  If they've repaved and you can't see where the loop is, and it's not where they normally put them, then it's a real problem.

The intersection that I have to go through to get home has a left turn lane like this.  I actually got CalTrans to come out -- this also controls a couple freeway ramps -- and we found that the loop worked fine, but for whatever reason, it was about 10 or 15 feet back from the limit line.  Now that I know where it is, I don't have any problem with it.

[Bengt_Phorqs]

One method I've found that works on occasion is to lower the center stand with my left heel while I'm over the loop.  Like I said, it works on some occasions but not consistently.

As for having the local traffic authorities make changes to their system, well that ain't gonna happen!  Might as well try to convince Obama that capitalism is the best economic system.

[msbuck]

As for having the local traffic authorities make changes to their system, well that ain't gonna happen!Might as well try to convince Obama that capitalism is the best economic system.  

Well, I know it has happened here, so I say it's worth making a phone call or two.    Them Texans are just stubborn.... [smiley=Kick.gif]

[Bob_Roller]

I just sent an email off to the Arizona Department of Transportation, Highways Division, we'll see if I get any kind of response .