Traffic lights not recognising bikes

[inchy1981]

Near me there is a T-junction controlled by lights.

At quiet times, if you roll up in the car, they change straight away. On the bike, you sit there, being ignored, until either a car comes behind you to trigger the lights, or you take your life in your hands and run the red light...

Does anyone else ever have this problem, and have you ever complained to the local councils?

[Pol Anorl]

Had this many times, legaly (i think) if you have been sat there for circa 5 minutes waiting you can proceed if its safe to do so.

Maybe someone else can shed some electromagnetic radiation that is visible to the human eye on this subject.

Theres been times ive put bike on sidestand ran across and pushed button on other lights ran back and rode off on a green.
____________________
GOOD GAME BODYGUARD: https://i.imgur.com/8WePGgf.jpg
20:30:37 Pyro.: I don't sort of like men, I take every advantage to choke on dick.
Jewlio Iglesias: You live in Liverpool - Chances are, the front door has already been kicked off the hinges

[salty21]

there are a few sets of lights near me that dont recognise me. there both pretty pointless though as you can easily see if there are cars coming from other directions. I usually just go straight through them now if its clear and never had any fines or anything.

Regarding the rule, 'wait for circa 5 minutes'. Surely if you know for a fact the lights wont change for you, no matter how long you wait. they cant expect you to just sit there for 5 minutes everytime....can they?
____________________
04 NSR 125(sold) ---- 03 CBR 600rr(sold) ----90 pan euro ST1100 '' ----02 CG 125
94 CB400 Super Four ---- 2000 VTR SP1 (sold) ---- 08 ninja p8f(sold, meh) ----05 CBR600rr

[soforene]

[Dave70]

Got this problem at the moment on the route to work. The problem only developed after they resurfaced the road.

I can wait for ages for a car to arrive, as I pass through it at 06:30 when there's sod all about. Have had to go through the red light on a few occasions lately, which I don't like doing for obvious reasons.

This thread has just reminded me to fire an email off to the relevant department. Will post up their reply when I get one.

Incidently, does anyone know if the local authority have a legal obligation to correct this problem?

[Easter Bunny]

try rolling the bike back 10-12 feet and approaching again


Theres a set of lights that I do his to and they change straight away
____________________
The light at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming train!

[sidewinder]

Every time i leave shrewsbury football ground this happens.Just let a car past now to activate them
____________________
"Nitrous is like a cheap hooker, you want to hit it but are scared of the consequences

[thepuma]

Yeah theres a set of lights by me that do that...if theres no cars around I have to jump a red light or be stuck there for eternity.

The first time I approached them on my bike I was there ages...tried rolling back and forth to no avail...after 5 minutes waiting like an idiot I just went.
____________________
YBR125 (SOLD) - CBR250R(SOLD) - CBR650F(SOLD) Current - Street Triple
765 RS

[Gman360]

I've had this happen, I thought it was just an isolated incident! I just went after a few mins thinking that the lights had broken down!
____________________
HONDA VFR400NC24, YAMAHA FZR600R, LAVERDA 750 FORMULAS, CB250 SUPERDREAM, SUZUKI GSXR750K1, YAMAHA R1 5PW, APRILLIA RSVR, SUZUKI GSXR100K5, SUZUKI GSXR100K5 TK2, SUZUKI GSXR750K7, HONDA CBR600RR, YAMAHA R1 5PW, KAWASAKI ZX6R C1H CURRENT

[U_W v2.0]

[yen_powell]

Most traffic lights are just working on a timer system. They may have loops set into the road to increase a green time if it detects a longer than usual queue. On a bike you need to cross one of the corners of the loop as they are more sensitive at those points.
____________________
Blackmail is a nasty word........but not as nasty as phlegm!
XT1200Z and a DR350 in bits

[Turkish]

Those types of lights are controlled by induction loops. You can see where they have installed them by looking for a large outline of a square in bitumen. Beneath those channels is a wire through which a current is passed. When a car drives over them, some of the current is 'induced' in the body of the car - think of it like a transformer, on one side is some AC signal input, the other side (the car) is the load. The circuit can detect this change in load, probably due to a drop in voltage across the wire.

ANYWAY, so to get the lights to change, you need to make your bike to appear as a bigger load - you can do that by sticking a fuck off magnet to the bottom of your bike.

Or simply stop on the induction loops. What doesn't help matters is the comparatively small amount of ferromagnetic materials used in bikes, but that is a story for another day!
____________________
ZX-6R G2
CBR125R RW6

[Dave70]

[Rogerborg]

[soforene]

[daemonoid]

This happened to me in a car park in Liege. On the way in I rolled back and forth about 20 times and it eventually worked. On the way out - nothing. Eventually a grumpy BMW driver came up and refused to help me get out - oh how I laughed when he scraped his front wing against the high curb as he drove round me. Eventually a friendly couple pulled up and used my ticket to open the barriers for me.
____________________
current: ducati monster 750
past: hyosung gt250r, bajaj pulsar 180, hyosung gt 125 comet
@thomasgarrard | www.straitjkt.com | www.racingseven.com

[Oz.]

Used to happen with me all the time at a particular set of lights I had to travel through every night, I complained to the council and got an email from someone in the traffic unit advising they will pass to testers to fix, which they did.

EDIT: I reported via here, www.fixmystreet.com , the site works well, I reported a whole bunch of pot holes and banding problems that caused tramlining on a half mile stretch of road, reported it on a Weds and it was fixed by Monday morning,

[J.M.]

Different systems use different techniques I.

The traffic lights by my ex-girlfriends work never detected my bike. Once both sets of lights were on red. I was picking her up from work so I sent her over the bridge to look over and see if it was clear (after some time) so I could run the light. She gets to the top of the bridge... walks back... and tells me that there's another bike waiting on the other side.

I soon found out a trick for that set of lights. If, when stopping, I stopped about 1 ft over the stop line, the lights would almost instantly change to green and let me go!
____________________
2004 R1 & 2018 XSR900

[soforene]

[J.M.]

[P.addy]

I've ridden through 2 red lights now because they haven't changed.

I tend to know the light timings and patterns really well. My mind is good at things like that. But yeah, it was 10pm, lights hadn't changed and I was cold... just crept out, checked the road and went.

[Stiffler]

There is a right turn filter across a dual carriage way on my morning commute. It does not activate the right turn filter unless a vehicle is detected. Now normally it's busy enough that it's not a problem, but during school holidays I can find myself sat there for a cycle or two of the lights before a car comes along to get me through. It's really frustrating, and I've tried rocking my bike over the induction loops in the ground and nothing seems to work.

I really should contact the local council and see if they can adjust the sensitivity of the sensors!
____________________
Current Bikes - Kawasaki ZX-6R (636) | BMW G650GS

[soforene]

[J.M.]

Explain this.

I was sat at the lights waiting at the stop line for approx 5+ minutes. I know these lights, I was on red for far longer than I should have been.

I sent my gf at the time to see what was over the bridge to see if it was safe to proceed. She told me there was another motorcyclist on the other side also waiting at the red light.

I wait a few more minutes. Nothing.

I slowly creep over the stop line and the lights change.

In several other instances after this. The lights were on red, I position myself marginally over the stop line and they changed.

I know the highway code. I know about stop lines. I'm not an idiot.

I also know about these sets of lights. I used them a lot.

I know what happened, you don't. I highly doubt you've ever been to or seen the lights in question.

Edit: I don't run stop lines everywhere. Just that 1 set of lights because it is the only way that I can get them to change for me. Everywhere else I ride works perfectly.
____________________
2004 R1 & 2018 XSR900

[P.addy]

All these people getting their knickers in a twist Flashing blue lights are telling you to pull over, some run. Jump a red, live on the edge.

Join us, We need YOU!

https://thebadassproject.com/wp-content/themes/the-badass-project/images/badass_army_badge.png