Red lights not recognising bikes

[Benno]

There is a junction near me with a red light that STAYS red if it is only me sitting by it on my bike.

Yesterday I got fed up with waiting, it was nearly deserted, so I waited until the lights on the road next to mine went green (it's a multi-road junction) and followed out the only car coming from that road, going through my red light.

What should you do in such a situation? It's not the only set of lights I've encountered that stay red on bikes. Also - paranoid question - is there any chance that they could have got my number plate from some crazy big brother tech out there?

The junction:
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=university+of+reading&hl=en&ll=51.442727,-0.954107&spn=0.000975,0.002411&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=40.460237,79.013672&t=h&hnear=University+Of+Reading,+Reading+RG6+6AQ,+United+Kingdom&z=19&layer=c&cbll=51.442854,-0.954294&panoid=ZQygoeF8weZOvTWrX1rQ8A&cbp=12,233.48,,0,12.31

[anthony_r6]

Is there not a sensor buried into the road? Have a look around next time your there. I don't think flashing it is going to help as it doesn't have those little cameras on the top.
____________________
Ted : "Maybe he's agoraphobic."
Dougal : "Jack scared of fighting? I don't think so, Ted."

[Benno]

[ElliotReidMD]

Some people attach neodymium magnets to the bottom of their bikes to increase the magnetic signature and activate these induction loop lights. No idea if it works but I've seen one video that indicates it does.
____________________
Current Bike: Kawasaki Versys

[Beelzebob]

Likely that, as has been said, the sensors are in the road but set up to pick up the signature of a car or larger. There was a junction like that near the bike instructors I used back in 2010, and they mentioned it. Something to do with not having a big enough lump of metal between your legs.

In the circumstances I would say you've got a pretty solid argument for just treating it as you did - proceed with caution. That's exactly the same as you would do if the lights weren't working at all. As long as you're aware of what the other lights are doing (to a degree) so that you don't surprise anyone that's going through a green light then you should be ok.
____________________
'09 YBR 125 -> '92 XJ600 S Diversion -> '99 Hornet 600

"Stronger than your average female lifeguard"

[pinkyfloyd]

We've a set up the road from where I live that wont pick bikes up. Oddly enough the next set down are fine and work like a charm but I have been known to stop for ages waiting for a car to come along and trip the lights.

On a Sunday night/Monday morning I tend to take the longer way home just to avoid these horrid lights as there are very few cars on the road when I am coming home from work.
____________________
illuminateTHEmind wrote: I am just more evolved than most of you guys... this allows me to pick of things quickly which would have normally taken the common man years to master
Hockeystorm65:.well there are childish arguments...there are very childish arguments.....there are really stupid childish arguments and now there are......Pinkfloyd arguments!
Teflon-Mike:I think I agree with just about all Pinky has said.

[mysterious_rider]

Ones near me dont work properly with bikes so I don't even wait anymore. Just see if its clear and run em'


edit; I should mention this is about 3am when there's pretty much no traffic about.

[shereen]

There was a thing I read somewhere about this. Basically the law/highwaycode states that you should wait an appropriate amount of time before going through the lights. It advises you should proceed with caution.

I will try and find it
____________________
"The Internet is the first thing that humanity has built that humanity doesn't understand, the largest experiment in anarchy that we have ever had"

[map]

Our work security gate opens when cars approach to go out (key entry in!). So far the bikes haven't triggered it and I've been lucky to time my ride out with either someone coming in or out.

I have been meaning to try the magnet solution. I think an alternative name is 'rare earth' magnets.

On topic I'd go with the solution above and treat the lights as faulty. Genuine case happened to me once in the car late one night. Tried running backwards and forwards over the sensor with no joy. Police car came up behind me and did the same. Eventually told by the officer to just proceed with caution across the junction.


____________________
...and the whirlwind is in the thorn trees, it's hard for thee to kick against the pricks...
Gibbs, what did Duckie look like when he was younger?

[Rogerborg]

Report a traffic light fault.

Also, pfft, traffic lights are just advisory (IMO, I know what the law says), red just means somebody else thinks they've got right of way.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[miss.metallica]

Theres also one of these lights by me, i make sure i swerve about a bit before i stop make sure its picked me up. Highly embarrassing when you have to move over & ask the guy in the car behind you to pull up so that huge trail of traffic behind can get moving

[LordShaftesbu...]

If this type of lights don't work for motorcycles, presumably whoever decided to install them knew with certainty that they wouldn't turn green for bicycles. I wonder what justification they gave?

[Fizzer Thou]

I remember reading about this situation elsewhere.If you contact the local councils highways department they can adjust the sensitivity of the induction loop set into the road.

Look for 'V' shapes lines in the road which pick up the speed of vehicles approaching the lights as well as square shape lines which pick up the vehicle standing at the stop line.
____________________
Just talk bikes.What else is there?

Always have a 'Plan B'

[Derivative]

[Benno]

[yen_powell]

I used to lay traffic sensing loops on the roads (for traffic counts rather than signals). Loops are more sensitive at their corners. Look for the slots cut into the carriageway then make sure to ride your bike over one of the the corners rather than through the middle of a straight part.

We've got a rising barrier at work that won't recognise a motorcycle unless you do the same, the cyclists have even sprayed a mark for the best position to pick them up.
____________________
Blackmail is a nasty word........but not as nasty as phlegm!
XT1200Z and a DR350 in bits

[brythered92]

[kawakid]

One near my work, which is from an industrial estate to a T junction, doesn't detect motorcycles at all. During the week it's not normally a problem a car always comes.

On a weekend I have to get off my bike, push it on to the pavement and walk it round. Absolute crayp system.
____________________
I've a twin and a 4.

[MinhDinh]

Usually staying back a car distance works, and flashing if there is a camera type sensor. However if it doesn't work, I wait 5 mins and go invade there is a camera. Apparently lots of council cameras fine people for this.
____________________
Hit the G spot.

[Slacker24seve...]

[bikertomm]

If it's safe to go through once you're sure it doesn't recognise you I'd just go, however if there is a red light camera I'd turn around.
____________________
07' Honda Hornet now full powaah! My guide on performing an oil change!

[Old Git Racing]

I had a similar problem with my TV, found I had forgotten to renew the TV license but found it still worked when I switched it on. Went out and got one the next day and didn't hear anything about it.
Sometimes I think we have just got to get the bull by the horns and go with it.

OGR
____________________
2022 Tiger Sport 660 2019 Street Twin 2003 K3 gixxer 1000 1998 Srad 600 track hack

[MinhDinh]

[snikks]

I was under the impression that technically, malfunctioning traffic lights do not comply with the appropriate traffic regulations, and therefore you'd have a reasonable defence for going through them with due caution should you get prosecuted.

I suspect what this means in practice is that if it is abundantly clear the lights are not working, nobody would bother to prosecute anyway, but a good way to CYA would probably be to report them as faulty asap.

Portable traffic lights, I think, are supposed to have a circuit that automatically generates a demand for passage every 2.5 minutes, which is specifically to cover the circumstance of a motorcycle or bicycle not registering.
____________________
- CBT: 02/01/11 Theory: 26/04/11 Mod 1: 19/05/11 Mod 2: 19/08/11
- 2007 Honda XL125V Varadero (Sold), 1999 Yamaha FZS600 Fazer (Sold), 2001 CBR600F

[tbourner]

There is a sensor but it's not at the white line which is odd (diagonal shiny tarmac about 2 car lengths back):

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=university+of+reading&hl=en&ll=51.442854,-0.953785&spn=0.001037,0.002194&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=40.460237,79.013672&t=h&hnear=University+Of+Reading,+Reading+RG6+6AQ,+United+Kingdom&layer=c&cbll=51.442784,-0.954485&panoid=NlTztN56FfXg9lM3AcGVpA&cbp=12,63.25,,1,8.55&z=19

Make sure you ride over it near to the edge to get the most, or maybe swerve violently and dangerously from right to left to cover as much of it as possible .
____________________
Trev, now a biker?
Looking for first big bike.