Living Car Free - Device to fool traffic light into thinking your bike is a car

It's clunky but it's a start...
http://www.core77.com/blog/technology/how_to_fool_a_stoplight_into_thinking_your_bike_is_a_car_11655.asp

Earlier this week I was out at night. When I needed to stop for a couple of traffic lights, without other cars on my street, I had to aim my headlight at the optical traffic sensors beside the traffic lights. I lifted the front wheel off the ground and aimed the headlight directly at the sensors and within seconds the traffic lights changed to green. This was the first time I had tried doing that and it worked well.

Not all of the traffic lights in town use optical sensors so for the in ground electromagnetic sensors I'll just run the lights when it's clear.

Optical sensors look like small skinny tubes with a wire coming out of them pointed at traffic lanes. Look for them beside the traffic signals.

Most of the time when I was riding a motorcycle such sensors wouldn't react to the light of the cycle at night. Perhaps I should have carried a flashlight to aim at them.

It's clunky but it's a start...
http://www.core77.com/blog/technology/how_to_fool_a_stoplight_into_thinking_your_bike_is_a_car_11655.asp

You're right, it is clunky, and too low to the ground. I think I'll just keep jumping up on to the curb and hitting the crosswalk activator, or whatever you call it.

Have you considered just using a large magnet? That's a common way out for motorcycles, which seem to have just as much trouble in getting a light to change as a bicycle. There's a couple of places that sell coated (against the elements) magnets that bolt onto the motorcycle frame around the engine.

I would think that a large magnet on a string would work just as well. When you come to the light, pull it out of your pocket, drop it around the sensor line, and pick it back up and put it away.

The triggers respond to metal mass, not to magnetism. You need to get your rims over the buried coils. If a bicycle won't trigger it, it's defective--usually either improperly installed or adjusted wrong. Get it fixed or ignore it.

Have you considered just using a large magnet? That's a common way out for motorcycles, which seem to have just as much trouble in getting a light to change as a bicycle. There's a couple of places that sell coated (against the elements) magnets that bolt onto the motorcycle frame around the engine.

I would think that a large magnet on a string would work just as well. When you come to the light, pull it out of your pocket, drop it around the sensor line, and pick it back up and put it away.
nope does not work. I knew it would not but I tested it with a rare earth magnet. this one could lift over 100 pounds. sat it right on the wire and it did not work.

The triggers respond to metal mass, not to magnetism. You need to get your rims over the buried coils. If a bicycle won't trigger it, it's defective--usually either improperly installed or adjusted wrong. Get it fixed or ignore it.


This has been discussed on BF many times. You'll often see grooves in the lane (often they are hexagonal..). The theory is that if your rim is placed over a portion of the hexagon, it should trip the light

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/question234.htm

It sometimes works for me...

Here's another thread that discusses it... (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=437590)

Earlier this week I was out at night. When I needed to stop for a couple of traffic lights, without other cars on my street, I had to aim my headlight at the optical traffic sensors beside the traffic lights. I lifted the front wheel off the ground and aimed the headlight directly at the sensors and within seconds the traffic lights changed to green. This was the first time I had tried doing that and it worked well. Not all of the traffic lights in town use optical sensors so for the in ground electromagnetic sensors I'll just run the lights when it's clear. Optical sensors look like small skinny tubes with a wire coming out of them pointed at traffic lanes. Look for them beside the traffic signals. Most of the time when I was riding a motorcycle such sensors wouldn't react to the light of the cycle at night. Perhaps I should have carried a flashlight to aim at them.

how about mounting a light onto your helmet. That way you can just lookup at the sensor, and aim with your head.

Is this really a problem for people? I've never had a compulsion to wait at a red light that wouldn't pick me up as a vehicle. Wait until it's safe to turn, and go.

Is this really a problem for people? I've never had a compulsion to wait at a red light that wouldn't pick me up as a vehicle. Wait until it's safe to turn, and go.

For me, the compulsion to wait is the fear of being nailed by the traffic with the green light. How otherwise would you get across busy intersections? I see many cyclists dismounting and using the pedestrian cross buttons, then trying to re-enter the lane... not very safe, but sometimes the only other option besides running the light.

It looks very interesting, but the way it is now, it's way too big. If it were about the size of a USB stick I might be more interested. I just wouldn't want to carry that big thing around "just incase" I run into a red light that won't turn green. It just doesn't happen all that often.

I'm car free and fairly militant about it. All this talk about vehicular bicycling and riding like we're driving an automobile (insert here: all the selfishness) means that we share in the resources that make up our roads, right? When did you ever see an autodriver have to get out of his/her car to hit the button, flash the light, or otherwise do other things to make the light change? That's why I just go thru. it. That's just one more reason why we're not like autos.

Set aside all the other reasons; enhanced visibility, making time and creating clearance by beating out the cars, little threat to perpendicular crossing pedestrians (we are pretty thin and light compared to a car). If we maintain our lane we actually slow up cars behinfd us.

My bike triggers the lights in my town as it is.

you could just wrap your bike in a car.

nope does not work. I knew it would not but I tested it with a rare earth magnet. this one could lift over 100 pounds. sat it right on the wire and it did not work.

What do you mean by "the wire"? How do you know where the sensors are? I've seen wires on the street before but my impression has been that those are for counting/survey purposes.

you could just wrap your bike in a car.

That is brilliant.

What do you mean by "the wire"? How do you know where the sensors are? I've seen wires on the street before but my impression has been that those are for counting/survey purposes.

When you roll up on an intersection with the sensors you will see where they cut the pavement, inserted the wires and put epoxy of some sort back in the cuts. They are usually an oblong box shape with cut leading to the next lane and then to the box on the curb. Not all streets have them, some lights are controlled strictly by timers or computers using other means of traffic sensing.

Aaron:)

Two nights ago a motorist was waiting to cross through an intersection from the opposite direction at an excessively long traffic light. He saw me flash the sensors intended to be triggered by emergency vehicles with my headlight to trigger a quick light change. He gave me a quick burst of his horn, a smile, and a thumbs-up as we passed each other through the intersection. :thumb:

What a waste of gasoline when some traffic lights are set on timers, there is a line of cars idling, but there is virtually no cross-traffic on the road. Many intersections still have no pedestrian crossing buttons. On sunny days, I sometimes carry a mirror to make similar "manual" changes of bothersome traffic lights.

Unfortunately, not all lights around here can be triggered by bright flashing lights. :innocent:

the other day I went through a stop light and the lights went off for the camera to take my picture!! (of the licence plate on the bike LOL) so those traffic light sensors can be set up correctly but not for non-revenue-enhancement?

When you roll up on an intersection with the sensors you will see where they cut the pavement, inserted the wires and put epoxy of some sort back in the cuts. They are usually an oblong box shape with cut leading to the next lane and then to the box on the curb. Not all streets have them, some lights are controlled strictly by timers or computers using other means of traffic sensing.

Aaron:)

We have a bunch of these... usually shaped as hexagons. I have recently been experimenting. I now never get off my bike to press the pedestrians button (which I consider dangerous...) Rather, I have been cover the front portion of the hexagon with my front wheel. So far the lights seem to work for me.

We have a bunch of these... usually shaped as hexagons. I have recently been experimenting. I now never get off my bike to press the pedestrians button (which I consider dangerous...) Rather, I have been cover the front portion of the hexagon with my front wheel. So far the lights seem to work for me.

My problem is impatience. I position my bike correctly to activate the light. Then I wait about 13 seconds, decide the signal is defective and run the light. A block later, I look back and see that the light is "finally" changing. :o