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Rolling stops through red lights in the city

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Old 08-29-15 | 06:15 PM
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I slow down and if the coast is clear i roll through. Most of the time there are cars so I have to stop a lot.
I thought my commute sucked at 5.0 miles and 39 lights. I hate the city so much but I stay because I hate commuting more lol.
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Old 08-29-15 | 06:34 PM
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Originally Posted by ShortLegCyclist
It might be that not all trigger systems are the same.

I'm motorcycle licensed, and at the certification course the instructors told us that even a motorcycle can fail to trigger the light, despite positioning the wheels right over the outline.

Maybe the sensitivity of the system can be tuned? After all, you wouldn't want a raccoon dragging a hubcap to be able to trip the signal.
If they are an induction they all work the same way. Sensitivity can be adjusted but I've not found one that I couldn't trip with a bicycle anywhere in the US if I can see the loop.

Originally Posted by ShortLegCyclist
This link does make it sound like the legality of going through the light is a new thing for Washington, though, maybe it's just poor research on the part of the journalist.

Governor Inslee signs the ?Dead Red? bill into law | Seattle Bike Blog
You have to have some way of getting around a light that isn't working or else you'd be stuck at a light until someone came to fix it. I haven't read their entire vehicle code or perhaps Washington State decided that they needed to spell it out better but I doubt that you had to sit at a light forever previously.
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Old 08-29-15 | 06:44 PM
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They're trying to phase out in-street sensors here, preferring to install video sensors for all new or majorly refurbed signaled intersections.

When I heard about new WA state stop laws for bicycles I was really hoping it was gonna be Idaho stop. Maybe next time...
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Old 08-29-15 | 06:52 PM
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Ok, if we want to share the road with cars I think we should abide by the law just like they have too. We want respect, we sure won't get it rolling thru a light that they have to stop at. Just my 2cents.

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Old 08-29-15 | 06:58 PM
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I stop at red lights and wait for the change to green unless the street I'm on is the top of the T on a T-Bone intersection. There unless there is a flood of traffic coming through or there are a load of pedestrians in front of me I roll through if all is clear.
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Old 08-29-15 | 07:01 PM
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Originally Posted by whatever84
Ok, if we want to share the road with cars I think we should abide by the law just like they have too. We want respect, we sure won't get it rolling thru a light that they have to stop at. Just my 2cents.

Mark.
What about the stop sign law? How will motorists like it if a club ride cues up single file and each one skootches up to the stop line, stops, looks both ways, then goes?

SF Cyclists To Protest Stopping At Stop Signs With ?Stop-In? « CBS San Francisco

I think most people just want traffic that flows smoothly and safely.
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Old 08-29-15 | 07:36 PM
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I thought we were talking about one guy riding to work not a group ride.

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Old 08-29-15 | 07:45 PM
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Originally Posted by whatever84
I thought we were talking about one guy riding to work not a group ride.

Mark.
In cyclist congested places like the Wiggle in San Francisco and any number of similar streets in Seattle, Portland and Minneapolis, people just commuting becomes effectively a group ride just from sheer numbers.
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Old 08-29-15 | 08:02 PM
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Ok, I just hear a lot of bicyclists complaining that we should have the same right to the road that the cars have, but then we want to not have to go by the same laws, that's all I'm saying.

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Old 08-29-15 | 08:11 PM
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Originally Posted by whatever84
Ok, I just hear a lot of bicyclists complaining that we should have the same right to the road that the cars have, but then we want to not have to go by the same laws, that's all I'm saying.

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Nah. I'm OK with being banned from the Freeways in the cities. Would be cool if, in exchange, we could have Idaho stop law.
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Old 08-29-15 | 08:15 PM
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Originally Posted by chefisaac
For the past 4 years, I've commuted a lot to my work which is a 22 mile round trip. The ride is pretty nice and peaceful. But I've left that job and just starting to commute to my new job which is 36-38 miles round trip. The exercise and scenery are really nice and this commute bring me into a different town which is philly. I work in the heart of the city and enjoy the commute but one thing I've been doing is just slowing down at red lights and watching for incoming traffic. If there is traffic, I stop and out a leg down. If not, I slow down and roll through.

For the folks who commute in big cities, what do you do?
I used to ride through downtown Portland to and from work. Luckily most of downtown's N/S routes are set up with a "green wave." Most of the lights are timed at 14 mph or so. Typically I only stopped once or twice heading through. I dunno what I'd do if I had to ride through 11 miles of fully signaled grid if it didn't have a green wave.
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Old 08-30-15 | 03:08 PM
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Here in Boulder County they have installed some type of video system at all the traffic lights. The lights that I always ran because they didn't respond now work as if I'm a car. I was still running them when I started to notice the system was tweaked to see bikes. It works very well. I suppose the system also helps with car traffic congestion by clearing out bottlenecks such as left turners dynamically instead of fixed time intervals. Hopefully this is the future because no matter what anyone claims, many of the old loop sensing systems simply don't detect bike traffic.
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Old 08-30-15 | 05:36 PM
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Originally Posted by LesterOfPuppets
What about the stop sign law? How will motorists like it if a club ride cues up single file and each one skootches up to the stop line, stops, looks both ways, then goes?

SF Cyclists To Protest Stopping At Stop Signs With ?Stop-In? « CBS San Francisco

I think most people just want traffic that flows smoothly and safely.
That was a staged event orchestrated to intentionally cause disruption, and doesn't represent reality. As to a club ride, as a group they will still be a rolling roadblock to following vehicles, and as individuals the delay to cross traffic would actually be less.
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Old 08-30-15 | 05:47 PM
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Originally Posted by kickstart
That was a staged event orchestrated to intentionally cause disruption, and doesn't represent reality.
I know.

Originally Posted by kickstart
As to a club ride, as a group they will still be a rolling roadblock to following vehicles, and as individuals the delay to cross traffic would actually be less.
Better for cross traffic, yes. Catastrophically worse for anyone behind them going the same way. And if LEOs insist on this type of left turn behavior by group rides, it could mean the end of group rides as we know them.
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Old 08-30-15 | 06:07 PM
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Originally Posted by LesterOfPuppets
if LEOs insist on this type of left turn behavior by group rides, it could mean the end of group rides as we know them.
That's not necessarily a bad thing under some circumstances.

Most group rides take place where liberties taken go unnoticed and/or have no meaningful impact on other road users, and will most likely continue to be ignored.
On the other hand, once in a while routes are chosen poorly where such behavior is disruptive, and pace lines are simply inappropriate.
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Old 08-30-15 | 08:34 PM
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I almost always stop now because I can't see well enough or there is just too much traffic or people watching. My previous commute there were a couple of lights that were completely pointless and I would roll through those if I was caught by them. On my commute now I don't pass any roads like that, but I have taken a route where I hopped on the sidewalk at a T, and I do that if there is a light from a pedestrian crossing and I see the pedestrian has already passed.

By the way, some of you have very few lights to go through.
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Old 08-30-15 | 08:55 PM
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I'll blow a light if I don't see anyone coming but my judgement for "someone coming" takes into account my own somewhat pathetic acceleration and the sheer number of moron drivers that don't know what the stalk on the left of the steering column is for. As a result I usually end up stopping anyway, even if it isn't for the whole light. Heck, around here I've found it's safer to cross against the lights. Car drivers just don't pay attention to small traffic on the right when they're turning.
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Old 08-31-15 | 01:07 PM
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Originally Posted by cyccommute
If they are an induction they all work the same way. Sensitivity can be adjusted but I've not found one that I couldn't trip with a bicycle anywhere in the US if I can see the loop.
Do you want to be in the middle of the loop or tangent to the side of the loop? (And if re-paving obscures the layout of the loop, then you're SOL)

FWIW I stop at all red lights except for when the intersection is straight-ahead + left only, so that the bike lane is not in danger or in the way of any traffic. I'm also scrupulous with arterial stop signs, purely residential stop signs not so much.
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Old 08-31-15 | 01:19 PM
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Originally Posted by RubeRad
Do you want to be in the middle of the loop or tangent to the side of the loop? (And if re-paving obscures the layout of the loop, then you're SOL)
On the circular ones, I like to make a chord with my bike's wheelbase. Most repaves will involve loop replacements, chipseal or other surface treatments often obscure the cuts, though.
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Old 09-01-15 | 05:15 AM
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I usually slow down for the red lights. If the cross traffic is clear then I speed up and roll through. I try not to take too many chances. If there are any cars that could potentially turn in front of me, I'll just stop and at least wait for them to clear through.
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Old 09-02-15 | 08:03 AM
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Originally Posted by RubeRad
Do you want to be in the middle of the loop or tangent to the side of the loop? (And if re-paving obscures the layout of the loop, then you're SOL)
It depends on the shape of the loop. Most of the loops in my area are figure 8 (three lines in the pavement) or square (two lines in the pavement). On figure 8, roll the wheel directly over the center leg for as long as possible. For square, I roll the wheel over either leg for as long as possible. There are only a couple of places in Denver that use the round loop but I've never found them to be any less sensitive. If anything they seem to be easier to trip by simply riding over the loop at any point.

I've used this method in 47 of the 50 states and never had a problem tripping a light if I could see the loop as I clearly stated above. Even repaving doesn't necessarily mean that you can't find the loop, however. On new fresh pavement, it is impossible. But if the pavement is a couple of years old, often times cracks will develop over the loop lines. Often I can see long linear cracks in the pavement and I know that is where the loop is. My success rate with those is a little lower but not by much.
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Old 09-02-15 | 08:12 AM
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Originally Posted by gregf83
I have 6 or 7 lights to go through in 20 miles. Most lights I'll come to a normal stop like a vehicle and rarely roll through a red. One light shown below is essentially a 3 way intersection even though technically cars could go through the intersection from top left to bottom right they seldom do so I just take the path shown in green if the light is red.

How'd that double trailered-truck get there?
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Old 09-02-15 | 09:12 PM
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Originally Posted by cooker
How'd that double trailered-truck get there?
There is often a truck or work crew parked over there but in the 250+ times I've been through that intersection I've yet to see a vehicle go through past my green path. There's good visibility so if I did see someone I'd stop. I just treat it as a T intersection.
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Old 09-03-15 | 08:53 AM
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I think I see what he means is, what path could a double-trailered truck take to end up there? I'm guessing they don't back up so well, so he must have come off that bottom cloverleaf making as wide a left turn as possible to rest at the curb.

But what is that stump even for? There's a left-turn lane, why does traffic need the 'jughandle' (as we called them in NJ)?
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Old 09-03-15 | 08:57 AM
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Originally Posted by chefisaac
For the past 4 years, I've commuted a lot to my work which is a 22 mile round trip. The ride is pretty nice and peaceful. But I've left that job and just starting to commute to my new job which is 36-38 miles round trip. The exercise and scenery are really nice and this commute bring me into a different town which is philly. I work in the heart of the city and enjoy the commute but one thing I've been doing is just slowing down at red lights and watching for incoming traffic. If there is traffic, I stop and out a leg down. If not, I slow down and roll through.

For the folks who commute in big cities, what do you do?
Good on you, Philly PPA is the bane of every driver in an otherwise generally awesome city. Have a Yuengling's for me next time you partake, if you do.
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