Traffic light sensors
#26
Arizona Dessert

Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 15,029
Likes: 2,170
From: AZ
Bikes: Cannondale SuperSix, Lemond Poprad. Retired: Jamis Sputnik, Centurion LeMans Fixed, Diamond Back ascent ex
Of four of the intersections I go thru (small street crossing a major road) the sensors do not work for my bike. I have tried multiple times aliging bike on cut-outs, tipping bike, etc.
There is no way possible I can run the red - three is never a break in the 55mph+ traffic during rush hour. The light is the only way to cross. Even if I could run the red I would not want to out of principle.
I always get off bike and press x-walk button, it works every time.
Al
There is no way possible I can run the red - three is never a break in the 55mph+ traffic during rush hour. The light is the only way to cross. Even if I could run the red I would not want to out of principle.
I always get off bike and press x-walk button, it works every time.
Al
#27
Senior Member


Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 6,169
Likes: 1,797
From: Madison, WI USA
Originally Posted by Da Tinker
Call the agency responsible for the light, report the light as not working properly.
#28
I have trouble every day with an inductive sensor. There is a set of lights used to control the flow of traffic over a very narrow "hump backed" bridge over the canal close to where I work. In one direction, my bikes bike trip the sensor without difficulty. However when approaching from the other direction (as if I needed an incentive not to attend work
)I always seem to get stopped. There is also a delay on the response on this sensor, almost as if it had been designed to irritate cyclists using clipless pedals... I am beginning to think that it will only change once I have stopped and put my foot down.
Cheers,
Ed
)I always seem to get stopped. There is also a delay on the response on this sensor, almost as if it had been designed to irritate cyclists using clipless pedals... I am beginning to think that it will only change once I have stopped and put my foot down.Cheers,
Ed
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#29
UPDATE:
Tried the uber-magnet at a light just now. Waited, waited, waited... nothing. Then a truck pulls up behind me. Near-instant yellow light for the street I was crossing.
ARGH. Time to call Reno somebody-er-other. Awe screw it. They can't run a city, let alone fix traffic lights.
Tried the uber-magnet at a light just now. Waited, waited, waited... nothing. Then a truck pulls up behind me. Near-instant yellow light for the street I was crossing.
ARGH. Time to call Reno somebody-er-other. Awe screw it. They can't run a city, let alone fix traffic lights.
#30
Ride the Road

Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 4,058
Likes: 5
From: Columbus, Ohio
Bikes: Surly Cross-Check; hard tail MTB
Originally Posted by noisebeam
Of four of the intersections I go thru (small street crossing a major road) the sensors do not work for my bike. I have tried multiple times aliging bike on cut-outs, tipping bike, etc.
There is no way possible I can run the red - three is never a break in the 55mph+ traffic during rush hour. The light is the only way to cross. Even if I could run the red I would not want to out of principle.
I always get off bike and press x-walk button, it works every time.
Al
There is no way possible I can run the red - three is never a break in the 55mph+ traffic during rush hour. The light is the only way to cross. Even if I could run the red I would not want to out of principle.
I always get off bike and press x-walk button, it works every time.
Al
If your bicycle doesn't trip the detector, you have to wait for a car to do it, or else you have to go through the red light. Going through the red isn't against the law, because the light is defective. If you ever have a crash or get a traffic ticket because a traffic light won't turn green, it's the fault of whoever installed the detector.
https://www.bikexprt.com/streetsmarts/usa/chapter9a.htmhttps://www.bikexprt.com/streetsmarts/usa/index.htm
As always, if you want legal advice, consult a local lawyer, but this makes common sense.
#31
Arizona Dessert

Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 15,029
Likes: 2,170
From: AZ
Bikes: Cannondale SuperSix, Lemond Poprad. Retired: Jamis Sputnik, Centurion LeMans Fixed, Diamond Back ascent ex
Originally Posted by Daily Commute
I admire your restraint, but it's the city's job to make the lights work. I try to stay predictable, and a turning car wouldn't expect me to go from the lane to the signal to the lane again. Street Smarts, which has been published by, among others, by the Pennsylvania DOT, agrees:
When I leave the road to press the signal, there is sometimes a car or two coming, I let it go ahead and line up behind it. These are 90% of the time right turning cars. (it makes sense that in the morning folks are leaving neighborhood streets and turning L or R onto main streets, not crossing them into another neighborhood)
One light has a push button just for cyclists, but I can't reach it from the left turn lane I am in. I wonder if the city will fix those sensors if there is already a 'cyclists push button'
Al
#32
No mentioned it here but on some lights, especially near fire houses, you can take advantage of the strobe lights on emergency vehicles. (Of course, this only works at nite.) In my car, if I'm far back enough, I flash the high beams a few times before entering the intersection. If it's strobe triggered, the light will change to green before you get there. If you have a strobing light on your bike, you may be able to achieve the same.
#33
Can't ride enough!

Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 1,235
Likes: 0
From: south Louisiana
Bikes: IFab Crown Jewel, Giant Defy, Hardtail MTB, Fuji finest, Bianchi FG conversion
Originally Posted by madpogue
Dozens of us have, many times. I wouldn't have posted if we hadn't gone thru those motions yet. Until something actually does get done (of course, no one will ever be told if it does), I indeed treat it as a non-working signal, i.e. a four-way stop.
Or thrown in the trash.
#34
Senior Member


Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 6,169
Likes: 1,797
From: Madison, WI USA
Originally Posted by Da Tinker
Then it could be you're talking with the wrong person(s). Try to work you way up the chain of command, and be prepared to quote the relevant state laws. If that fails, then try to engage local cycling advocates and the media. If a wheel squeaks load enough, it usually gets greased.
#35
Can't ride enough!

Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 1,235
Likes: 0
From: south Louisiana
Bikes: IFab Crown Jewel, Giant Defy, Hardtail MTB, Fuji finest, Bianchi FG conversion
Originally Posted by madpogue
Ironically, your first statement may be true, but that's part of the problem; for things like this, even the city agencies themselves often don't know who "the right person(s)" is/are.
#36
Originally Posted by noisebeam
Of four of the intersections I go thru (small street crossing a major road) the sensors do not work for my bike. I have tried multiple times aliging bike on cut-outs, tipping bike, etc.
I always get off bike and press x-walk button, it works every time.
Al
I always get off bike and press x-walk button, it works every time.
Al
But there's a grand-daddy slow light that stays red while a long line of commuters wait FOR NOBODY that changes almost immediately when I swing up the handicap ramp on the sidewalk and hit the walk button.
They love me. They do.
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