There's not enough ferrous metal in my scooter to trigger most lights in my town. Once a dude on Harley sidled up next to me in the lane to get the lights to see us. He gave me a ~~job~~ *nod* and said, "It *should* see both of us."
It was kinda funny, and he didn't even disrespect me for being on a scooter. At least not openly, anyway.
*EDIT: I really have to improve my proofreading before posting*.
> That's not enough ferrous metal in my scooter to trigger most lights in my town.
It doesn’t have to be ferrous to trigger a loop detector, it only has to be electrically conductive. A single aluminum rim or hub should be fine. If (and therein lies the rub) they are set up correctly (and if you are positioned correctly above them).
You can read more about it [here](https://www.bikewalknc.org/bicycle-detection-at-traffic-signals/) and [here](https://highways.dot.gov/public-roads/mayjun-2008/making-signal-systems-work-cyclists).
Unless you're tubeless, get some fine magnet wire and put a soldered loop between your tire and tube. Creates a conductive target loop that's even closer to the sensor than your rim.
Interesting. I was told by my town, when I enquired about it, that all the lights here sense ferrous metals, but not aluminum. My VFR800 has less steel than some motorbikes and it doesn't trigger them here, either. Nearby towns don't seem to pose the same problems for that bike, but none of them ever catch my bicycles.
Aluminium will work but it doesnt work nearly as well as ferrous metals, which is why setup is so important. It's a fairly weak singnal to begin with and there's significanly less wiggle rook with thin aliminium bike tires or thin ferrous or non-farrous motorcycle tire than wide ferrous car tires. The loops are also usually only picking up 1, (maybe both depending on positioning) thin wheel (as opposed to a car's wider, thicker wheel) which makes it even harder to get a reading. Some places have loops designed for bikes with significanly smaller loops to pick up both wheeles and a more sensitive/powerful detector to increase the signal strength.
I have the most luck riding directly over the etchings in the road where the loops are located. Probably 6/10 work. Not great but better compared to 2/10 when aimingnfor other parts of the loop.
Another issue, by the way, re "riding directly above": there are multiple intersections \[that I know of\] where the loops do not extend into the bike lanes. Thus, if a biker wants to try to have the sensors detect them, they have to move into the center of a lane -- even though there is a bike lane there.
Want to be clear, I appreciate your stepping in with knowledge -- my perspective is that it seems to be hit/miss with sensors and my bike: even at the same intersection, it may/may not work for reasons that aren't clear to me.
My city uses cameras, you can't get a bike to trigger the signals no matter what. I use the pedestrian beg buttons, which also don't work a lot of the time.
Where there are induction loops, your spoke material matters more than the frame, because of proximity like I think you said. Aluminum frames will work, but steel spokes work much better. The profile of the ferrous object "facing" the loop matters, so you'll get better results by leaning your wheels over the loop than just standing upright on top of it. It looks silly but it works.
Also, it should be possible to calibrate the sensitivity of the loops if they're not picking up bicycles. Call your city's 311 or public works or whatever you have.
Regarding your last point, I've had more success at the etchings, too. Then they repave the street and the etchings are gone so you can't see where to stop.
Also, the distance of the conductive material from the sensor loop matters. A loop of magnet wire between your tire and tube will put a conductive target just tread-thickness above the pavement. That makes a much better target for poorly-adjusted inductive loops.
> We're all about inclusion and helping others.
Some of you are. Not the ones who ride modified Harleys that make pedestrian's eardrums bleed. They're all about "fuck others", it would seem.
I don't think the amount of metal is always a factor. I've watched busses get stuck at lights for minutes on end more than once because it wouldn't change for them, only for it to change for a smaller passenger car.
The distance is a big factor. I've had more success triggering signals with a road bike and 25mm tires than with a cruiser and 55mm tires. The wheel sits a lot closer to the loop.
The only people who hate scooters are the people who want one the most but were told all their lives "scooters are for pussies".
They're fun as hell and quite practical.
There’s a set of lights in my home town on a road that is only for busses, taxis and bicycles. The lights remain on red until they detect a vehicle approaching. They are not calibrated for cyclists at all.
As a cyclist I either have to go on red, which isn’t recommended as the road ahead is probably the busiest in the town (it’s the only river crossing for kilometres) or wait for a bus to arrive. What a shit system, lol.
Saying that, there is a similar traffic light not far away on a road just for busses, taxis and bicycles.
Except there is a button specifically for cyclists to let the system know you’re there. Kinda like a pedestrian crossing, only it’ll stop traffic to let a cyclist join the main carriageway.
It’s weird how my local council got it both right and wrong within about a kilometre, lol.
My entire ride is full of hitting walk buttons. I’m happy if there are walk buttons! The lights that kill me are the ones without them that are at busy cross streets. (If it’s not a busy road, I’ll cross, which I think most do.)
My city was touting the creation of new bike lanes. Turns out it's just the shoulder. They didn't extend it or anything, and it's about 80% gravel/broken glass and debris.
But there's a little painting of a cyclist on it, so that's nice.
We have these at a lot of lights around me as well (Seattle). In the city most lights are on fixed timers so no need, but then in the suburbs you have a lot of sensor lights and they have those
You apparently don't know what fun those used needle can be when they lodge themselves into your legs. Ice found heroin, meth, HepB, and all sorts of other things that way
You really just want a loop of conductive material that will change the inductance of the loop sensor in the ground.
Usually just lining up alloy bike wheels on top of one of the cut lines above the wire loops will work. If it’s a double loop the center line will be the most sensitive. If there are no cuts… then it’s tough.
This is what I do. I hit one of these lights on my way home from work in order to detour away from a huge intersection, and it won't trigger for me.
If it skips me twice and no cars come along to help I just inch out, wait for my opportunity and go. If your infrastructure can't include me I can't include your infrastructure lol.
I do give it a fair chance though.
[https://www.dot.state.pa.us/public/pubsforms/publications/pub%20380.pdf#page=46](https://www.dot.state.pa.us/public/pubsforms/publications/pub%20380.pdf#page=46)
>*If your bike does not 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* ***is not against the law****, because the light is defective.*
I stand on a non functional sensor covered in shattered car parts from multiple accidents that would have injured me if I was standing there at the time of the accident. I stare at an empty intersection where no cars have passed for 30 seconds. Eventually a car finally arrives next to me and triggers the light and it turns green for me to go. Suddenly the first car in 45 seconds arrives from the other direction and runs the red light and I have to wait at the green light while they pass. This is true efficiency and safety!
Where I am they have a *few* green painted boxes with bike symbols/"wait here" that have a trigger for the light. You cycle up the bike lane,and then you wait in front of cars at a "no turn on red" intersection usually,or at a bike specific one to cross a busy street. Sometimes there is even a little light that says "bike detected".
I have one of these on my commute and was recently assured that the sensor should have bicycle detection. Looking forward to checking it out to see if it works. It's a long light, though, so I might feel like I've been waiting forever and hit the ped x-ing button anyway.
One place that must have awesome stoplight sensors near me is a Bus/bike transitway between the two campuses of the University of Minnesota (one in Minneapolis and one in St Paul). It seems to detect me riding and the lights generally turn green at the crossings just as I’m approaching. Maybe they have cameras with motion detection?
In Denver they seem to favor camera sensors for bicyclists over induction loops. But they haven’t done a good job installing those camera everywhere they should be on designated bike routes
I emailed my city traffic engineer to ask about a signal on my route the other day. It ended up being a CDOT signal, but they said it should see me. Glad to know, I hate hitting the pedestrian crosswalk button if I don't have to. I don't need 35 seconds to cross the street. I just need to know I'm not going to die. There have been a few places that they've installed bike-only signals (along Dillon Road in Broomfield, for example). I'm not sure how they work (is there a sensor or do you hit a button) or if they work well. I've never seen anyone biking there.
My US town uses visual sensors. And they are actually really well-calibrated for cyclists. I can't remember the last time I was forced to cross on a red light here. Everything else is 100% ass, but at least the signal cameras see cyclists. Even if the 7,000 pound lifted diesel with aftermarket tires that stick out past the fenders doesn't see me.
There is a road near my job where I have this issue. There is a cycling path literally on the other side of the crosswalk. And yet I am stopped by the stoplight and can't legally pass it. Sometimes I can't be arsed and just run the red light. But I usually step off the bike, lift it to the sidewalk and walk it over to the bike path.
Here in the Netherlands, I saw a lot of lights that switch for bicycles automatically. There are some wires in the pavement. It looks like they are very close to the surface and were installed way after bike paths were made.
I don't even listen to stoplights and I know that no other cyclist does either. I use them to see who's stopping and who's going and I use that to get through safely.
I just walk up the sidewalk and push the pedestrian signal, which will start the timer for the light to turn
Granted if you don't have pedestrian signals it won't work
New York State has a law that says if your vehicle does not trigger the light, you can proceed through the red when it is safe. Common sense for a change hurray! There may be cases where the cross street is very busy and no safe opportunities present themselves, but in my experience in these cases the side street also has more traffic - enough for someone else to trigger the light for you if you make enough room for them.
I cycle a lot in Portland, pretty much every stoplight now has either detection loops capable of picking up bicycles or dedicated bike detection pads. They’ll often even mark the ground with a “bikes wait here” box over the detector. There’s even a few controlled intersections with bike-specific lights, so you get a head start on car traffic and don’t get hit by turning vehicles.
Plus all lot of lights are simply on timers much of the day, and prioritize pedestrian mobility.
I have found if I point my light at the sensor ( UK ) on my early morning training rides the red turns green, otherwise I am sitting at the lights as they change through the junction and ignore me. I won't jump the lights, I'll opt for dismount and cross the road, if I am lucky at 5:30ish a car will pull up behind me and the lights change.
The designated bike route that I take to work has a bike lane and “share-arrows” to get cyclists from the top of the hill to midtown.
I have to cross three lights on a 3 mile ride. Two are on timers, and the third is a sensor. If I’m in the bike lane it will never trigger. If I’m on my fat bike it will trigger if I leave the bike lane.
Thus I am left with three options. I usually pray for a car to help me out. Or, I can get off my bike and hit the crosswalk button. Finally, I can just run the red light. I usually run it early in the morning.
Had a rozzer give me a flats of the blues to catch my attention and then a nod and a wave to run the red because I was waiting in a turn only, alone, and every other light had gone at least twice. he was at the front of the queue I would be crossing so I was very fortunate that they were a decent bloke and not looking to hit a quota.
Yes! Grrrr. There is one on my way home every day, and I have to make all sorts of bike acrobatics to make it recognise me. Often I will end up just waiting until there is no traffic, and then cross.
(And this is said by a Dane, who otherwise treat stoplights like divine messages that will strike you with ligtening, if you don't obey them).
A bit late to the thread, but my main issue with the sensors in my city is where they're placed.
https://imgur.com/EblwefO.png
Like here, if I stay in the bike lane, the sensor won't trigger. I have put myself in the traffic lane to trigger the light. I get so sketched out that some distracted driver is going to hit me from behind at some of these lights that I usually just wait the cycle (on this particular light the cycle is like 3 minutes long, annoying AF).
I have one light on my commute home that will see me. The next intersection I have to go through doesn’t. They’re in the same city I find it hilarious that one will change for me and the other won’t.
I used to drive a Dodge neon that wouldn't trigger the light on my way to school. I had to take a different route in the morning when the commuting traffic would hold the light for ages.
Not necessarily for bicyclists, but for motorcycles and scooters. If you pull up to the intersection, you wanna look for the line that goes through the circle and rest your bike right there. That's the most sensitive part, from what I understand.
In the late '70's and early '80's, I had a Renault LeCar. Frequently it would trip the sensor.
I finally realized the secret. If there wasn't any other cars, I allowed down about 1/2 a block before the light, and slowly rolled across the sensor, with 90% success.
The LeCar has torsion bars, front wheel drive, and a lot of ground clearance for a small car.
Sensors are mostly calibrated to detect bikes now, but in the past I would lay my bike down on its side to trip the sensors at intersections and drive-throughs.
Your electric unicycle is propelled by an electric motor, which has a bunch of strong magnets in it. Since the motor is \~70% of the entire unicycle, you can easily trigger the sensors by placing any part of your unicycle over them.
Thankfully around here most of the induction loops have been replaced with either optical sensors or wireless magnetometers. Optical are the best since they almost always detect a bike but magnetometers work well most of the time as long as they are calibrated to pick up bikes. Around here they also paint the magnetometers a neon color (they’re neon dots in the middle of the lane) so I know exactly where to put my wheel to trigger it. Carbon wheels sometimes don’t work but with alloy wheels except for one light that I think isn’t calibrated well I can get all the lights I normally ride by to trigger.
Check your ordinance. My city, not really bike-forward, has an exception in the ordinance for bicycles and motorcycles. If you stop, observe traffic and obey any other applicable traffic laws, these vehicles can treat stop lights like stop signs and can proceed when safe.
i was riding my e-bike out of a shopping center and was waiting at a left turn light so i could get out onto the main road. this dude in an F-150 truck pulls up behind me and starts screaming about how “THE SENSOR CANT SEE YOU GET OUT OF THE ROAD!!!! MOVE!!!!” and when i told him it would change eventually and that’s not my fault, he just kept yelling. the light did turn green right then and the second i pulled out into the intersection he revved his engine as loud as he could and literally tried to force me out of the road, went around me extremely close as i moved out of fear, and basically did a burnout trying to move so fast. it was so loud and obnoxious. being on a bike sucks sometimes and it’s never because of the bike itself
The sensitivity of the sensors needs to be cranked up to detect aluminum alloy frames. This can be done by either increasing the number of sensor loops, or increasing the power. A lot of municipalities still don't do either, especially small towns in the USA.
I've been told by my local Transit Director that the sensors *can't* be malfunctioning because the signal is triggering all day. Despite the fact that I've very clearly told him that they do not work for my bike at all and all of the sensors have worked for my bike in the past. There's one in particular where I saw some workers doing something with the big traffic signal box and from that point on I could never trigger that light ever again.
I get that, but the OP is making a huge generalization with the post topic when posting in this sub and not giving any detail on location. Small town? Medium town? Big city? Tulsa? Washington D.C? Carbon bike? Beach cruiser?
Odd, must be that town. I'm in Minnesota and never seem to have an issue with the road sensors. I have an all steel bike and then a fatty with carbon and alloy.
There's not enough ferrous metal in my scooter to trigger most lights in my town. Once a dude on Harley sidled up next to me in the lane to get the lights to see us. He gave me a ~~job~~ *nod* and said, "It *should* see both of us." It was kinda funny, and he didn't even disrespect me for being on a scooter. At least not openly, anyway. *EDIT: I really have to improve my proofreading before posting*.
> That's not enough ferrous metal in my scooter to trigger most lights in my town. It doesn’t have to be ferrous to trigger a loop detector, it only has to be electrically conductive. A single aluminum rim or hub should be fine. If (and therein lies the rub) they are set up correctly (and if you are positioned correctly above them). You can read more about it [here](https://www.bikewalknc.org/bicycle-detection-at-traffic-signals/) and [here](https://highways.dot.gov/public-roads/mayjun-2008/making-signal-systems-work-cyclists).
[удалено]
Unless you're tubeless, get some fine magnet wire and put a soldered loop between your tire and tube. Creates a conductive target loop that's even closer to the sensor than your rim.
Good idea! Then I don't have to ditch my steel rims
Interesting. I was told by my town, when I enquired about it, that all the lights here sense ferrous metals, but not aluminum. My VFR800 has less steel than some motorbikes and it doesn't trigger them here, either. Nearby towns don't seem to pose the same problems for that bike, but none of them ever catch my bicycles.
Aluminium will work but it doesnt work nearly as well as ferrous metals, which is why setup is so important. It's a fairly weak singnal to begin with and there's significanly less wiggle rook with thin aliminium bike tires or thin ferrous or non-farrous motorcycle tire than wide ferrous car tires. The loops are also usually only picking up 1, (maybe both depending on positioning) thin wheel (as opposed to a car's wider, thicker wheel) which makes it even harder to get a reading. Some places have loops designed for bikes with significanly smaller loops to pick up both wheeles and a more sensitive/powerful detector to increase the signal strength. I have the most luck riding directly over the etchings in the road where the loops are located. Probably 6/10 work. Not great but better compared to 2/10 when aimingnfor other parts of the loop.
Another issue, by the way, re "riding directly above": there are multiple intersections \[that I know of\] where the loops do not extend into the bike lanes. Thus, if a biker wants to try to have the sensors detect them, they have to move into the center of a lane -- even though there is a bike lane there. Want to be clear, I appreciate your stepping in with knowledge -- my perspective is that it seems to be hit/miss with sensors and my bike: even at the same intersection, it may/may not work for reasons that aren't clear to me.
My city uses cameras, you can't get a bike to trigger the signals no matter what. I use the pedestrian beg buttons, which also don't work a lot of the time. Where there are induction loops, your spoke material matters more than the frame, because of proximity like I think you said. Aluminum frames will work, but steel spokes work much better. The profile of the ferrous object "facing" the loop matters, so you'll get better results by leaning your wheels over the loop than just standing upright on top of it. It looks silly but it works. Also, it should be possible to calibrate the sensitivity of the loops if they're not picking up bicycles. Call your city's 311 or public works or whatever you have.
Regarding your last point, I've had more success at the etchings, too. Then they repave the street and the etchings are gone so you can't see where to stop.
Also, the distance of the conductive material from the sensor loop matters. A loop of magnet wire between your tire and tube will put a conductive target just tread-thickness above the pavement. That makes a much better target for poorly-adjusted inductive loops.
Totally placebo probably but my carbon fork gravel bike is not as good as tripping the lights as my steel bike boat anchor rigid 90s mountain bike.
We're united by our hatred of cars.
Very kind to also give you a job :)
I really have to improve my proofreading skills. Or get some skills...
Experienced motorcycle riders don't hate. We're all about inclusion and helping others.
> We're all about inclusion and helping others. Some of you are. Not the ones who ride modified Harleys that make pedestrian's eardrums bleed. They're all about "fuck others", it would seem.
I don't think the amount of metal is always a factor. I've watched busses get stuck at lights for minutes on end more than once because it wouldn't change for them, only for it to change for a smaller passenger car.
The distance is a big factor. I've had more success triggering signals with a road bike and 25mm tires than with a cruiser and 55mm tires. The wheel sits a lot closer to the loop.
He gave you a WHA-
Yeah, he didn't give me one of *those*. I crossed it out, but left it in for the humour.
"You and me, two-wheelers, buddies"
Honestly I think the only people hating on scooters are people who have never ridden or owned a motorcycle or bicycle in the fucking first place lmfao
The only people who hate scooters are the people who want one the most but were told all their lives "scooters are for pussies". They're fun as hell and quite practical.
The "grin factor" is huge! I have a VFR800, which I love, but the scooter is also still fun.
There’s a set of lights in my home town on a road that is only for busses, taxis and bicycles. The lights remain on red until they detect a vehicle approaching. They are not calibrated for cyclists at all. As a cyclist I either have to go on red, which isn’t recommended as the road ahead is probably the busiest in the town (it’s the only river crossing for kilometres) or wait for a bus to arrive. What a shit system, lol.
I have a crossing like that here, if no cars are waiting I have to get off my bike and hit the pedestrian button on the sidewalk.
Saying that, there is a similar traffic light not far away on a road just for busses, taxis and bicycles. Except there is a button specifically for cyclists to let the system know you’re there. Kinda like a pedestrian crossing, only it’ll stop traffic to let a cyclist join the main carriageway. It’s weird how my local council got it both right and wrong within about a kilometre, lol.
My entire ride is full of hitting walk buttons. I’m happy if there are walk buttons! The lights that kill me are the ones without them that are at busy cross streets. (If it’s not a busy road, I’ll cross, which I think most do.)
You can lie your bike down. Not all the way, just tilt it towards the road. Works for me.
In some places here in germany there are separate small induction sensors on the cycle-lane. They work. 👍
> cycle-lane yeah we don't get those either.
My city was touting the creation of new bike lanes. Turns out it's just the shoulder. They didn't extend it or anything, and it's about 80% gravel/broken glass and debris. But there's a little painting of a cyclist on it, so that's nice.
> there's a little painting of a cyclist on it oh, that makes me feel so much better!
I found out that the line sometimes( heavy on the sometimes) can trigger the light at an intersection.
We have these at a lot of lights around me as well (Seattle). In the city most lights are on fixed timers so no need, but then in the suburbs you have a lot of sensor lights and they have those
Just strap an 18lb neodymium magnet to your down tube like a normal person
So sensible, why didn’t I think of that!
Bonus: riding over dropped coins Negative bonus: and used needles
You apparently don't know what fun those used needle can be when they lodge themselves into your legs. Ice found heroin, meth, HepB, and all sorts of other things that way
You really just want a loop of conductive material that will change the inductance of the loop sensor in the ground. Usually just lining up alloy bike wheels on top of one of the cut lines above the wire loops will work. If it’s a double loop the center line will be the most sensitive. If there are no cuts… then it’s tough.
Indiana has a dead red exception. You wait 120 seconds on red and if still red you can proceed. (My perception of 120 seconds is when I proceed)
Yeah that's too long. I wait one light cycle. And then once I know that that intersection won't change, I'll never wait for it again
California lets you treat malfunctioning lights like a stop sign.
Gotta suck not living in the Netherlands
I was told one may proceed through on red, in Belgium, if they feel like the detector cannot detect them. Wait 20 seconds, proceed carefully.
This is what I do. I hit one of these lights on my way home from work in order to detour away from a huge intersection, and it won't trigger for me. If it skips me twice and no cars come along to help I just inch out, wait for my opportunity and go. If your infrastructure can't include me I can't include your infrastructure lol. I do give it a fair chance though.
There are just places in the US where I wouldn't feel comfortable doing that. Speed limit's too high and sight distance is too low.
[https://www.dot.state.pa.us/public/pubsforms/publications/pub%20380.pdf#page=46](https://www.dot.state.pa.us/public/pubsforms/publications/pub%20380.pdf#page=46) >*If your bike does not 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* ***is not against the law****, because the light is defective.*
I literally don’t care at all about crossing legally. I only care about crossing *safely.
I stand on a non functional sensor covered in shattered car parts from multiple accidents that would have injured me if I was standing there at the time of the accident. I stare at an empty intersection where no cars have passed for 30 seconds. Eventually a car finally arrives next to me and triggers the light and it turns green for me to go. Suddenly the first car in 45 seconds arrives from the other direction and runs the red light and I have to wait at the green light while they pass. This is true efficiency and safety!
Where I am they have a *few* green painted boxes with bike symbols/"wait here" that have a trigger for the light. You cycle up the bike lane,and then you wait in front of cars at a "no turn on red" intersection usually,or at a bike specific one to cross a busy street. Sometimes there is even a little light that says "bike detected".
i have one of those on my commute that works about half the time lol
I have one of these on my commute and was recently assured that the sensor should have bicycle detection. Looking forward to checking it out to see if it works. It's a long light, though, so I might feel like I've been waiting forever and hit the ped x-ing button anyway.
One place that must have awesome stoplight sensors near me is a Bus/bike transitway between the two campuses of the University of Minnesota (one in Minneapolis and one in St Paul). It seems to detect me riding and the lights generally turn green at the crossings just as I’m approaching. Maybe they have cameras with motion detection?
In Denver they seem to favor camera sensors for bicyclists over induction loops. But they haven’t done a good job installing those camera everywhere they should be on designated bike routes
In Colorado, you can also treat it as a stop sign.
Yeah, but I’m not doing that on the major Denver arterials (Federal Blvd; 38th Ave) during commuting hours
I emailed my city traffic engineer to ask about a signal on my route the other day. It ended up being a CDOT signal, but they said it should see me. Glad to know, I hate hitting the pedestrian crosswalk button if I don't have to. I don't need 35 seconds to cross the street. I just need to know I'm not going to die. There have been a few places that they've installed bike-only signals (along Dillon Road in Broomfield, for example). I'm not sure how they work (is there a sensor or do you hit a button) or if they work well. I've never seen anyone biking there.
My US town uses visual sensors. And they are actually really well-calibrated for cyclists. I can't remember the last time I was forced to cross on a red light here. Everything else is 100% ass, but at least the signal cameras see cyclists. Even if the 7,000 pound lifted diesel with aftermarket tires that stick out past the fenders doesn't see me.
There is a road near my job where I have this issue. There is a cycling path literally on the other side of the crosswalk. And yet I am stopped by the stoplight and can't legally pass it. Sometimes I can't be arsed and just run the red light. But I usually step off the bike, lift it to the sidewalk and walk it over to the bike path.
Me: is both a motorcyclist and a bicyclist.
Here in the Netherlands, I saw a lot of lights that switch for bicycles automatically. There are some wires in the pavement. It looks like they are very close to the surface and were installed way after bike paths were made.
I don't even listen to stoplights and I know that no other cyclist does either. I use them to see who's stopping and who's going and I use that to get through safely.
In Colorado cyclists are allowed to treat red lights like stop signs, which is nice because there are a few I ride through that never trigger for me.
I just walk up the sidewalk and push the pedestrian signal, which will start the timer for the light to turn Granted if you don't have pedestrian signals it won't work
The camera sensor lights in our small city change almost instantly for bicycles. The rider has to be in the center of the traffic lane.
New York State has a law that says if your vehicle does not trigger the light, you can proceed through the red when it is safe. Common sense for a change hurray! There may be cases where the cross street is very busy and no safe opportunities present themselves, but in my experience in these cases the side street also has more traffic - enough for someone else to trigger the light for you if you make enough room for them.
I cycle a lot in Portland, pretty much every stoplight now has either detection loops capable of picking up bicycles or dedicated bike detection pads. They’ll often even mark the ground with a “bikes wait here” box over the detector. There’s even a few controlled intersections with bike-specific lights, so you get a head start on car traffic and don’t get hit by turning vehicles. Plus all lot of lights are simply on timers much of the day, and prioritize pedestrian mobility.
I have found if I point my light at the sensor ( UK ) on my early morning training rides the red turns green, otherwise I am sitting at the lights as they change through the junction and ignore me. I won't jump the lights, I'll opt for dismount and cross the road, if I am lucky at 5:30ish a car will pull up behind me and the lights change.
The designated bike route that I take to work has a bike lane and “share-arrows” to get cyclists from the top of the hill to midtown. I have to cross three lights on a 3 mile ride. Two are on timers, and the third is a sensor. If I’m in the bike lane it will never trigger. If I’m on my fat bike it will trigger if I leave the bike lane. Thus I am left with three options. I usually pray for a car to help me out. Or, I can get off my bike and hit the crosswalk button. Finally, I can just run the red light. I usually run it early in the morning.
if there is no traffic you could turn right, go about 10 feet and make a u turn, then a right, then keep straight.. :)
In Idaho, I just get to treat them as stop signs and it makes it easier
My town has dedicated bike sensors that work great. I love it.
Had a rozzer give me a flats of the blues to catch my attention and then a nod and a wave to run the red because I was waiting in a turn only, alone, and every other light had gone at least twice. he was at the front of the queue I would be crossing so I was very fortunate that they were a decent bloke and not looking to hit a quota.
Yes! Grrrr. There is one on my way home every day, and I have to make all sorts of bike acrobatics to make it recognise me. Often I will end up just waiting until there is no traffic, and then cross. (And this is said by a Dane, who otherwise treat stoplights like divine messages that will strike you with ligtening, if you don't obey them).
Or also when there’s just simply a green light for cars Yeah I just cross whenever I see I can make it
Yeah hahah
In Colorado cyclists are allowed to treat red lights like stop signs, which is nice because there are a few I ride through that never trigger for me.
steel bikes ftw babyyyy
A bit late to the thread, but my main issue with the sensors in my city is where they're placed. https://imgur.com/EblwefO.png Like here, if I stay in the bike lane, the sensor won't trigger. I have put myself in the traffic lane to trigger the light. I get so sketched out that some distracted driver is going to hit me from behind at some of these lights that I usually just wait the cycle (on this particular light the cycle is like 3 minutes long, annoying AF).
I have one light on my commute home that will see me. The next intersection I have to go through doesn’t. They’re in the same city I find it hilarious that one will change for me and the other won’t.
I used to drive a Dodge neon that wouldn't trigger the light on my way to school. I had to take a different route in the morning when the commuting traffic would hold the light for ages.
Dead red law here. I go when it is safe. I know which lights are sensored and which are timed.
I just look both ways and pedal on. Life is short
Not necessarily for bicyclists, but for motorcycles and scooters. If you pull up to the intersection, you wanna look for the line that goes through the circle and rest your bike right there. That's the most sensitive part, from what I understand.
In the late '70's and early '80's, I had a Renault LeCar. Frequently it would trip the sensor. I finally realized the secret. If there wasn't any other cars, I allowed down about 1/2 a block before the light, and slowly rolled across the sensor, with 90% success. The LeCar has torsion bars, front wheel drive, and a lot of ground clearance for a small car.
Sensors are mostly calibrated to detect bikes now, but in the past I would lay my bike down on its side to trip the sensors at intersections and drive-throughs.
You can try laying your bike as flat as possible to maximize the area being detected by the underground magnets.
Also ignored and unseen by auto/truck/bus motorists in general. Anybody in a cage pretty much is a massive risk vector for us. ✊🏻
Hmm my electric unicycle usually triggers them in my experience. I do have a much thicker wheel tbf
Your electric unicycle is propelled by an electric motor, which has a bunch of strong magnets in it. Since the motor is \~70% of the entire unicycle, you can easily trigger the sensors by placing any part of your unicycle over them.
That's true lol. I forgot there's literally a ring of neodymium magnets millimetres from the rim
Thankfully around here most of the induction loops have been replaced with either optical sensors or wireless magnetometers. Optical are the best since they almost always detect a bike but magnetometers work well most of the time as long as they are calibrated to pick up bikes. Around here they also paint the magnetometers a neon color (they’re neon dots in the middle of the lane) so I know exactly where to put my wheel to trigger it. Carbon wheels sometimes don’t work but with alloy wheels except for one light that I think isn’t calibrated well I can get all the lights I normally ride by to trigger.
My redline PL26 sets the lights off
Haha yep, I run (walk?) the most amount of reds on my bike, then my motorcycle, and basically never in my car
Check your ordinance. My city, not really bike-forward, has an exception in the ordinance for bicycles and motorcycles. If you stop, observe traffic and obey any other applicable traffic laws, these vehicles can treat stop lights like stop signs and can proceed when safe.
There are places now where there are inducers
instead make a right on red, ride a bit, u-turn when safe to do so, then right again and you have crossed the intersection
Get a neodymium magnet. Put it in a keychain pill holder. Zip tie to bottom bracket.
i was riding my e-bike out of a shopping center and was waiting at a left turn light so i could get out onto the main road. this dude in an F-150 truck pulls up behind me and starts screaming about how “THE SENSOR CANT SEE YOU GET OUT OF THE ROAD!!!! MOVE!!!!” and when i told him it would change eventually and that’s not my fault, he just kept yelling. the light did turn green right then and the second i pulled out into the intersection he revved his engine as loud as he could and literally tried to force me out of the road, went around me extremely close as i moved out of fear, and basically did a burnout trying to move so fast. it was so loud and obnoxious. being on a bike sucks sometimes and it’s never because of the bike itself
A 200 lb magnet on the bottom of the scooter or bicycle can make it work, but sometimes you have to be over one of the wires.
I don't know if this is an old wives' tale I've made up, but I found that tilting the bike so more "surface area" is over the loop works.
place a powerful magnet on the bottom of your bike
[https://i.imgur.com/cvB354u.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/cvB354u.jpg)
Lol. We need more memes to counter the “I don’t know how a bike works but I’m gonna explain the rules to them anyway” people
What are you riding where the sensors don't detect you? Unless you're on something that's 100% carbon you should get seen
The sensitivity of the sensors needs to be cranked up to detect aluminum alloy frames. This can be done by either increasing the number of sensor loops, or increasing the power. A lot of municipalities still don't do either, especially small towns in the USA.
I've been told by my local Transit Director that the sensors *can't* be malfunctioning because the signal is triggering all day. Despite the fact that I've very clearly told him that they do not work for my bike at all and all of the sensors have worked for my bike in the past. There's one in particular where I saw some workers doing something with the big traffic signal box and from that point on I could never trigger that light ever again.
I get that, but the OP is making a huge generalization with the post topic when posting in this sub and not giving any detail on location. Small town? Medium town? Big city? Tulsa? Washington D.C? Carbon bike? Beach cruiser?
USA
Yup, that's a place. Not sure what you're getting at
Oh I read where are you riding at. But yeah I have steel and aluminum bikes and neither trip the sensor
Odd, must be that town. I'm in Minnesota and never seem to have an issue with the road sensors. I have an all steel bike and then a fatty with carbon and alloy.
Happens to me in PA and MD. maybe in minnesota they calibrate them to register bikes?