Unfriendly traffic lights are unfriendly

[Floppy disk]

I just hate those traffic lights that are not changing periodically, yet do not respond to a heavy bike with a heavy rider on them. There are few around and I always end up praying a car might come soon enough. Yesterday I had to roll forward and ask the car behind me to advance so that the weight detectors work. But last week I was in the middle of the night, no car around, and I waited and waited, and they weighed my options: Should I go off the bike walk to the pedestrians light and push it leaving the bike unattended with a running engine? Or shall I just run through the traffic light? What would/did you do n such situation?

[Trade_nancy]

I wondered if there is such a thing as a "weight detector"...are you certain? I know it's what we've been told...but I thought they'd all be synchronised on a computer nowadays??
Have a similar issue when commuting early - 4:30am through town...same set of lights every damned day...in the car or on the bike - f lights sits on red for ages. Next day - it changes at 20 sec intervals...and is fine for a week..then.. it's back to several minutes again. I go through after 2 mins or so if there's no sign of police. I went thru a red on my bike back in the 70's when I figured the lights were stuck and the car behind started gentle tooting. Turned out there was a copper behind the car. Pulled me over and told me off,.. no ticket though. Said - you have to stay and wait...forever.

[Floppy disk]

I wondered if there is such a thing as a "weight detector"...are you certain? I know it's what we've been told...but I thought they'd all be synchronised on a computer nowadays??

100% sure. The weight detectors are working, but only when the computer is using them. In many places, they put a specific pattern(s) for the lights to change during the day to accommodate traffic flow, and switch to weight detectors by night. Technically, you can even have both at the same time (i.e. shortcut the pattern if no car is coming through the green light).

I was wondering if anyone have asked the police about this one.

[Ulsterkiwi]

Encounter that problem quite often. Travel to work at about 5.30am. One set of lights in particular can sit on red for ages with noone and I mean NOONE in sight for maybe a km of road.
Apparently sometimes the sensor is not weight activated but magnetic, maybe you need to work on your magnetism:msn-wink::msn-wink:

I guess if you can see clearly you take the chance and go. If the boys in blue see you at it you are at their mercy because its clearly not legal. Certainly if I were to pull that one I wouldnt argue if I got ticketed, its a calculated risk. Having said that I still find the kiwi fascination with running red lights interesting!!!!

[iYRe]

There is a sensor, and they are meant to be able to detect a bicycle, let alone a motorbike. You can report them to the council (like the auckland council), and they come out with in a few weeks and adjust them. So far only 1 out of 5 I have reported dont work properly now.

[Mom]

Report any lights that wont pick you up to the council, they can adjust the sensitivity of the sensors. Its like anything, if they dont know there is a problem, they cant fix it for you.

[iYRe]

report any lights that wont pick you up to the council, they can adjust the sensitivity of the sensors. Its like anything, if they dont know there is a problem, they cant fix it for you.

^^^^^^^^^^^^---

:p

[Ruahine]

There is a sensor, and they are meant to be able to detect a bicycle, let alone a motorbike. You can report them to the council (like the auckland council), and they come out with in a few weeks and adjust them. So far only 1 out of 5 I have reported dont work properly now.

Sometimes you can see the break in the tarmac where the sensors are. I find putting the stand down on this break/join can help get the lights to detect you.

[n3Xro]

Run into this often round the tron. Particularly the turning lanes that are controlled. Even in the middle of the day I have been stuck through 2-3 light sequences waiting for someone in a car to pull into the lane to trigger it a couple of times I've had to roll forward and wave them on as well.
Now know where most of the tricky ones are so if I'm on my own now I use them for a little bit of emergency braking practice when its dry, the extra force on the front tyre seems to be enough to trigger it.

[swbarnett]

- you have to stay and wait...forever.
As I understand it you're allowed to go through a red carefully if they are malfunctioning. It seems obvious to me that if they won't change for you they are indeed malfunctioning. I'd be challenging any ticket under such circumstances. I'd love to hear from anyone that has already done so.

[G4L4XY]

I was riding with a mate in Auckland City late one night. The light was red and we stopped and the pedestrian light instructed dem peds to start walking. Next thing my mate jumps off his bike and pushes it through the lights amoungst the pedestrians!!! I sat there waiting like a good boy.

He never did get any tickets in the mail haha

..And yes I've had to roll forward to let a car initiate the whatever mechanism it is that triggers the lights.

[rphenix]

Encounter that problem quite often. Travel to work at about 5.30am. One set of lights in particular can sit on red for ages with noone and I mean NOONE in sight for maybe a km of road.
Apparently sometimes the sensor is not weight activated but magnetic, maybe you need to work on your magnetism:msn-wink::msn-wink:

I guess if you can see clearly you take the chance and go. If the boys in blue see you at it you are at their mercy because its clearly not legal. Certainly if I were to pull that one I wouldnt argue if I got ticketed, its a calculated risk. Having said that I still find the kiwi fascination with running red lights interesting!!!!

Theres one that I use if no car comes along and its late the light never changes simple as that. I've had pedestrians press the button and you hope the lights will cycle through after the ped has crossed but nope goes straight back to the other traffic again so you have the option of running the light or waiting forever for a car to turn up.

[Mom]

As I understand it you're allowed to go through a red carefully if they are malfunctioning. It seems obvious to me that if they won't change for you they are indeed malfunctioning. I'd be challenging any ticket under such circumstances. I'd love to hear from anyone that has already done so.

I remember doing that out at East Tamaki, intersection with Te Rakau Drive. Was absolutely shitting myself running a red, but it was not going to change for me. IIRC I was test riding some 2 smoker beast of a thing that did not know how to keep its front wheel on the ground, was a bit like riding a bucking horse as I had no feel of the clutch/gas combination to ease it around the place. So there I was lifting the front wheel while running a red light...

No plod around so all good.

[hayd3n]

its a electro magnetic sensor
find the cut in the road and aim for the centre
289056

[awa355]

Wouldn't it be easy enough to have a motion sensor built into the base of the light box that picks up the movement of an approaching vehicle?

[tigertim20]

two ways I have found around insensitive lights.
1) put bike in nuetral, put stand down, lean bike over and push the weight of it onto the stand. seems to work at a lot of lights that do not otherwise detect me.
2) look left, look right, dump the clutch and hit the gas

[St_Gabriel]

its a electro magnetic sensor
find the cut in the road and aim for the centre



Yup, Hayd3n is on to it, induction loop is the correct term and picks up on the magnetic field induced by the vehicle. Either proceed safely through them on red (would doubt the red light camera would activate if it wont activate the light sequence, though they may operate on different sytems) as the lights are obviously faulty, and notify council at earliest convenience or if you regulalrly have an issue, permanently attach a rare earth magnet to the bottom of you boot and place you foot on the ground in the sensing area when you approach the intersection.

[Erelyes]

Inductive loops they are. Should only be a problem if they're out of tune or you're on a plastic bike.

[bogan]

Wouldn't it be easy enough to have a motion sensor built into the base of the light box that picks up the movement of an approaching vehicle?

Wouldn't it be easy for some cunt to stick their chewing gum on the sensor and piss off a lot of people :bleh:

Best advice in thread goes to mom/iyre and hayden, park on the inductive loops, and if that doesn't work tell the council!

[Erelyes]

Wouldn't it be easy for some cunt to stick their chewing gum on the sensor and piss off a lot of people :bleh:

Best advice in thread goes to mom/iyre and hayden, park on the inductive loops, and if that doesn't work tell the council!

In my younger years as a larrakin living in Wellington, we duct taped the pedestrian call button, on the lights at the Basin end of the terraces, on boy racer night.... :shifty:

[hayd3n]

In my younger years as a larrakin living in Wellington, we duct taped the pedestrian call button, on the lights at the Basin end of the terraces, on boy racer night.... :shifty:

ba ha ha ha i miss welly

[kevie]

There was an article in a recent "LONGRIDERS MAGAZINE" issue regarding some UsA sttes changing the law so if a motorcycle was sitting at the traffic lights for a 'reasonable time' without them getting the green, then the motorcycle was legally allowed to proceed providing it was safe to do so..... dam good idea I recon :)

I contacted the waikato council re the Tainui Bridge road/SH1 lights, when making a right onto Tainui the lights dont sense my bike is there, they emailed back and said the lights are regularly checked so there should be no problem .... like Doh ..... I tell them there is, but there may be too much plastic nowadays in my Jappo lmao, should do a cruise round there over the weekend and see if it still refuses to know Im there.

[skinman]

there is one in howick & several in onehunga that dont detect bikes so I wait 2 cycles then pin it (checking for cops first of cause) & if a 250kg plus bike is not going to set them off what the f, the detection system must be crap

[ellipsis]

...did a u turn in friday eve rush hour traffic on Moorhouse Ave in Chch, a couple of decades ago...the last drop of the day and I was driving a curtainsider that I hadn't driven before...I didnt notice anything out of the ordinary as I did this, probably cheeky and sneaky and at that hour, silly turn...got to the factory in central city, pulled in to the loading area and fuck me if there isn't a whole street light cluster through the curtain and in the truck...I unloaded the paint at the factory and drove back to the yard expecting flashing lights and irate people yelling at me to pull over, but it didn't happen...we had our friday night drink and never heard a thing about it again...quite odd we thought as the curtains had a big company logo on them...


...the moral of the story is perhaps...drive through them or over them, you may just stay lucky..

[Devil]

I was riding with a mate in Auckland City late one night. The light was red and we stopped and the pedestrian light instructed dem peds to start walking. Next thing my mate jumps off his bike and pushes it through the lights amoungst the pedestrians!!! I sat there waiting like a good boy.

He never did get any tickets in the mail haha


This is quite legal. Just like pushing a bicycle. This has come up before and I think from a particular instance the police preferred that you switched the bike off and walked it.

[Ender EnZed]

What about at traffic lights that have no pedestrian button? Presumably with no button to press then jaywalking is impossible and a pedestrian can cross at any time as long as nothing is coming.

Does that mean it'd be legal to walk your bike across, say, this intersection (https://maps.google.co.nz/?ll=-41.159299,174.971673&spn=0.004661,0.008401&t=m&z=17&layer=c&cbll=-41.159299,174.971673&panoid=1w2MYX7ARdLaMFNtWVX5Rw&cbp=12,142.51,,0,5.85), whenever you like?

[swbarnett]

What about at traffic lights that have no pedestrian button? Presumably with no button to press then jaywalking is impossible and a pedestrian can cross at any time as long as nothing is coming.

Does that mean it'd be legal to walk your bike across, say, this intersection (https://maps.google.co.nz/?ll=-41.159299,174.971673&spn=0.004661,0.008401&t=m&z=17&layer=c&cbll=-41.159299,174.971673&panoid=1w2MYX7ARdLaMFNtWVX5Rw&cbp=12,142.51,,0,5.85), whenever you like?
Given the lack of footpaths at that intersection you'll probably find that peds aren't supposed to be there anyway.

[Scuba_Steve]

What about at traffic lights that have no pedestrian button? Presumably with no button to press then jaywalking is impossible and a pedestrian can cross at any time as long as nothing is coming.

Does that mean it'd be legal to walk your bike across, say, this intersection (https://maps.google.co.nz/?ll=-41.159299,174.971673&spn=0.004661,0.008401&t=m&z=17&layer=c&cbll=-41.159299,174.971673&panoid=1w2MYX7ARdLaMFNtWVX5Rw&cbp=12,142.51,,0,5.85), whenever you like?

No, if there is no button to press pedestrians must obey the traffic lights i.e. if the vehicles are on red then so too are pedestrians, once they go green pedestrians have right of way... But see if your avg car driver will understand the law, or better yet for your own safety Don't!

[Tazz]

What about at traffic lights that have no pedestrian button? Presumably with no button to press then jaywalking is impossible and a pedestrian can cross at any time as long as nothing is coming.

Does that mean it'd be legal to walk your bike across, say, this intersection (https://maps.google.co.nz/?ll=-41.159299,174.971673&spn=0.004661,0.008401&t=m&z=17&layer=c&cbll=-41.159299,174.971673&panoid=1w2MYX7ARdLaMFNtWVX5Rw&cbp=12,142.51,,0,5.85), whenever you like?

No. Nice try though.

[Ender EnZed]

Given the lack of footpaths at that intersection you'll probably find that peds aren't supposed to be there anyway.

It's not a motorway though; no reason they shouldn't be there.


No, if there is no button to press pedestrians must obey the traffic lights i.e. if the vehicles are on red then so too are pedestrians, once they go green pedestrians have right of way.

Right. Which means a pedestrian can't legally cross at lights without a button unless there's a vehicle to trigger the phase change. I guess it's not that hard to walk 20m down the road.

[swbarnett]

It's not a motorway though; no reason they shouldn't be there.
Indeed. I had a closer look further down the road a little bit and it does seem that there is a ped path leading off the road.

[Floppy disk]

So I did email Auckland City Council requesting an increase of sensors' sensitivity at one particular traffic light, and they forwarded my request to Auckland Transport who called me and told me the following:

- While sensors are more sensitive on the corners of the rectangular shapes, such extra sensitivity is not tremendous, meaning don't have high hopes it would always work.

- As some said above, the rule is "please tell Auckland Transport" so that they adjust the sensitivity. If no one tells them they won't know.

They did just that for my request and asked me to test it saying that if it does not work then they would need a week to replace the sensors altogether.

- They don't know about the legality of going through red lights if the sensors are not working for bikers. Maybe cops would be able to answer that.

[Akzle]

traffic lights are optional. So are painted lines. And cops.

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/traffic_lights.gif

[Berries]

They don't know about the legality of going through red lights if the sensors are not working for bikers.
What might work for a Busa won't necessarily work for a GN250 so you have to be pretty sure they are not working before going through a red. I know a couple of sets that sometimes don't get me. I will give it a couple of minutes or so and then go if there are no cars around. I expect a ticket if I get seen and expect I will have problems trying to prove the sensors weren't working so I make doubly sure there are no cops around.

[chasio]

Wouldn't it be easy for some cunt to stick their chewing gum on the sensor and piss off a lot of people :bleh:

Best advice in thread goes to mom/iyre and hayden, park on the inductive loops, and if that doesn't work tell the council!

I read somewhere that starter motors have a pretty good kick for the loops to pick up. If I ever get stuck (having stopped over a cut line), I hit the kill switch and then restart the bike. This either works or I have had many happy coincidences (which is possible: I am generally a happy chappy).

[Scuba_Steve]

It should be law that all lights must go through a complete cycle regardless of detection, so many times I've been at lights with no-one round I'm on red eventually all lights go red just to green light the same set of lights that have been green the whole time... If all lights are gonna go red the least they can do is give the other set a 1 vehicle green light so bikes don't have to run the red.

[Erelyes]

http://www.revzilla.com/product/amanet-red-light-changer Now you can waste $25 on a magnet to make the lights change :D

[hayd3n]

http://www.revzilla.com/product/amanet-red-light-changer Now you can waste $25 on a magnet to make the lights change :D

or get the magnets out of a hard drive :)

[bogan]

http://www.revzilla.com/product/amanet-red-light-changer Now you can waste $25 on a magnet to make the lights change :D

Well... You can waste $25 but it won't make the lights change; magnetic field superposition theory just means adding another field doesn't affect the first one.

[chasio]

Well... You can waste $25 but it won't make the lights change; magnetic field superposition theory just means adding another field doesn't affect the first one.

Does the "restart the engine" schtick fit into that category?

[Monsterbishi]

Does the "restart the engine" schtick fit into that category?

You got it.

Traffic lights operate using induction fields, the 'sensors' under the road are nothing more than loops of insulated wire.

Guess what we call them in the trade - Loops!

A healthy set of loops will trigger from a metallic mass the size of a small toolbox.

[GDOBSSOR]

I just hate those traffic lights that are not changing periodically, yet do not respond to a heavy bike with a heavy rider on them. There are few around and I always end up praying a car might come soon enough. Yesterday I had to roll forward and ask the car behind me to advance so that the weight detectors work. But last week I was in the middle of the night, no car around, and I waited and waited, and they weighed my options: Should I go off the bike walk to the pedestrians light and push it leaving the bike unattended with a running engine? Or shall I just run through the traffic light? What would/did you do n such situation?

If it was the dead of night in such a situation... I would make damn sure no other traffic was around (including a possible police officer) and then run the light. I wouldn't want to leave my bike unattended with the engine going. Although... Are there cameras yet?

[Fern]

Dear Fern

Subject: Mount Eden Road – Traffic Signal Phasing



Thank you for contacting Auckland Transport on 17 November 2013 regarding traffic light phasing at the intersection of Mount Eden Road and Mount Albert Road.Your concerns were passed onto our Road Corridor Operations Department for investigation.

We understand that you and other motorcyclists find it difficult to use signalised intersections around Auckland due to the fact that the vehicle sensors are not able to detect lighter modes of transportation, such as scooters, motorcycles, and bicycles and we are committed towards improving sensor detection for all forms of transport, in turn improving your experience.

Therefore, upon receiving your request, we sent out contractors to adjust the sensitivity of the vehicle sensors at this intersection. We have adjusted and made the sensor more sensitive, however as this can compromise the operation of the intersection as the sensor may pick up adjacent passing vehicles, sensors may need to be readjusted to prevent frequent false detection from other vehicles.

We trust the above addresses the issues you have raised and appreciate you taking the time to bring the matter to our attention.

[Berries]

Of course, there is another option - http://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/news/9489624/Ripped-out-traffic-light-damage-lambasted

[Tazz]

Of course, there is another option - http://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/news/9489624/Ripped-out-traffic-light-damage-lambasted

I'm surprised anyone stopped for those at all. They were useless. Hopefully they sort the other bridge before it loses it's controller too :brick:

[Jayman]

I once had a cop pull up next to me, see that I wasn't triggering the phase, and just say to run the red. So I did. And no, they didn't pull me over right away! Although a precedent has been set, good luck using that for future justification! Case-by-case...

[granstar]

Or paint Haydn's green trigger points on the road for us two wheeled road users.