Triggering traffic lights with a magnet - does it work?

[homer]

i agre ride throught it .if youve been waiting a fair while and nothing going through the other direction

no waiting for nothing

[Steam]

You need to "glue" a big magnet to the metal underside of your bike? p/t

I didn't understand what you were on about for a good half hour. But now... DOH!

[Jiminy]

This is the reason the congestion is so bad in NZ cities. In the UK the lights are generally phased so you stand a fair chance of getting a green light as you approach but in NZ you have to stop at every fucken light. Daft. Proper phasing is cheaper and more efficient than embedding induction loops.

Moron planners.

I think they're starting to change that, at least they did for the Wellington city bypass. I think it didn't come cheap though (the light phasing).

[Waylander]

Get the magnet, walk up yo a light at night sometime, pass the magnet over, if it changes it may have worked. Wait for light to go red again then repeat.

If the light changes a small amount of time after each time you pass the magnet over the loop, guess what, it works.

[Steam]

Get the magnet, walk up yo a light at night sometime, pass the magnet over, if it changes it may have worked. Wait for light to go red again then repeat.

If the light changes a small amount of time after each time you pass the magnet over the loop, guess what, it works.

You sir, are a fucking genius.
PLUS, I get to have hours of fun at the pub watching people having their eftpos cards declined after I degaussed them with the wacking great speaker magnet,. then stumbling home drunk and testing all the traffic lights, while running down the middle of the road with my magnet, screaming "Yeeeharr! I'm riding an invisible bike, look, the traffic lights say I am!"

[All]

Yep, my scooter won't trigger them - BUT its OK to apply right hand rule if they don't work. ie you don't need to sit there stuck.

Thats because you are allowed to use right hand rule at faulty lights... and if they don't detect a vehicle but are supposed to they are faulty.

(I got a ticket for it years ago).

Why is Hitler in your avatar?

[All]

Traffic lights are just guidelines for the inexperienced anyway. A real biker just ignores them.

[Mikkel]

That's because leaning it on the stand brings that lump of metal (the stand) to the road surface, hopefully triggering the sensor.

Actually... that would make next to no sense. Induction requires that the coil and the metal is moved relative to each other. I guess it's fair to assume that you are stationary while putting your stand down (and yes, I am aware that the stand moves when you put it down... but compared to the bike rolling on to the coil that is nothing!).

Fuck it just ride through the red light.

Traffic lights are just guidelines for the inexperienced anyway. A real biker just ignores them.

You have given out too much Reputation in the last 24 hours, try again later.

Just don't come whinging next time you or one of your mates get throttled by a delivery truck running slightly late...

[Disco Dan]

I read you can trigger the traffic lights with a big loudspeaker-magnet glued to the underside of your bike, because the induction loop sensor under the road picks you up as a sodding great truck with a huge magnetic field.
Or something.

Will this really work? Someone with some electrickery knowledge...?

How big does the magnet need to be, and how close to the ground?

There is a big silver button for making the lights change...

[DIN PELENDA]

my st1100 ex police is got magnet sistem that police put it in and it triger trafik ligts much bater than my R1.

[All]

Just don't come whinging next time you or one of your mates get throttled by a delivery truck running slightly late...

My policy is to have no mates.

[bungbung]

This is the reason the congestion is so bad in NZ cities. In the UK the lights are generally phased so you stand a fair chance of getting a green light as you approach but in NZ you have to stop at every fucken light. Daft. Proper phasing is cheaper and more efficient than embedding induction loops.

Moron planners.

Invercargill has traffic lights?

[xwhatsit]

My RZ Daisy has no probs with the lights, but my little ol'hornet does ... I have to flick my kickstand down and then just flick it back up and no probs after that!

No, you just forget to park right on top of the sensor.

That, my friends, is the key. Right in the middle of the road at the head of the lights, there are marks in the tarmac wot look like this:
+-+-+
| | |
| | |
+-+-+

Park right on the middle vertical line. Yes, it's in the middle of the intersection where there's oil and diesel and shit, but it will trigger the lights every time.

[No FX]

Just saw these on tardme


http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...-143235555.htm

[Radar]

Just saw these on tardme


http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...-143235555.htm

$45 for what must just be a magnet. Anyway, if the blurb is correct, it would seem that any strong magnet would work, such as from a speaker.

OK, this may be a stupid question but here it is: Are bike wheels made of steel, i.e. will they affect the induction coil in the road, or are they made of an alloy which would not be magnetic and therefore would not affect the road induction wires?