Traffic Light Question For Motorcycles

[eaglemrpaul]

Recently I was in the left turn lane at the intersection of 2 state highways. The traffic lights were all red for thru traffic going in my direction. I was the first and the only vehicle waiting (On my Spyder) for the left turn arrow to turn green to proceed. From the opposite direction there was also a left turn lane which was not occupied. I waited and watched as the stop and go lights cycled through completely except for the left turn signals. A car arrived from the opposite direction to occupy the left turn lane across from me. On the second cycle while I watched and waited the left turn lane light lit and I was on my way. Then yesterday I was at another stop and go light intersection. I was turning left from a county road onto a state hwy on the outskirts of town. I waited an extended period of time for the light to turn green. After waiting for what I would estimate 30 seconds I was joined at the intersection by a second motorcycle right next to me. We both waited for about another 20 seconds. My counterpart got bored and since there was no cross traffic in site, proceed straight through the red light and on his way. I have been at both of these intersections mentioned in a car and never had what I've described happen. Is this my imagination or could someone explain what's going on.

 

[Plyrod38]

It's not your imagination, happens to me often.
Traffic light sensors are often not triggered by motorcrcles and Spyders.
Some riders attach rare earth magnets in the bottom of the motorcycle frames to help trigger the sensors in the road.
In North Carolina, motorcycle riders are required to wait a reasonable amount of time, then proceed when it is safe to do so, regardless of light indication.

 

[revjvegas]

My educated bet would be that those intersections are like so many that we have here in H-town. They most likely have field sensors buried just below the surface of the road which detects when a vehicle is there once the field is interrupted by the metal in the car. Your bike doesn't have the same amount of metal and/or you didn't/couldn't cover the field enough simply due to the reduced size of your ride compared to that of a car to get the sensors to trip the light.

You can usually tell where the wires are in the road because they are generally covered over with that liquid tar stuff. On my BMW, I would always just pull up directly over one of the lines where the wires are buried, then just use my left foot to drop my center stand down enough to touch the road and that'd be enough to trigger just about any I ever came across.

On the Spyder, I try to get one of my front wheels over it. If the light hasn't tripped for me after two cycles, I take the turn at the third cycle when my lane gets the green light to go through and I'm able to safely make the turn. This is just my personal thing; I figure if a leo wants to tag me for it, I'll just plead my case in court; knock on wood, that's never come up yet.

Good luck; stay safe.

 

[NovaSpyder]

Oh yes this is one of my pet peeves. There is one of these intersections at the end of my street,!(can turn left or right only). If i get to the light first I usually turn right as I have never been able to trip the loop as it is buried under a repave. I assume your situation is similar and the left green requires the ibductive loop to trigger the light when it detects a change in electromagnetic field produced by a vehicle. Bikes usually do not "upset" the field enough to trigger. Here is a Wiki-how that explains it and gives some suggestions, sometimes they work.
http://m.wikihow.com/Trigger-Green-Traffic-Lights

 

[BajaRon]

My lead foot has never been much for triggering green lights... But it works wonders for Flashing BLUE! :yikes:

 

[MouthPiece]

Couple of things come to my mind. First is the sensor as previously mentioned. If I feel that it is not recognizing my spyder, I literally stand up and jump up and down to trip the sensor. Don't laugh. It does work.

Some turn signals are such that if you aren't stopped at the signal within a certain amount of time before it is supposed to activate, then you will not have benefit of the signal. In other words it will go through another cycle before allowing you to turn.

The second thing that comes to mind is that the signal is broken.

Chris

 

[Tanshanomi]

In North Carolina, motorcycle riders are required to wait a reasonable amount of time, then proceed when it is safe to do so, regardless of light indication.

Missouri recently passed a similar law for bikes. I think it specifies riders must wait at least two minutes.

 

[Tanshanomi]

A lot of the time the culprit is a fresh layer of asphalt, which increases the vehicle's distance above the sensor loop, while simultaneously hiding the cuts in the concrete that show you where to position your bike.

 

[eaglemrpaul]

After reading a couple of responses I did some internet investigating on these wires (that I didn't know were there) and I question why this phenomenon isn't brought up in the operators manual. I'm not new to motorcycles but it has been close to thirty years between rides. I guess back in the 70's all traffic lights were on a timer. I'm also a little surprised that the manufacturers haven't addressed this issue by installing what is suggested to work. I would also suggest this problem be added to the Spyder "Dos & Don't" which I read several times before my first ride. It's a wonderful post and I think this would be a great addition.

Hopefully we at Spyderlovers can come up with some kind of solution be it magnets or whatever that consistently works. I have read some articles that suggest that some states allow for motorcycles to proceed through red lights after an unspecified amount of time if there is no traffic. The problem is that several intersection around my area have cameras to catch red light runners. The idea of taking time off to attend court and possibly having a traffic citation reversed is not a viable option left to chance. I'm thinking about a license point system and increased insurance premiums here. Also many of our Spyder riders travel several states that may or may not have the same consideration for traffic light laws as they pertain to motorcycles.

I'm not mad. I understand the physics but I am disappointed that I didn't understand the principle of this phenomenon before hand.

 

[MouthPiece]

:2excited:

Is that what the red light means, it's broken?

Roger, I'm not sure I'd want to use that one for the judge. <smiles>

Chris

 

[NancysToy]

It is often a problem...with bothe the magnetic trip type and the camera activated signals. It varies from signal to signal. I usally try to avoid the troublesome ones on my regular routes. There was one in my neighborhood that I couldn't avoid. I beat that one by always taking a right turn, then making a cirle at the next block, or a U-turn in the church parking lot. The best results come from stopping directly over the wires, if visible, especially if you can stop at a corner of the wires so you cover them in two directions. If you can't see the wires, stopping near the center line, and as near as possible to the line you have to stop behind, seems to help.

 

[bruiser]

I pulled up to a left turn signal in town and had the same problem. City LEO was coming up in the next lane over as I made the left turn on red. Thought I was busted but he kept going. I could see in my mirror he was looking at me. Asked a deputy friend of mine what a 'reasonable' amount of time was. He said it's not specifically stated but use good judgement. I said if I sit through one cycle and still don't get the green would it be ok to go. He said "use good judgement". The GPS I have will alert you to red light cameras.

 

[Pennyrick]

It is legal in most areas to turn right on red after stopping and the way is clear.

Is it legal anywhere to do the same when turning left on a red light when the highway is divided?

 

[MouthPiece]

It is legal in most areas to turn right on red after stopping and the way is clear.

Is it legal anywhere to do the same when turning left on a red light when the highway is divided?

Not in Flarda. (and this includes turning left, at the light, onto a one way street heading left.)

Chris

 

[Jeriatric]

Use good judgement = you're own your own = don't want ya mad at me :roflblack:

Give light one complete cycle - then when clear in all directions get out of dodge.

Sure, you're risking a ticket, but don't think there are too many judges that wouldn't toss it out once explained.

 

[boborgera]

There are only two traffic lights in my town one is controlled by wires underground, With the controlled one my Spyder would never trip it but it is at a slight upgrade, So i would clutch and let it roll back a little, That would trip it every time. And if a car was behind me' so i couldn't roll back i would move forward a little and the car would trip it, As a side note my Tri-Glide would have no trouble tripping it, More iron i guess..??
As far as how long to Wait use good judgement on that, Just about every cop will give you a pass on that... But remember the key words are;; Good judgement...

 

[billybovine]

Call

I have call the public works dept of a local city to explain that I am having a problem with a particular light. They adjusted the sensitivity and corrected the problem.

 

[Bob Ledford]

Floria Law ?

The State of Confusion (I mean - Floridah) has a law that in general terminology says that a motorcyclist stopped at a light must wait for green. If the light cycles through 2 X you may proceed with due caution through the intersection an be on your way.

 

[jthornton]

The second thing that comes to mind is that the signal is broken.

Broken signal lights will be in one of two states, flashing (because I'm confused or I'm not getting an input from the controller) or off (cause I'm REALLY broken).

JT

 

[tobor9]

SC law now(after ABATE got it changed)says motorcycles can treat a red as a stop sign after 2 min.,can proceed with caution. most of the time someone will trip the light from the other side.