Left turn stop light sensor???

[mellofelow]

OK... Noob question here.

So what's the trick to trip the left turn sensor at a red light? Today I sat for almost 5 minutes at a stop light waiting to make a left turn. It's one of those light with vehicle sensor on the floor. Obviously it didn't register the bike and I sat there sweating in the heat.

What do you guys do in these situations?

 

[jniedermeyer]

well there is a magnet wire in the ground and it senses a car but not a bike or in some places it could be activated by flashing the highbeams. what you can do is make a series of right turns until u get behind a car. lol in some places ive already gone through a red light and luckily no fuzz was around.

 

[bluenova]

Funny how those under-floor sensors always register you when there is a digital Gatso camara attached to it.

 

[yamaha rider87]

motosport.com sells this thing called a green light trigger. Basically there are two types of devices that are used at traffic intersections to register the presence of a vehicle; optical and magnetic. Most newer intersections are using optical readers which are simply artificial eyes that detect motion in the traffic lane, such as you pulling up to a stop, and then put your need for a green light into the rotation. The second type, fairly common and especially at older intersections, is the magnetic sensor. Basically its a big magnet buried beneath the intersection that registers the presence of a vehicle when it pulls up as the metal in the vehicle activates the magnet which will trip the light. The trouble is most motorcycles (especially sportbikes) don't have enough conductive metal material on them to trip the sensor. The green light trigger fixes that, in a completely legal manner, by mounting a small but very powerful magnet on the underside of your bike, which makes the magnetic sensor think there is a lot more metal over-top of it than there really is. Pretty cheap and apparently quite effective from those I've talked to....the only reason I don't have one is that last year 95% of the intersections in Reno/Sparks got switched over to optical sensors.

 

[lattin25]

Well yamaharider nailed the causes. But what can you do??

Either buy a magnet for your bike, run the red light, or wait for a car to pull up behind you.

Sometimes if a car pulls up behind you they dont pull up close enough to trip the sensor, I usually give the driver a friendly gesture to get them to come closer up to me.

 

[githianki]

I've also found that if the magnetic strip is visibile, just put your kickstand on it. Will trip it that way too. Most of the time I just go through them...not alot of traffic at 4am around my way. Only been pulled over 3 times...and all of them thought my thinking was sound...lol go figure!

 

[brad81987]

Check your state laws too. In WI if you pull up to an "interactive" light on a bike and there is no indication after 45 seconds it's realized you're there, and there are no other cars around, you can legally run the light. Of course there's that part about no other cars being around so if you run a red light and no ones around to see it, who really cares.

 

[grumpy1luvs2eat]

If this is a frequent problem for you, I'd spend the $$$ to get the green light trigger and put it on the bike. It is cheaper than getting a moving violation ticket and safer as well. GRUMPY

 

[bcityroller]

This doesn't guarantee tripping the sensor but apparently based on previous articles I've read the best chance of doing involves stopping with the engine over the most senstive part of the sensor grid. To do this I stop with my front wheel just past the grid line you see in the pavement with most of the bike over the "T" of the grid. Kind of hard to describe - in the attached crude picture the engine would end up in the area with the black box.

 

[wrightme43]

defective stoplights are to be treated as stop signs.

 

[teeter]

defective stoplights are to be treated as stop signs.

And that's what they are, defective. We should notify the authorities of all defective sensors. I have been to lazy to notify anybody, but it is my understanding that the sensitivity can be adjusted and that most municipalities are obliged to make the adjustment once informed of the problem.

I treat them as a stop sign, but only after waiting for a full cycle of the lights to be sure that I'm actually getting screwed before rolling on.

 

[coursonap]

Every cop I have talked to said that I should treat the lights as stop signs if they are like that. I have never gotten pulled over for STOPPING and then going as long as it is safe to go. But yes as the previous has said they get treated as stop signs.

 

[teeter]

Every cop I have talked to said that I should treat the lights as stop signs if they are like that. I have never gotten pulled over for STOPPING and then going as long as it is safe to go. But yes as the previous has said they get treated as stop signs.

Did they reccomend waiting for a full cycle before going? I'm curious about that one. At a light you're not familiar with it makes sense to wait to be sure, but a light you sit at every day you know the cycle and if it's going to trip for you or not, so you may as well go as soon as it's clear and safe.

It's a common sense thing. I know what's fair and right, but do the majority of LEOs agree?

 

[Cmayer31]

Check your city directory and find the department that does street maintenance. Where I live it's the Park & Street maintenance and there was an email and a phone number. I emailed the contact with both streets of the intersection, direction of travel, and lane number of turn lane. He called me the next day to let me know the sensitivity on the sensors were turned up for those lanes and to let him know if I run into any other issues.

The key to get them to react is to mention that it is a safety hazard for motorcyclist to have these lights not working. The guy that we have here was awesome and told me the motorcycle PD will often let him know when there's an issue, but to just give him a call if I run into any other lights. He also mentioned that the sensors will need to be retuned if they are relatively old.

**edit to add** Every light that I have emailed them has worked flawlessly when I hit the "circles" that trigger the sensors. My commute is so much nicer now not waiting forever and then running a red, or making a bunch of right hand turns and U-turns.

 

[Kamloops]

Saanich Police Blog Archive Comments And Questions

 

[reiobard]

i typically have been waiting a cycle of the lights then running it when it is safe, one of those magnet things has been on my to get list for a year at least...

 

[chemicalsmile]

Pretty much all but the biggest intersections here are magnetic so I usually have to run them (after waiting a cycle or two). I've tried the center placement and the kickstand thing and neither seems to work. I've always been too paranoid to try the magnet thing after reading a couple stories about fried VR's and such.

Only time I've ever been pulled over on a bike was when I waited a good 2 cycles at a light and ran it without realizing that behind the car that was all but grinding against my rear tire with impatience were two cops... they pulled me over and yelled at me for 5 minutes about how they scrape idiot crotch rocket riders like me off the streets everyday (i was on a bmw :squid before I finally got a word in and explained how I was legally able to run it since it was a malfunctioning traffic device and thus should be treated as a stop sign. They then promptly quit their barking and left without an apology (but also without a written warning or ticket)

 

[reiobard]

Pretty much all but the biggest intersections here are magnetic so I usually have to run them (after waiting a cycle or two). I've tried the center placement and the kickstand thing and neither seems to work. I've always been too paranoid to try the magnet thing after reading a couple stories about fried VR's and such.

Only time I've ever been pulled over on a bike was when I waited a good 2 cycles at a light and ran it without realizing that behind the car that was all but grinding against my rear tire with impatience were two cops... they pulled me over and yelled at me for 5 minutes about how they scrape idiot crotch rocket riders like me off the streets everyday (i was on a bmw :squid before I finally got a word in and explained how I was legally able to run it since it was a malfunctioning traffic device and thus should be treated as a stop sign. They then promptly quit their barking and left without an apology (but also without a written warning or ticket)

I was unaware that it was considered malfunctioning (Legally) after 2 cycles and treated as a stop sign, that's just how i personally treat it...

 

[mstewar1]

I'm with wrightme. If I sit through a complete cycle of a light and it doesn't show me love, I treat it as a stop sign -- being very careful as I do so. I've hit a fair number of lights in the past couple of months that've just failed to pick me up. Have yet to get nabbed for it but I think, as someone else stated, a reasonable officer of the law should be able to grasp my reasoning.

I'll have to try the kickstand trick.

 

[FZ1inNH]

I was unaware that it was considered malfunctioning (Legally) after 2 cycles and treated as a stop sign, that's just how i personally treat it...

This varies state to state and even sometimes with the local LEOs. In NH, the Troopers say if you don't get a green on the second cycle, then treat is as a stop sign. If they catch you leaving the mark before then, it's a ticket. The local police? It depends on the Officer I talk to so I may have to e-mail the Chief and get the official word, print it, laminate it, then keep it with me for when I get pulled over. :thumbup: