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Another difference (most likely) is that it's quite common for US traffic lights to switch only when they detect traffic on one of the roads, and this rarely wo
by asddddd 9y ago
Another difference (most likely) is that it's quite common for US traffic lights to switch only when they detect traffic on one of the roads, and this rarely works with bicycles.
Nothing like sitting at a red for 2 minutes before realizing you have to either run it or go on the sidewalk.
Maybe not so common on the East Coast, but 4-way stops are another can of worms here. Most drivers expect you'll ignore the stop sign and will yield for you. Some will refuse to go even after you're at a complete stop and got there after them, at which point it's a standoff. Doing a rolling stop (Idaho stop - illegal most places) ends up being the safest option most of the time.
- analog31 9y agoIn my state, there's a "dead red" exception, where a cyclist can pass through a red light under certain conditions.
- rsfern 9y agoUsually you can trigger the electromagnetic sensor if you ride over the edge of it; there's usually a visible seam in the pavement. You want to ride along the edge of the loop.
- lotsofpulp 9y agoI’ve never seen a detector like that. All the ones I’ve seen are mounted next to the traffic light and aim down towards where a car would be waiting.
- bspn 9y agoThey're very common where I live, but to the best of my knowledge they're weight-based so I'm not sure a cyclist would trigger it.
- Mindless2112 9y agoUsually it's a loop of wire embedded in the pavement. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Induction_loop#Vehicle_detection https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Induction_loop#Vehicle_detecti...
- c22 9y agoWhen I rode a moped I would never trigger these things till I started rolling around with a large magnet zip tied to the bottom of my ride.
- int_19h 9y agoHereabouts (Western WA), some cities have actually started painting the location of the sensor, specifically for cyclists. Here's an intersection in Redmond where you can see those. https://goo.gl/maps/TRmyGzWZDAQ2 https://goo.gl/maps/TRmyGzWZDAQ2
- CodeWriter23 9y agoAround certain cities in the LA area, the striping crew paints a stencil of a cyclist and an arrow pointing forward over the sensor.
- anigbrowl 9y agoGood hack, but you shouldn't have to know how the hardware works to use the product safely. Good infrastructure/urban design should work without people having to think about it.
- c22 9y agoAround here there's a little white T-shaped line painted where you should roll your bicycle to trigger the light.
- asddddd 9y agoGood to know, thanks! What gets me is that a lot of the automatic lights are of a different variety that works fine, and in some cases there's a bike lane up to a light that is incapable of detecting you (without switching lanes, at least).
- u801e 9y agoThat does work most of the time, but I've found that once they pave over it with more asphalt, it becomes difficult to tell where the edge once was. I have found that traffic lights with camera based detectors work pretty well in terms of detecting cyclists (without the paving over problem that loop detectors have).
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- rahkiin 9y agoIn the netherlands, bike lanes have buttons at the traffic lights much like the pedestrian buttons. We also have sensors and you can see if they worked with lights in the button.