Automatic Traffic Lights

[BubbaGump]

Throw the kickstand down. That usually does the trick.

[Skier]

So what if there are no cycles? There's one light in town my bike never, ever trips. It's always green for the main drag, but when I want to cross, my bike is never picked up. I can't make a right (there's a turn lane for that), can't abandon my bike to hit the crosswalk button, kickstand doesn't work, etc... There's usually enough traffic for a cage to come and trip the light within a minute or two. But now that summer is here and the college town is empty, it's a problem.

I usually just blow the light after waiting 30 seconds or so. There's excellent visibility so I can verfiy no cars are coming (vitally important when the police station is a scant two blocks away).

[BubbaGump]

So what if there are no cycles? There's one light in town my bike never, ever trips. It's always green for the main drag, but when I want to cross, my bike is never picked up. I can't make a right (there's a turn lane for that), can't abandon my bike to hit the crosswalk button, kickstand doesn't work, etc... There's usually enough traffic for a cage to come and trip the light within a minute or two. But now that summer is here and the college town is empty, it's a problem.

I usually just blow the light after waiting 30 seconds or so. There's excellent visibility so I can verfiy no cars are coming (vitally important when the police station is a scant two blocks away).

Screw it - treat it like a 4-way stop and b*tch to the town for not maintaining their traffic control devices.

[DieMonkeys]

If you get a ticket from one of those red-light cameras go to court. If the officer doesn't show up then the ticket is thrown out. Last time I checked those cameras are bolted down. Also, you can make the argument that you waited for the light to turn green but it never did, etc etc.

[Apitoxin]

It's Wisconsin. =\...

[Skier]

So what if there are no cycles? There's one light in town my bike never, ever trips. It's always green for the main drag, but when I want to cross, my bike is never picked up. I can't make a right (there's a turn lane for that), can't abandon my bike to hit the crosswalk button, kickstand doesn't work, etc... There's usually enough traffic for a cage to come and trip the light within a minute or two. But now that summer is here and the college town is empty, it's a problem.

I usually just blow the light after waiting 30 seconds or so. There's excellent visibility so I can verfiy no cars are coming (vitally important when the police station is a scant two blocks away).

Screw it - treat it like a 4-way stop and b*tch to the town for not maintaining their traffic control devices.

What's really silly is the sensors are under the crosswalk, which starts about 2 feet AFTER the stop line. So you have to stop on the close side of the stop line, then creep onto the crosswalk to trip the sensor.

[AngellofFyre]

I am usually riding around 3am (post-work) and no one is at the damned lights anyhow, so i run them after a few minutes.
I think any police officer would understand.

i hope...

[snwbrdr]

last time this topic came up i believe someone wrote to their city council and told them which lights on theirroute needed some work. if i remember correctly the lights got fixed pretty soon, its easy to change the sensitivity

[flynrider]

If you get a ticket from one of those red-light cameras go to court. If the officer doesn't show up then the ticket is thrown out.

How does that work, exactly? A ticket generated by a red-light camera does not have an officer involved. The picture of you on your scoot running the red light is the evidence.

The whole point behind red-light cameras is that they don't need to pay an officer to watch the intersection and write tickets.

I would strongly advise against running the light at any intersection equipped with one of these cameras. You may have a difficult time convincing a judge that you ran it because the light wouldn't change. If that were a viable defense, everyone caught running a light on a motorcycle would use it. This is one of those situations where you are presumed guilty until proved innocent.

If the intersection is equipped with a red-light camera, your safest bet would be making a right turn, then a u-turn somewhere down the road.

Observation : Isn't it strange that they make sensor pads that won't change the light for a motorcycle, but the red-light cam seems to be able to detect bikes just fine

[t_bonee]

I would imagine you would have an argument for you case if the camera shows you sitting in the same spot for 5 minutes or so without the light changing.

But I do agree, in the case with one of those around, best just to go right on red and turn around.