Tripping traffic lights/magnet

[Twinsig]

Anyone ever used a speaker magnet to trip the lights?

[nrp]

No - From my technical discussion with a traffic trip circuit manufacturer, the thing you really need is to have more metal immediately adjacent to the search coil buried in the highway. That's why some report that placing the kickstand down on top of the coil (if you can see where it is) will make things trip.

 

Not just steel - any metal that will conduct electric current.

 

Not in the center of the rectangular coil cut - but instead as close to the coil wires as possible, which means along one edge. IOW drive your rim directly over the wires of the search coil.

 

If you can't see the coil - you'll just have to guess where it is!

 

If that doesn't work, complain to the government agency in charge of traffic at that intersection. According to Federal DOT rules, they are required to trip for bicycles for continued Federal aid. Servicing people keep trying to reduce the sensitivity of the systems so passing trucks in the adjacent lane don't trip the system.

 

That's what I was told.

[Selden]

I have 4 techniques:

 

1) Approach the area of the buried sensors from either the left or right, then drive diagonally across the sensor wires. Theory behind this is that with a diagonal path, at some point you will reach an appropriate distance to trigger the circuit;

2) Put the bike roughly over the sensor wire, and kick the center stand down to the pavement a few times; easier on some bikes than others;

3) Get off and press the pedestrian cross button;

4) If none of the above work, go through on red when safe.

[upflying]

More discussion here..

http://bmwsporttouring.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=678338&page=1

more here..

http://bmwsporttouring.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=771712&page=1

I think the mods will move this into the talk section.

[RockBottom]

I've never had any luck putting the kick stand down on the coil. The magnet made a couple of lights that didn't work previously work, but there are still half a dozen in my town that won't trip. It's still illegal to go through it here but sometimes I have to.

 

I complained to the local police (yeah, you Middlesex Township, PA) and didn't even get the decency of a reply.

[lkchris]

In my town, the wiring for the signal tripper is clearly visible. That is, you can see the patch covering the cuts made to bury the wiring.

 

Looks like a box with a line down the middle. The box being essentially the width of the lane.

 

If I ride directly over the middle line, it trips the light.

 

My crankshaft is as good a chunk of metal as is a car's. The car's engine will center over the center line sort of by default.

 

Learned this from a local bicycling website.

[aterry1067]

I wait for one cycle of the light or two minutes. IF it hasn't changed, I run it. Legal in most states. Probably arguable in others.

 

 

[moshe_levy]

In 2002, I tested a device called the Green Light Trigger on my Harley Sportster. It was one of my first self-published tests - see http://www.mklsportster.com/xlgreenlighttrigger.htm

 

A Google search shows the product is still around - see http://www.greenlightstuff.com/

 

I had fairly decent results with it at the time - better than rare earth magnets with none of the corrosion annoyances. I no longer live next to such stubborn lights as I encountered daily with my Sportster, so I have no need for this today, but I wouldn't hesitate to get one and try it.

 

-MKL

[RockBottom]

Legal in most states. Probably arguable in others.

 

 

Everything I've read indicates that less than 10 states have made it legal. Here's a report.

[ragtoplvr]

and it is obsolete. Cities are going optical. No cutting the road, no broken salt degraded wires, no increased pavement wear.

 

As the wire loops break, they install optical for less money than fixing the wire.

 

Rod

[Quinn]

Try stopping you bike with the motor over a corner of the wire loop. Most metal over most wire.

 

-----

 

 

[dirtrider]

I wait for one cycle of the light or two minutes. IF it hasn't changed, I run it. Legal in most states. Probably arguable in others.

 

 

Morning aterry1067

 

That going through a red light is gray area even in states where it has been ruled as OK after so many light cycles or a defined time period.

 

I have a riding friend that is LEO, he was in traffic control before the law was changed. I asked him a few times how he handles motorcycles that go through stuck red lights.

 

Even before the law change he said if he witnessed a motorcycle go through a red light unless it was a blatant red light run-through he would just ignore it unless the motorcycle looked like it had a rider that might need a closer inspection (somewhat like legal profiling). He rode motorcycles so knew that some lights wouldn't trigger for a motorcycle. He also told me that some of his fellow officers were by-the-book & would ticket a motorcycle if they witnessed any type of pass through a red light even if they knew it was a lazy light.

 

After the law change I asked him again (he was no longer in traffic by then) & he told me some by-the-book officers will still issue a ticket for running a red light unless they actually see the rider sit through a couple of red light cycles. I supposed with a little research & documenting the light with a video camera that the ticked could be dismissed but still a pain for no reason.

 

[upflying]

If a signal won't trip for a vehicle, I consider it defective. All states define malfunctioning signals as a four way stop. Stop and proceed when safe.

[Mister Tee]

and it is obsolete. Cities are going optical. No cutting the road, no broken salt degraded wires, no increased pavement wear.

 

As the wire loops break, they install optical for less money than fixing the wire.

 

Rod

 

We have both optical and metallic sensors in most of our signaled intersections. Usually a blink of the high beam will trip them when the metallic signal won't. Problem is, for the most part they just trip the straight ahead signal - if you have to make a left turn, that usually doesn't work unless the signal happens to be programmed to trip the left turn and straight ahead at the same time.

[sardineone]

If a signal won't trip for a vehicle, I consider it defective. All states define malfunctioning signals as a four way stop. Stop and proceed when safe.

 

Another approach to your statement is that the owner of the signal (jurisdiction - State, City, County) has a responsibility to serve all legal motor vehicles. Give them a call as they might be able to adjust a sensitivity level. Others have stated correctly that your best chance is to cover the wires in the pavement when they can be seen. Otherwise pull up to and not past the painted lane stop bar in either the right or left auto wheel path. The 'loops' are just glorified metal detectors and work best with metal over the wire and not in the middle of the square, rectangle or hexagon. The camera operated signals is an off shoot of cruise missle technology that recognizes a vehicle in a programmed zone. I'm not sure the reason since I left the signal tech field about 15 years ago, but the State of Indiana has reverted back to loops in the pavement vs. the camera operated signals at many locations.

[upflying]

If a signal won't trip for a vehicle, I consider it defective. All states define malfunctioning signals as a four way stop. Stop and proceed when safe.

 

Another approach to your statement is that the owner of the signal (jurisdiction - State, City, County) has a responsibility to serve all legal motor vehicles. Give them a call as they might be able to adjust a sensitivity level.

You apparently haven't tried calling a city, county or state public works department lately.

If you can get anyone to answer, the only service you might get is a lesson in apathetic indifference.

[4wheeldog]

Another tactic to try is shutting off the motor, and restarting with the starter. Apparently, the starter can cause enough disturbance in the force to have an effect, sometimes. A large magnet attached to the centerstand at the bottom, so I could lower the stand directly over the loop worked best, for me, when I still had to commute.

[dirtrider]

 

Not all loop detectors are the same. It would be nice if they placed an "X" where you should position a motorcycle for best indcutive position.

__________________________________________________

 

[elkroeger]

My invention was a mixed success. I bought some of that flexible magnetic bumper sticker material (here), cut it into a pair of insoles, and then stuck them in my boots.

 

Nothing happened when I walked out into the street and stood on the antenna, but I FEEL LIKE A MILLION BUCKS!!!

 

(you may recall those "magnetic therapy" bracelets....)

[outpost22]

If a signal won't trip for a vehicle, I consider it defective. All states define malfunctioning signals as a four way stop. Stop and proceed when safe.

 

Another approach to your statement is that the owner of the signal (jurisdiction - State, City, County) has a responsibility to serve all legal motor vehicles. Give them a call as they might be able to adjust a sensitivity level.

You apparently haven't tried calling a city, county or state public works department lately.

If you can get anyone to answer, the only service you might get is a lesson in apathetic indifference.

 

Fortunately, that is not always true. I called my City on a light that wouldn't change via motorcycle and they had it fixed in 3 days.

Small town service

 

I do like the new optic sensors. They always seem to work around here.

[upflying]

Speaking of optic sensors, there's an app for that now. I caught a guy holding an iPhone while stopped at the signal. The phone was flashing a rapidly pulsating light from its camera flash. He did not admit to me he was trying to get the signal to change for obvious reasons.

Check your laws before you try this.

http://www.iphoneappreview.com/traffic-light-changer-turn-red-lights-to-green/