Article on Red Lights that Won't Trip

Just wanted to share this article.....

www.bikebandit.com/community/articles/de...ontent=dead_red_laws

As your article mentions, Washington State, where I live, just recently passed a dead red law for motorcyclists. You are supposed to wait one light cycle before going on red. Many traffic lights in my area however don't have a cycle. For example a minor arterial that cross a major arterial will only change the traffic signal when tripped by a vehicle. These intersections have simply become stop and go for motorcyclists. More like a stop sign than a stop light. While I think this is fine, folks in cars freak out when you go on red. i know many people who are afraid of motorcycles when driving. This fear, I believe, contributes to crashes.

jakedude wrote: As your article mentions, Washington State, where I live, just recently passed a dead red law for motorcyclists. You are supposed to wait one light cycle before going on red. Many traffic lights in my area however don't have a cycle. For example a minor arterial that cross a major arterial will only change the traffic signal when tripped by a vehicle. These intersections have simply become stop and go for motorcyclists. More like a stop sign than a stop light. While I think this is fine, folks in cars freak out when you go on red. i know many people who are afraid of motorcycles when driving. This fear, I believe, contributes to crashes.

That's funny! If the traffic lights went through the normal cycle wouldn't the light for the bike turn green? So why would a guy on a bike sit through it; just so he could go on when it turned red? :laugh: Ed

The lights around here are really bad like that, we try to line up on the buried wire but a lot of times it doesn't work.
So when it's safe we go and it probably looks bad to some drivers but oh well
We just got the law last year and use it, I'm glad to see Tennessee and North Carolina also have it

I was told buy a fellow motorcyclist and traffic engineer in Mesa, AZ that placing your kickstand on the line will often times trigger it. Haven't had the chance to try it myself yet.

I'm in Ohio and we don't have any laws on it yet. I bought one of those green light triggers but haven't had a chance to try it out. It's basically just a powerful magnet that attaches to the bottom of the frame. The article mentions that it might work.....hopefully it will.

Strangely, I have never had a problem with this, but if I did, you can bet I would run the light if it were clear and I knew it was holding others up. I definitely understand the perception from the cager's perspective though - that motorcyclists are law-breaking ruffians. If I am going to run a light because I can't trigger it, I will be extra vigilant aftreward, once traffic catches up.

Having ridden hundreds of thousands of miles without incident, I believe it is important to understand both the intentions of all motorists, but also their perception of me. I love riding but I have to do it in a way that is safe for me, and that means managing risk versus reward.

In the state of Texas......you can go on Red if light does not cycle.( State Law Allowes It )
In the state of Georgia...its been on the house several times and it has not been pass.

I have had to pull up as far as possible and motion to the car behind me to pull up so they could trigger the light. Sometimes they don't get it and sometimes they do...some are probably scared or confused. I've also made a legal right turn on red and turned around at the first good place. On some occasions, I've just gone through the red light and hoped that any police seeing me would understand. It happens a lot in my area....the lights sensors just aren't sensitive enough for motorcycles. I wish Ohio would pass some legislation on it.

Come to think of it, if most of the sensors work on induction.....I believe that requires the presence of steel. Many newer motorcycles, especially sport bikes, have a lot of plastic and aluminum...I don't think those would trigger a light very easily at all. It's probably an even bigger problem for those riders.

kaw-a-holic wrote: I was told buy a fellow motorcyclist and traffic engineer in Mesa, AZ that placing your kickstand on the line will often times trigger it. Haven't had the chance to try it myself yet.

I've been trying that for years with my center stand and it "never"works

I have heard that a large magnet under the bike would trigger them. Never tried it, we can run them in Mn.

Good article, and good to know MO is on the 'dead red' list! Not sure what 'unreasonable' is in terms of time, but since the majority of intersections involving the highway have OPTICAL, not inductive sensors, even a pedestrian can trigger the change if he's standing in the right spot.

That said, I have heard of a couple people using this item as a 'red light hack': www.harborfreight.com/retrieving-magnet-250-lb-pull-36905.html
I have a couple of them, but moved out of IL (which uses inductive sensors) before I had a chance to mount one and try it out.