How many times have you stopped at a traffic light triggered by a sensor in the street and your bike doesn’t have enough mass to change the light? It’s a pain in the butt and you end up waiting for a car to come up and trigger the light or you run the red. There’s a bill in the South Carolina Senate that would allow you to go through the red if you have waited for at least 20 seconds and you check for traffic before proceeding.
I know, they sell those little devices you can put on the bottom of your motorcycle that are supposed to trigger the light but I think those work about as well as deer whistles. Other than a bill like this, I’m not sure what we can do. Maybe they could do something to the sensors to make them more sensitive or maybe they could have a smaller sensor clearly marked where a motorcycle could stop that would trip the light. What do you think?
South Carolina red light bill
aaron says
here in victoria we have a 3 or 4 foot line with a little picture of a bicycle/motorbike next to it. I don’t know we use a special sensor or if the like just marks the sweet spot.
palegreenhorse says
i would prefer they mark the best spot / increase the sensitivity since then i know there would be a lower probability of getting run over. but as a second option i think that the running the red legally is a good law to have on the books. especially since we all do it anyways and so it would be nice to have it be legal.
todd says
There is already a loophole in California for this. The law is worded for a “non-functioning” red light, that you may proceed through it as long as it is clear in both directions. I’ve never been pulled over for proceeding through a “non-functioning” red light but I would hope that when I do the officer would understand my predicament. Often I am trying to turn onto a busy road and it is difficult to find a safe opening in traffice. Ideally there is a way (motion sensor instead of magnetic?) to trip the light so I don’t get ran down. I’m not sure who to write about it or who would care to do something about it. I’m sure motorcycle cops experience the same problem, right?
-todd
Matt says
For those of you with access to a dead hard drive you can remove the magnets and fasten one to the lowest point on the frame. I had one on both my ’95 Kawi GPz1100 and my ’98 HD XL1200S, and I never had a problem tripping the sensors for the traffic lights in CA. I work in the IT field, so access to the magnets isn’t a problem. The Harley shook so much I fastened the magnet to the frame with a zip-tie, because I’m sure it would have fallen off otherwise.