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Triggering A Stop Light

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Triggering A Stop Light

Old 10-26-20, 06:17 AM
  #51  
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Originally Posted by wheelingmike
Has anyone try something like this? Do they work?

https://greenlighttriggers.com/
They don't seem to tell you anywhere, but it's either a big magnet or a piece of cast iron. With chrome on. I bet it's the latter as they talk about "adding mass", rather than talk about magnets.
I would avoid. If need be, I will run a red, or if that is not possible due to traffic, I'd either tilt my bike (it hasn't been necessary ever for me to lay it down completely), or as my third option: use the pedestrian crossing.
I haven't encountered problems on my daily runs, but if I did, I'd contact the council and have them adjust the inductive coils.
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Old 10-26-20, 06:59 AM
  #52  
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If I have to get off my ike, in an intersection, and lay it on its side to trigger the light, the light is broken.

Imagine if drivers had to get out of their cars to trigger lights?

The issue is safety as much as inconvenience. If I am off my bike, standing in a traffic lane, laying my bike on the road, what do I do if the light changes? What do I do if someone comes storming up to the light, thinking it might change, and doesn't see my tail light because the bike is on its side, on the ground? And if the light changes while the bike is laying on the ground, at some lights I run ... .... the light only stays green long enough for a couple cars to get through, so by the time I got the bike up and got back on it, the light would be red again ... and I would still end up running it, and certainly annoy all the cars behind me.

I figure, if I can go safely, then I will just go. I could wait for the light to cycle ... but if nothing triggers it, it will never cycle, so i could literally wait until i died there.

If a cop wants to ticket me for running a red light, I will go to court and see if I cannot convince the judge .... but as a rule, because of the visibility i have on a bike (which is part of what allows me to run a light safely) I could see a cop waiting at the intersection .... and I make an effort not to challenge cops. Usually doesn't go over well.

If I am riding sensibly, and there are no cars in my path and no cars impeded by my progress .... I just go. In 50+ years on the road, I have never gotten a ticket----though I did get pulled over running a stop sign once. i didn't see it, it was an empty road in an unfamiliar area, the cop was far enough away that he wasn't a risk or at risk .... and i simply talked to the officer for a few minutes. When he realized i wasn't an idiot, he was actually helpful with direction to a better route to where I was heading.

Cops are just people in cop suits doing a specific job, and often they aren't out to get people for no good reason.

Occasionally .... but not usually.
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Old 10-26-20, 05:35 PM
  #53  
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Originally Posted by CargoDane
They don't seem to tell you anywhere, but it's either a big magnet or a piece of cast iron. With chrome on. I bet it's the latter as they talk about "adding mass", rather than talk about magnets.
I would avoid. If need be, I will run a red, or if that is not possible due to traffic, I'd either tilt my bike (it hasn't been necessary ever for me to lay it down completely), or as my third option: use the pedestrian crossing.
I haven't encountered problems on my daily runs, but if I did, I'd contact the council and have them adjust the inductive coils.
These detectors have nothing to do with mass or magnets. What they really want is an aluminum rim. For everything you always wanted to know about them:
https://www.bikewalknc.org/bicycle-d...affic-signals/
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Old 10-26-20, 05:43 PM
  #54  
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Originally Posted by Carbonfiberboy
These detectors have nothing to do with mass or magnets. What they really want is an aluminum rim. For everything you always wanted to know about them:
https://www.bikewalknc.org/bicycle-d...affic-signals/
I was talking about what was on their site. They keep talking about "add mass to your bike", hence my thought that it is probably a block of cast iron. It works on an induction stove top, but so does titanium and a whole lot of other things - including carbon fibre.

https://www.google.com/search?client...UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
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Old 10-26-20, 05:56 PM
  #55  
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Originally Posted by Maelochs
If I have to get off my ike, in an intersection, and lay it on its side to trigger the light, the light is broken.

Imagine if drivers had to get out of their cars to trigger lights?

The issue is safety as much as inconvenience. If I am off my bike, standing in a traffic lane, laying my bike on the road, what do I do if the light changes? What do I do if someone comes storming up to the light, thinking it might change, and doesn't see my tail light because the bike is on its side, on the ground? And if the light changes while the bike is laying on the ground, at some lights I run ... .... the light only stays green long enough for a couple cars to get through, so by the time I got the bike up and got back on it, the light would be red again ... and I would still end up running it, and certainly annoy all the cars behind me.

I figure, if I can go safely, then I will just go. I could wait for the light to cycle ... but if nothing triggers it, it will never cycle, so i could literally wait until i died there.

If a cop wants to ticket me for running a red light, I will go to court and see if I cannot convince the judge .... but as a rule, because of the visibility i have on a bike (which is part of what allows me to run a light safely) I could see a cop waiting at the intersection .... and I make an effort not to challenge cops. Usually doesn't go over well.

If I am riding sensibly, and there are no cars in my path and no cars impeded by my progress .... I just go. In 50+ years on the road, I have never gotten a ticket----though I did get pulled over running a stop sign once. i didn't see it, it was an empty road in an unfamiliar area, the cop was far enough away that he wasn't a risk or at risk .... and i simply talked to the officer for a few minutes. When he realized i wasn't an idiot, he was actually helpful with direction to a better route to where I was heading.

Cops are just people in cop suits doing a specific job, and often they aren't out to get people for no good reason.

Occasionally .... but not usually.
A traffic engineer told me about laying the bike down if the detector didn't work. As I think I mentioned, I've never had to do that. If there is a detector present, it always has detected my bike and changed the signal. Thou dost protest too much. In any case, it only takes me 5 seconds to mount and ride off, which I've never had to do except if I've been checking my equipment, which is almost never. You must have really short lights. The systems here seem to hold the light green as long as cars are crossing the detector, with some maximum time which varies with the intersection.

I've never had an interaction with a cop while riding. In my state, the "Idaho Stop" I think it's called just became legal, meaning that it's legal for bikes to roll through stop signs as long as the cross street is clear. That's good because that's what I've always done. Hope you can get that passed in your state.
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Old 10-26-20, 10:22 PM
  #56  
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Originally Posted by CargoDane
I was talking about what was on their site. They keep talking about "add mass to your bike", hence my thought that it is probably a block of cast iron. It works on an induction stove top, but so does titanium and a whole lot of other things - including carbon fibre.

https://www.google.com/search?client...UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
Thanks. I didn't know that about carbon fiber. Makes sense. So alu, steel, carbon frames and rims all work. Seems to me a current path is the key, thus rims and triangle frames are ideal as triggers.
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Old 10-27-20, 07:04 AM
  #57  
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Originally Posted by Carbonfiberboy
Thanks. I didn't know that about carbon fiber. Makes sense. So alu, steel, carbon frames and rims all work. Seems to me a current path is the key, thus rims and triangle frames are ideal as triggers.
No problem, and you're right, some form of current "path" is needed. However, I'm not sure if you mean "path" as in going from one part of the bike to another (because that's not necessary) or simply a path as in "conducts electricity". Depending on the sensitivity of inductive coil in the ground, you could potentially trigger it with a small titanium pot, or my prosthetic leg (carbon fibre foot, titanium bolts and rod, and carbon fibre holster). You basically just need something that conducts electricity: CF, titanium, copper, cast iron, aluminium, brass, and a whole lot of other things do that.
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Old 10-27-20, 08:53 AM
  #58  
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Originally Posted by CargoDane
No problem, and you're right, some form of current "path" is needed. However, I'm not sure if you mean "path" as in going from one part of the bike to another (because that's not necessary) or simply a path as in "conducts electricity". Depending on the sensitivity of inductive coil in the ground, you could potentially trigger it with a small titanium pot, or my prosthetic leg (carbon fibre foot, titanium bolts and rod, and carbon fibre holster). You basically just need something that conducts electricity: CF, titanium, copper, cast iron, aluminium, brass, and a whole lot of other things do that.
Nice work and good for you. Way to go! I'd totally forgotten that Edison's first light bulb filaments were carbon. William Coolidge though, not Edison, created the tungsten filament.
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Old 10-27-20, 08:55 AM
  #59  
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Originally Posted by Carbonfiberboy
Nice work and good for you. Way to go! I'd totally forgotten that Edison's first light bulb filaments were carbon. William Coolidge though, not Edison, created the tungsten filament.
LOL, thanks, I think
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Old 10-29-20, 09:44 PM
  #60  
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Around here, most of the lights are triggered by what APPEAR to be cameras; they're actually thermal sensors... on a summer day I do have a problem triggering them, but most of the time, my fat ass is putting off enough of a heat differential that they work.
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Old 10-30-20, 02:16 AM
  #61  
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Here in Portugal cyclists trigger traffic lights often. There are a few around locally that are set at 50km/h and we trigger them easily enough, alone or in a Group with no cars around. These lights are not traffic lights at stop streets etc, they are meant to slow traffic down, so have speed sensors.
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Old 10-30-20, 02:31 AM
  #62  
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Originally Posted by Carbonfiberboy
OTOH if you run carbon wheels and frame, you're maybe SOL.
Should still work fine. CF while it varies a lot generally has a high dielectric constant, so will change the loop inductance. If it works for any bike it'll work for CF equally or better.
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