Topic: What would you have done?

[Damfino]

My guess is that he knows that particular light and it won't click green until some more weight goes on the widget under the road to tell it there is a car waiting.  There are a couple in Nanaimo that If I am 1st, I need to pull way forward and gesture a car to come closer to the line or the light never changes

I'll bet that's what happened

What is it that makes everyone think that there is a WEIGHT sensor buried in the road Those little wires that they put in the road are insulated copper wire. What in the world makes a intelligent person believe that it is going to measure weight. Hello.....it is a variable capacitance loop that sees your metal bike, car, truck, etc. as added capacitance and makes a circuit.

I think it's because they put those wires in a rectangular pattern that makes it look like a scale platform to some people.   

[Joel]

Not everyone knows or understands inductance but most, if not all, people understand weight and mass.  It's just an assumption people make.

[seaweb11]

Who #$%*ing cares..............
you guys are all getting way to pissy Go watch a movie. Yell at your kids, get it all off your chest how dumb every one else is

did I spell everything OK, If not ....... again read the 1st line!

[mystic_1]

At least I included a helpful tip, and a joke

cheers
mystic_1

[Ecosse]

Who #$%*ing cares..............
you guys are all getting way to pissy Go watch a movie. Yell at your kids, get it all off your chest how dumb every one else is

did I spell everything OK, If not ....... again read the 1st line!

 

[sangyo soichiro]

Thanks for all the responses.  I never really knew about the inductance-type sensors in the road.  Still not sure if it's a joke though.  Seems like they would be hard to perform maintenance on if buried in the pavement, and I've only seen the laser-type sensors mounted on the poles near the intersections.  

By the way, I hate those 'smart' traffic lights.  Seems like no one knows where exactly to put the car so the detector senses them (which is right behind the white painted line), and I've seen stupid people, turning left, sit through several light changes (it didn't change for them - only for the cross traffic and the people going straight).  It really sucks when you're one of the guys behind them.  Plus, a lot of times the laser-sensor thingy doesn't sense my bike and I'm eventually forced to run a red light.

Anyway, this was one of those old-fashioned lights where that Harley guy tried to get a better look at my butt.

[DammitDan]

Nah the magnetic field sensors aren't a joke at all...  We have them all over the place here in TN.  They look similar to this:



Just gotta make sure you stop the bike over the top of one of those metal strips.

[mystic_1]

They use a large saw to cut grooves several inches deep in the pavement, in the shape they want, then they run wire through the cracks to form a coil.  The ends of the coil lead back to the control box for the traffic lights.  Once the wire is laid they fill the cracks with sealant.

If the wire goes bad they rip out the sealant, replace the wires, then re-seal.  Not bad at all really.

The biggest problems with them are that a lot of them aren't well tuned and won't pick up smaller (magnetically!) vehicles (ie bikes, corvettes, etc), and poor placement.  Here in the Chicago suburbs it's common for lanes to have multiple sensors so that the signal controller can tell approximately how many cars are waiting at each side of the intersection, and adjust accordingly.  In theory.  YMMV.

I always try to come to a stop with the centerline of the bike directly over one of the sensor lines, preferrably close to the left front corner of the sensor rectangle.

mystic_1

[Alan F.]

Sharing the white line at a light is usually a good experience, but when the light is about to turn green (in my humble opinion)  it's time to be looking for cars that will run the yellow...and that one idiot who'll run the red, as well as identify and make eye contact with any drivers who will be turning left....

That's not usually a good time for conversation, it was probably his first bike and he was all giddy to be able to share the road with another bike.

[flybox1]

OTOH, longer red lights gives you the chance to converse with the Harley rider that pulls up behind you

mystic_1

...and fiddle with ur idle screw