fred@umcp-cs.UUCP (Fred Blonder) (07/30/85)
What do y'all do when you're stuck at a traffic light that won't turn
green for you 'till something with enough mass to trip the traffic
sensor comes along, but there are no cars coming the same direction you
are?
The three alternatives I see, all of which I've used depending on
time-of-day, traffic, etc. are:
1) Wait and hope a car comes along from behind.
2) Cross against the red light. (This is the one the folks at
the local bike shop recomend.)
3) Climb up on the sidewalk and push the little pedestrian
crossing button. (The ``smart'' lights with traffic sensors
seem to usually have these.)
These all are a nuisance, however an advantage of #3 is that since the
traffic engineers realize that the average pedestrian doesn't walk at
> 20 mph., the light will stay green for you longer, avoiding the
problem of it turning green for the cross street while you've still got
a couple lanes of a fairly wide intersection to cross.
--
Fred Blonder (301) 454-7690
harpo!seismo!umcp-cs!fred
Fred@Maryland.ARPAgeoffs@brl-tgr.ARPA (Geoffrey Sauerborn ) (07/30/85)
In article <1043@umcp-cs.UUCP> fred@umcp-cs.UUCP (Fred Blonder) writes: >What do y'all do when you're stuck at a traffic light that won't turn >green... If the local laws allow a right turn on red after stopping, then that is what I do. After turning right I execute a U turn and again make a right turn at the intersection. ! | ! ! o ! ! | ! ! ! o ! ! | !3. (right turn) ------------------ -------------------- < -- 2. U turn \ - - - - - - - - - - * - - - - - - - - | - (light) / o-o ------------------ -------------------- ! | o ! 1. (rt on red) ! ! ! ! | o !
fish@ihlpg.UUCP (Bob Fishell) (08/03/85)
> In article <1043@umcp-cs.UUCP> fred@umcp-cs.UUCP (Fred Blonder) writes: > >What do y'all do when you're stuck at a traffic light that won't turn > >green... > > If the local laws allow a right turn on red after stopping, then > that is what I do. After turning right I execute a U turn and > again make a right turn at the intersection. > ! | ! > ! o ! > ! | ! ! > ! o ! > ! | !3. (right turn) > ------------------ -------------------- > < -- 2. U turn > \ > - - - - - - - - - - * - - - - - - - - | - > (light) / > o-o > ------------------ -------------------- > ! | o ! 1. (rt on red) > ! ! ! > ! | o ! *** AC T YOUR AGE *** Yeah, but the U-turn is equally illegal, so... I have a method which is much simpler. 1) Look Left 2) Look Right 3) Look Ahead 4) Look Left Again 5) If a) There're no cops in sight, and b) There's no traffic threatening, 6) Crash the light and keep going. This also works when making left turns. O.K., there's something sacrosant about a red light. I *always* stop for them. However, sitting there like a dummy waiting for one that's not going to change doesn't seem like good citizenship to me -- just dumb. And going through ridiculous machinations just to avoid the light seems like too much work. __ / \ \__/ Bob Fishell ihnp4!ihlpg!fish
hodor@hplabsb.UUCP (08/08/85)
> What do y'all do when you're stuck at a traffic light that won't turn > green for you 'till something with enough mass to trip the traffic > sensor comes along, but there are no cars coming the same direction you > are? > -- > Fred Blonder (301) 454-7690 > harpo!seismo!umcp-cs!fred > Fred@Maryland.ARPA I have been able to trip most car-sensors at traffic lights. Most of the new ones are metal detectors. The problem is to know where to ride to trip them. All of the ones that I know of are made by cutting a slot in pavement and placing a wire in the slot. The slot is covered by tar. The pattern of the tar is the key. There are two configurations that I know of: 1. The "8" configuration. This looks like a number 8. To trip these ride your bike over the center line of the eight. This is the most sensitive part of the metal detector. 2. The single "O" configuration. This configuration is sometimes the more difficult to trip. It is usually less sensitive. If it can be tripped by the bicycle you need to ride over the edge of the circle. I hope these hints help. Happy "tripping." Ken Hodor hplabs!hodor
fred@varian.UUCP (Fred Klink) (08/13/85)
> These all are a nuisance, however an advantage of #3 is that since the > traffic engineers realize that the average pedestrian doesn't walk at > > 20 mph., the light will stay green for you longer, avoiding the > problem of it turning green for the cross street while you've still got > a couple lanes of a fairly wide intersection to cross. Sorry ahead of time to any civil engineering types on the net but at least around here I don't credit traffic "engineers" with any conscious consideration of road use by peds, bikes or others. I've given up using the push to walk buttons because (a) they don't do anything (my wife calls these the placebo buttons), or (b) they result in a 5 second green light, just about adequate for a world class sprinter to cross on, or (c) they are placed in position which is almost inaccessible to a cyclist without a complete dismount. To add a bright spot to this whole discussion though, Palo Alto California (home of Stanford), has just enacted a number of pro- bike laws one of which is *all* lane sensors must be sensitive to bicycles. Hooray for our side! I am waiting to see how they make a lane sensor detect a carbon fiber Peugout (:-))
fred@gymble.UUCP (Fred Blonder) (08/22/85)
> From: fred@varian.UUCP (Fred Klink) > Newsgroups: net.bicycle > Subject: Re: car-sensors at traffic lights > Message-ID: <358@varian.UUCP> > > Sorry ahead of time to any civil engineering types on the net > but at least around here I don't credit traffic "engineers" > with any conscious consideration of road use by peds, bikes or > others. I've given up using the push to walk buttons because > (a) they don't do anything (my wife calls these the placebo > buttons), or (b) they result in a 5 second green light, just > about adequate for a world class sprinter to cross on, or (c) > they are placed in position which is almost inaccessible to a > cyclist without a complete dismount. Around here (just outside of Washington D.C.) they most definitely DO work, (usually), but as you point out, they're always mounted somewhere you can't reach without going up a curb or something similarly annoying. -- All characters mentioned herein are fictitious. Any similarity to actual characters, ASCII or EBCDIC is purely coincidental. Fred Blonder (301) 454-7690 Fred@Maryland.{ARPA,CSNet} harpo!seismo!umcp-cs!fred