Illinois Considering Alllowing Motorcycles to Treat Some Red Lights as Stop Signs

Take it from me, I have seen plenty of fatal accidents and this NONSENSE will only increase them!

Sensors here in BC are magnetic loop types. No weight to trip it at all.

This is not a good move, people will die.

Well then, I guess my bike doesn't have enough steel in it because I have often been stranded at "smart" lights that WOULD NOT CHANGE until a car or truck pulled up behind me....

has nothing to do with weight, the loops are metal sensors. I heard it recommended that motorcyclist use magnets to help the sensors detect their cycles.

File a complaint with your city's public works department and have them check the loop. It's a very good possibility the gain of the detector isn't set properly. Any motor over 125 CC's should trip a properly functioning sensor. There is also something you can do to help the situation Look at the road surface and you should be able to see where the loop is laid. ride down the length of the loop and stop over the point where it turns.

Politicians don't always make "smart" laws, case in point the State of Florida, we are mandated by law to wear a seat belt while in the front seat of a vehicle, but they also passed an optional helmet law for motorcycles. I guess elected officials don't value much the life of bikers.

If a motorcyclist is at a red light for an unusually long amount of time and it is clear the light will not change, as long as he or she yields to oncoming traffic, there will be no problems. If they do not do this, then it will be their own fault.

You will be found guilty of failing to obey a traffic control device.

On my side of Illinois that is how it works. ...On Monday, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed a law that makes it easier for the children of immigrants--legal or illegal--to pay for college.

Me and my Harley sat at a stop light in the early morning with a police car sitting there watching and waiting for me to left while it was still red.

I was returning home from providing the night time motorcycle security on the race track from midnight until 7 AM on a sunday morning. He was probably hoping I was out all night drinking or something and waiting to pounce on me. No one else was around at the light but the 2 of us for about 7-8 minutes. A light that normally changes every 90 seconds max would not sense the Harley. I always ride along the wire when pulling up to a stop light. So since the cop wouldn't take the intiative to wave me on, I changed my blinker to a right turn and proceeded with caution. Went down the road and made a legal u-turn and then drove right by him.

He obviously didn't care and it would have been my word against his in court.

...very interesting.

I usually turn my bike off, drop the stand and punch the cross walk button. Works every time, and legal to boot.

The midnight shift has never been one of my favorites (or very functional shifts) but after being up all night I was way too tired to think of something that simple.

Nor did I want to end the night with a ticket after voluteering for this huge benfit for autism.

Turn on the hazards before you turn the bike off! That can be considered a hazard if you don't, or an abandoned vehicle, depending on the LEO's mood.

In some cases there is a fix for the problem. This is a reply I received from one of the places that sells rare earth magnets.

Thank you for contacting us. I have heard of this and have received confirmation from several customers that this does work on some traffic light loops, but not all. I don't think the small magnets shown in the video would be strong enough. I generally recommend our DC6PC plastic coated magnets, or our DC6BR, DX08BR, or BX0X06BR. You can see these here: http://www.kjmagnetics.com/products.asp?cat=164. I believe the larger magnets would be more effective. The plastic or rubber coating protects the magnets from corrosion. If you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to ask.

Best Regards,
Kevin Stayer
K&J Magnetics, Inc.
www.kjmagnetics.com

These traffic light sensors are simply specialized metal detectors. A magnet will not create any more of a response than will the equivalent mass of nonmagnetized high permeability metal.

Some discussion of the topic on Snopes here:
http://message.snopes.com/showthread.php?t=16531

Did you wave as you went by..!!..?

Nuvi1300WTGPS

I have a friend who rides a motorcycle and many times cannot make a legal turn because the lights will not change for him (particularly left arrow only turns) at multiple intersections in different towns. These lights have Red light cameras to boot so he does not want to risk a ticket.

Not that simple. Go here and read up on inductive loops.
http://tinyurl.com/3lvz5sb
Rare earth magnets are very powerful for their size, I have one that is about the size of a quarter and a quarter of an inch thick that will lift 42 pounds. I can see them having a strong enough magnetic field to trip an inductive coil. I know that if I still rode a motorcycle and was having a problem with traffic lights, before I would take Snopes word for it I would spend a few dollars to try it