Traffic light fun & games..

[Arjimlad]

Dear Streetcare,

Junction with A38 Gloucester Road and Church Lane at Rudgeway

I'm having a little problem cycling home. Heading north up the A38 from Bradley Stoke I continue over the M5 and past Hortham Lane, until taking the right turn along Church Lane towards Latteridge.

There's a separate traffic light controlling when I can turn right from the A38 onto Church Lane.

It seems to be triggered by a pressure pad in the road.

Now I have been cycling for a bit, I don't seem to be heavy enough to set it off.

The tipping point seems to be about 14 stone and I'm pleased to say I now weigh less than that.

If I sit waiting at the lights with a car a respectful distance behind me, the car sometimes doesn't reach the pressure pad. So I then have to go over the white line & contravene the law, so the car can sit on the pressure pad & trigger the green light.

I could either

1. eat more and get fat enough to trigger the thing again, which would seem counterproductive
2. get off my bike & walk around the junction, which is a nuisance or
3. ask you to see if there's anything to be done about it ?


Kind regards

 

[sean8997]

You could ask the local council or whomever maintains that stretch of road under the freedom of information act how it is triggered, once you find out then pose your dilema to them. Any self respecting authority should be happy to help as this will help with their green targets etc.

 

[snorri]

Just phone the roads authority, and explain the defect, making sure you emphasise the fact that you are on a bicycle.
Do get some sort of reference from them to prove that you have actually reported the defect. Some authorities ask for your 'phone number and inform you when the work is done , others just ignore you and require to be reminded.

 

[doug]

If your bike doesn't trigger the lights then the lights are faulty - you may the proceed with caution, see Highway Code rule 176:
https://www.gov.uk/using-the-road-159-to-203/road-junctions-170-to-183

Report the faulty lights to the council and/or highways agency (I think it might be the latter for a main A road).

Are you sure it is a pressure pad ? Most traffic lights are triggered by induction loops in the tarmac (wires buried in the road), they need a large lump of metal close to the sensor to trigger them. I have heard reports that if you lay your bike flat across the sensors it may trigger it (probably won't work with a carbon frame though).

 

[Arjimlad]

The above is the email I sent them today. They're usually pretty good at sorting these out & replying to emails. I'm certainly not going to lay my bike down on the road to trigger the lights !

Having reported the fault & it sitting in my sent items, and their acknowledgment in my inbox, I feel better able to invoke rule 176 as above, thanks for that !

I only presumed it was a pressure pad due to the cuts in the road surface. If a car rolls onto it then the lights will change, whereas they cheerfully ignore me. There's a rude sign warning people turning right not to turn until the filter goes green.

 

[Matthew_T]

Something that I have always wanted to know is, is there a cheat way to trigger the lights? A bit like flashing temporary lights to make them think you are an emergency vehicle (we have all done it).

 

[summerdays]

If your bike doesn't trigger the lights then the lights are faulty - you may the proceed with caution, see Highway Code rule 176:
https://www.gov.uk/using-the-road-159-to-203/road-junctions-170-to-183

Report the faulty lights to the council and/or highways agency (I think it might be the latter for a main A road).

Are you sure it is a pressure pad ? Most traffic lights are triggered by induction loops in the tarmac (wires buried in the road), they need a large lump of metal close to the sensor to trigger them. I have heard reports that if you lay your bike flat across the sensors it may trigger it (probably won't work with a carbon frame though).

Err knowing that junction I wouldn't proceed with caution - usually too many cars going straight on. I reported lots of gravel on the next set of lights down and asked them to send a sweeper which they did (took a week or so).

I'm not sure I'd go with the lay your bike down either. I'd say your best bet at the moment would be ignore the sign that says "don't go infront of the lights whilst waiting to turn right" to leave a gap for the car behind to trigger it. I'm pretty certain those lights have got induction loops - though it's one of those places where I take a breather and go via the layby to the side quite often (so if you see someone stopping to remove layers or put on jacket or take a drink - it could be me).

 

[sidevalve]

Stopped using pressure pads 40 years ago. If there is a diamond or chevron shaped "cut" or loop in the road this will be and inductive sensor [it may be a square if it is after the stop line]. The diamond and chevron types tend to be a little more sensitive at their corners, the square loops will be looking for something "sitting" on them for a set length of time [5 - 10 seconds ish] before they put a demand into the traffic light controller telling it "something's waiting" [avoides false calles by in by someone just cutting the corner etc, and thus making everyone wait for an unused green arrow] , if you move off the loop before this time it will assume a "false call" and simply ignore the demand. The other thing to be aware of is many lights use pole mounted sensors now [they look like small cameras on the traffic signal poles] and are often set to register anything approaching at 4mph or above [stops pedestrians triggering the lights] so if they are present don't just amble up at 2 mph.
As for ignoring the lights because they are "faulty" just because you have to wait a few mins doesn't mean you suddenly have right of way and if you cause an accident and the lights are not faulty you will be sued [wether you are in hospital as a result or not.
As for the "quick fix" no I'm sorry there isn't one.

 

[snorri]

to make them think you are an emergency vehicle (we have all done it).

Shakes head in the negative

 

[Boris Bajic]

Traffic lights?

Is that what they call those poles with different-colourd lights at the top?

I think you'll find they don't apply to bicycles.

It's a car thing and for trucks and that.

 

[on the road]

Traffic lights?

Is that what they call those poles with different-colourd lights at the top?

I think you'll find they don't apply to bicycles.

It's a car thing and for trucks and that.

This would seem to suggest otherwise

 

[summerdays]

We had to go past there tonight, and I think I saw 3 induction loops in the right turning lane, so if there is a queue building up then even if you block the one nearest the light the other two (if there are enough cars) should be triggered.

 

[summerdays]

The other thing to be aware of is many lights use pole mounted sensors now [they look like small cameras on the traffic signal poles] and are often set to register anything approaching at 4mph or above [stops pedestrians triggering the lights] so if they are present don't just amble up at 2 mph.

I didn't know that - thanks!

 

[HovR]

I only presumed it was a pressure pad due to the cuts in the road surface. If a car rolls onto it then the lights will change, whereas they cheerfully ignore me. There's a rude sign warning people turning right not to turn until the filter goes green.

Do the 'cuts' look similar to the image below (although they may be in a different shape/arrangement)?

If so, it's an induction loop, not a pressure pad. Despite popular belief you don't actually need a lot of metal to trigger an induction loop. If you have metal wheels then you can just position your wheels on the lines for the induction loop, and this should be enough to allow it to detect you.

Try and position your wheels on one of the induction loop's lines running along the road, rather than across it, so as much of your metal wheel and possibly frame is over the induction loop as possible.

In Gloucester many of the lines for the induction loops overlap at the corners to form an "X" shape - Even better if you can position one or both of your wheels over these.

It works for me, and no need to lay your bike down.

 

[Arjimlad]

Yes, that's just what they look like. My bike does have metal wheels under the rubber but I'll try to put the wheel along the lines at the side and see what difference that makes. What knowledge there is on this forum !

Summerdays - I seem to pass here southbound at about 8.15am and northbound will be at about 6pm. Blue coat on a black/blue Defy 2. See you soon I hope !