Traffic light sensors ignoring bicycles....

About those traffic light sensors that don’t always pick up bicycles, meaning that even though you’re legally required to follow the traffic signal, the light is ignoring you… for hours…..

http://www.bikexprt.com/bicycle/actuator.htm

“Until about 1970, most traffic lights were actuated by timers, and a few by treadle devices in the road. These were visible and obvious, and they worked for bicycles. But more and more traffic lights are now actuated by loops of electrical wire buried in the pavement. The wire loops operate as metal detector antennas, sensing the presence of vehicles overhead. You must have seen the narrow lines in square patterns cut into the pavement ahead of intersections. That's where the wires are buried.

“Not only do these actuator loops work very unreliably for bicyclists, most bicyclists do not even know what they are. Often, the loops are buried under a new layer of pavement and invisible. If you don't understand the actuator loops, all you know is that you have been waiting for the traffic light since Tuesday and it hasn't turned green. If this happens at a substantial percentage of traffic lights, a reasonable human being will draw the logical conclusion: why bother to wait at all?
“The traffic law of all 50 states grants bicyclists the rights and duties of vehicle drivers. It follows directly that the traffic control system must make it possible for bicyclists to obey the law, or else a state is acting in contempt of its own legal authority.
“
…we can try to make the signals work. If the pavement cuts are visible, you can often trip the signal by riding along one side of the loop with your wheels directly over the wire (but if your bicycle has nonmetallic wheels and a nonmetallic frame, good luck, Charlie).”

According to the League of American Bicyclists…..

http://www.bikeleague.org/educenter/factsheets/trafficlights.htm
BETTER BICYCLING FACT SHEETS
Traffic Lights
Obey, obey, obey
Cyclists, just like motorists, must obey all traffic control devices
It takes longer to travel through an intersection on bike; plan to stop for yellow lights
Avoid cars that run red lights by waiting for the signal to turn green and scan to make sure it's clear
Detection
Bicycles must activate a vehicle detector just like a motor vehicle
Detectors are embedded in the roadway; look for squares cut into the roadway
Detectors use magnetic forces to pick up vehicles, not weight
Unresponsive signals
In most states, after three minutes, you can treat a red light as a stop sign
Pass through a red light only as a last resort
Yield to other vehicles while crossing the roadway
….

I’ve emailed the NC DOT Division of Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation (really great site, free bike maps…. http://www.ncdot.org/transit/bicycle/) to learn if we’re one of the states with the 3-minute rule and what all they say about the sensors. I’ll let you know what they say….