| Bikes Tricking Traffic Lights |
| Written by Hank Green | ||
| Thursday, 20 September 2007 | ||
|
Just one more way in which the car culture screws bicyclists: traffic lights. With the advent of inductive loop traffic sensors, traffic lights suddenly knew when there was a car waiting to go, and could keep the light red until there was a car. But that means indefinite waiting and eventual required law-breaking by bicyclists. Well, screw them. Watch the video above and learn. Strap a simple inexpensive neodymium magnet to the bottom of your bike frame and, voila, you're now a recognizable presence in the automated car culture.
Comments
(11)
Alternatively
written by EV , September 21, 2007
You could get off your bike and lay it flat against the ground. In most cases, that will be enough to trip the inductive sensor.
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written by Jono , September 21, 2007
I used to think the sensors worked by detecting the weight of cars, and that my bike and I just weren't heavy enough. Good to know I can set them off with a tiny little magnet, instead of having to bulk up!
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written by Shu , September 21, 2007
I used to pound the front tire into the area with sensors...
rust?
written by josh , September 21, 2007
They're nickel plated. They won't rust.
Finally...
written by weee , September 21, 2007
equality for cyclists!
hard drive magnets?
written by sebnukem , September 21, 2007
Does anyone know if it works with hard drive magnets?
Gave up my car and now this!
written by David , September 22, 2007
Gotta try this one after giving up my car last year.
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written by jerome , September 22, 2007
Just run the goddamn light already!!
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written by John Fill , September 22, 2007
If you're on a motorcycle you can trip the sensor by putting the kickstand down...
speak up
written by alinia , September 23, 2007
Let your local municipality know that you want bike sensors. They can lay them down (and retrofit) so a bike will trip them. And encouraging bicyclists is much, much cheaper than widening roads for growing traffic capacity.
Where to get the magnet
written by Jim , September 25, 2007
Checked all the web sites and could not find the magnet used here.. tries a ferrot iron one and it did not work, may not be powerful enough... Any help on where to get a couple of these?
Thanks Jim | ||
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