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Bikes Tricking Traffic Lights  E-mail
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.
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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. smilies/smiley.gif
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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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Hank Green
About the author:

Hank Green is the founder and chief geek at EcoGeek.org. Aside from being obsessed with saving the planet with technology, he loves to write and make videos. If you want to find out more about him, visit hankgreen.com
 
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