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Old August 15th 03, 11:54 PM posted to uk.transport.london,uk.rec.cycling
Martin Underwood Martin Underwood is offline
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First recorded activity at LondonBanter: Jul 2003
Posts: 47
Default Camera like sensors on top of traffic lights

"Colin McKenzie" wrote in message
...
Peter Fox wrote:
Following on from David Cowie's message. . .
Seems that might be the only way I can get the light to change ! How
about a foil vest

Bit annoying waiting at the light (for it to change) knowing that
there's no way to activate a sensor and wait for a car to approach
before it'll change.


They are _speed_ sensitive with a cut-off at about 15mph. Complain to
the appropriate highway authority who should be able to tweak it to
cotton on to your approach..

Meanwhile, since bikes are traffic too, if it doesn't detect you it's a
failed traffic signal within the meaning of the act. This means, once
you're sure it's ignoring you and isn't set to change anyway at some
point, you can ignore it too (treat it as a give way).


I had a traffic light fail to turn green late one night (I was in my car).
I'd taken a wrong turning at a set of traffic lights into a cul-de-sac. When
I had turned round, the traffic lights that would have let me out again had
stuck on red (in my direction). After waiting about two minutes, during
which there was no traffic approaching the junction from any direction, I
thought "bugger this for a lark" and cautiously edged forward, checking for
oncoming traffic. Blow me, just after I'd cleared the junction, a police car
suddenly appeared from my right and pulled me over for ignoring a traffic
light, on the grounds that if his light was green, mine must have been red.
I suggested that he might like to check the state of the lights. At first he
didn't believe me, but I persisted. Even after he had checked and found that
I was telling the truth, he wasn't happy and examined my documents and my
car very carefully to see if there was any rule on which he could "get" me.
Sadly for him (and fortunately for me), my lights were all working, my tyres
had good tread and I'd got my licence, insurance and MOT certificate on me
as I'd just bought a new tax disc that day.