Posted on 08/28/2013 3:05:14 AM PDT by rellimpank
West Allis resident John Glass used to pull up to intersections on his motorcycle and sometimes find he was stuck.
Traffic lights remained red because they didn't sense his bike, and the longtime motorcycle enthusiast would have to take a roundabout route or wait for a car to come and trigger the sensors.
Today, Glass knows what to do: He simply runs the red lights.
With thousands of Harley riders descending on Milwaukee this week for Harley-Davidson's 110th anniversary celebration, you might see quite a few motorcyclists running red lights — and they have the right to do so, under certain circumstances.
A 2006 state statute says motorcyclists and bicyclists can go through red lights if they believe traffic signals aren't picking up their presence, if the intersection is free of cross traffic and if they've waited at least 45 seconds.
The problem, Glass said, is not a lot of people, including police officers, seem to know the law exists.
(Excerpt) Read more at jsonline.com ...
—ping—
Interesting...
Who knew? Bikers are allowed to run red lights!
FReep Mail me if you want on, or off, this Wisconsin interest ping list.
Some intersection have a newer sensor under the road, others will not sense you are there, especially if you are at the signal on a smaller bike, and then you get a car, er cager behind you and they are also stuck there.
Where I live we have the red light law, I have and will even take off making a left turn if it looks like its skipping my lane because again as a biker I am invisible to the world.
Lately I have been trying out a supermagnet clamped to the bottom of the bike, seems to work, they actually sell a device that creates a field but it also can screw with your sensitive electronics on your bike.
Hooligan ping.
My defence for going through a red that doesn’t change is to cite the section of the Highway Traffic Act that deals with malfunctioning traffic lights; a malfunctioning signal is to be treated as an all-way stop sign.
The latest technology in traffic signal systems includes video detection equipment on the signal mast arm instead of loop detectors in the pavement. That should help alleviate some of the issues cited here.
I’ve had to do this. I was sitting at a light one time and a cop told me to run it. This was in California.
I would also occasionally park the bike and run over to push the pedestrian crossing button.
Needed in PA. We got a ticket on Easter Sunday. Came up to a red light at a T-intersection. Going to make a right hand turn. Turns on Right ARE LEGAL in PA unless posted otherwise. This was posted. Again Sunday morning Easter. No traffic on the road before us and nothing coming up in back of us. I moved back and forth as much as possible trying to trip the light to no avail. After about 3 MINUTES with NO TRAFFIC visible anywhere, I pulled out. Just as I did a police car came down the road I was turning on to and he saw that the light was green and that I came out from the side street. I was already coming out before he came into view so I never saw him. Of course he hit the lights and siren and flew down the road after us even though I was only going the 25 miles per hour listed on the road. Tried to explain the situation and his response was well don’t use that road.. My wife immediately stepped between us and told me to keep my mouth shut. Thanks to her all I got was the traffic ticket.
Why not? Noise laws don’t seem to apply to them, why should other laws?
If I was dictator, all red lights would be flashing red lights. But I would also require that you can do more than just fog a mirror in order to get a drivers license.
A law based on common sense. Unbelievable.
Another one I noticed in Seattle a few years ago and being implemented all over where I now live in Kentucky: The left turn arrow going from green to flashing yellow, rather than green to red, when the oncoming traffic gets a green.
Your wife did the right thing. Never argue with a man who can a bill (or bills ) that you have to pay depending on what day he’s had, especially when you can get sent to jail for not paying them...: )
Your wife did the right thing. Never argue with a man who can write a bill (or bills ) that you have to pay depending on what day he’s had, especially when you can get sent to jail for not paying them...: )
I noticed a few years ago that more and more people run red left turn arrows. In fact, this morning the guy in front of me did it and I followed him right through. There was no oncoming traffic.
In Seattle, there is a white X on the pavement on the corner of the sensor where you should put your bike so the “extra sensitive” part of the sensor picks you up. I’ve used it on a bicycle and it works.
But in Seattle I would sometimes see timid cage drivers stop so far short of the line at lights that they never set off the sensors. I’ve actually had room to pull in front of some of them during the red light, and have done so, just to make a point. ;-)
My defence for going through a red that doesn’t change is to cite the section of the Highway Traffic Act that deals with malfunctioning traffic lights; a malfunctioning signal is to be treated as an all-way stop sign.
No one is being allowed to “run” red lights.
This law, like the one passed last year in Virginia, requires that motorcycles STOP at all red lights, just as everyone else is required to do.
All the law does is allow motorcyclists, after waiting a long enough time for it to be clear that their bike did not trip the light sequencing mechanism, and that the light is not going to change to green for them, to cautiously and safely proceed through the light without fear of being ticketed for reckless driving.
Why not? Noise laws don’t seem to apply to them, why should other laws?
Energy is a precious commodity for a bicycle rider. On my bike I don’t scrub it off for the sole purpose of obeying arbitrary, but pointless, laws - unless there is a cop around, of course. ;-)
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