Commuting Hurdles

[kfergos]

Traffic is already pretty light when I ride, but I get tangled up in the lights, none of which have sensors sensitive enough to register a bicycle. So it's ride over while negotiating poorly constructed ramps and power poles in the way, push the button, ride back, wait...sometimes several minutes...and then go. I admit that I have gone through red lights in clear intersections

I don't know about Utah's laws, but according to the League of American Bicyclists web site, if you wait for 3 minutes at a red light and it doesn't sense you, you can treat it like a stop sign (reference here). I also had one bike instructor who said that if the sensor doesn't notice you, get off your bike and lay it down on the ground in the sensor area. It's a metal detector in the road that isn't picking you up, and supposedly doing that helps it recognize you better. I've never done that, though... I thought it might look a little weird, besides being pretty awkward.

[mimitabby]

I don't know about Utah's laws, but according to the League of American Bicyclists web site, if you wait for 3 minutes at a red light and it doesn't sense you, you can treat it like a stop sign (reference here). I also had one bike instructor who said that if the sensor doesn't notice you, get off your bike and lay it down on the ground in the sensor area. It's a metal detector in the road that isn't picking you up, and supposedly doing that helps it recognize you better. I've never done that, though... I thought it might look a little weird, besides being pretty awkward.

yikes! 3 minutes! if I know the light in particular, I wait a bit (not 3 minutes) and go when it's safe. Any cop that stops me will have to explain to me how I COULD get the light to go and I would fight any ticket in court.

[kfergos]

I've timed 3 minutes before, and it feels like a really, really long wait. I suppose it is, since you could probably ride a mile or so in the amount of time you sit at a stop light.