CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Infrastructure

Traffic lights that don't know you're there

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  1. dougal
    Member

    Was just stopped at the lights at the bottom of Back Station Road leaving Linlithgow station for 3 whole cycle while cars built up behind me.

    • A driver behind me used the horn out of frustration. Why? The red light is visible all the way at the top of the hill. I wasn't dozing through a green.
    • I've been through these lights hundreds of times now. Is this the first time I've been at the head of the queue? Have they changed sensitivity? Was the car behind me giving me "too much" breathing space on this occasion, so not inadvertently triggering the system?
    • In the end I went straight on through a red, meeting traffic coming from the left under the bridge. I did it gingerly, obviously, but luckily the lead vehicle was another cyclist and not a boy racer. The lead cars of both streams had a good beep at each other but I didn't hear any squeals or crunches.
    • For the record my bike is aluminium. I've heard this is important for lights that detect iron in cars.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  2. gibbo
    Member

    Somtimes lights just go on the blink.

    I don't know these particular lights, but normally, after a couple of cycles, I wait for the green man and cycle carefully through the lights.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  3. wingpig
    Member

    Fortunately,

    "If the traffic lights are not working, treat the situation as you would an unmarked junction and proceed with great care."
    ~ https://www.gov.uk/using-the-road-159-to-203/road-junctions-170-to-183
    and "not detecting a thing which needs to use them" counts as "not working" to me.

    I've not tried to turn left out of King's Road onto Porty High Street for a while so don't know if the Clarencing of those lights had any effect. It definitely didn't on the lights for exiting the underground of the conference centre.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  4. Min
    Member

    The traffic lights all along Polwarth Terrace used to be like that and possibly still are as it has been a while since I have cycled along there when it is quiet.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  5. sallyhinch
    Member

    I have sometimes had better luck with traffic lights ignoring me if I tip my bike sideways, which supposedly makes it more visible to the induction loop. Otherwise I get off and proceed as a pedestrian

    Posted 9 years ago #

  6. SRD
    Moderator

    @min the ones at Gillsland and Grays Loan ?

    very responsive. in fact so responsive that often you see them going amber, slow down, glance up and realise they've gone green again. (not just me, have seen this happen to others too)

    Posted 9 years ago #

  7. wishicouldgofaster
    Member

    I used to find the lights at Tesco Corstorphine didn't see you if you approached by using the cycle lane on the left but wanted to take a right towards Corstorphine village.

    Solution of course is to take primary and stay entirely middle of the right lane ignoring any fools in cars who point out the cycle lane.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  8. Min
    Member

    @min the ones at Gillsland and Grays Loan ?

    very responsive. in fact so responsive that often you see them going amber, slow down, glance up and realise they've gone green again. (not just me, have seen this happen to others too)

    Yes, those ones. They must have been changed then which is good news. They only used to do that with cars.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  9. fimm
    Member

    I suspect that the traffic lights controling the right turn from Dundee St to Henderson Terrace don't see bikes. However I've never been there very long before a car has come along and tripped them.

    My worst experience with traffic lights was on the A85 near the Ben Cruachan power station. There's a narrow bridge over the railway, and no matter how much I waved or cycled at the lights, I couldn't get them to change. I couldn't see what was round the corner, so I wasn't happy about just going, even on foot, so I just stood there for quite a while until a couple of cars showed up. I hopped on my bike to follow them through, pulling away quite slowly as it was uphill, and, as the second car went through the lights, they went orange!!! Well there was no way I was waiting for another car, so I just went through. It turned out that the bridge wasn't so narrow - if I ever go that way again I'll just go through carefully on red. I think the lights are set up to be permanently on red in both directions unless a vehicle is there.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  10. acsimpson
    Member

    I've found a few sets which assume you'll have wheels spaced side by side. The effect being that if you take the middle of the lane they don't see you. The slip road heading down towards Cramond Brig is like that for instance.

    Most aluminium bikes still have steel wheels so will be detected fine.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  11. Kenny
    Member

    I have not worked out what the point of those light are.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  12. wee folding bike
    Member

    Mine are just the other way round. Steel bikes with aluminium wheels apart from the Twenty which has steel frame and wheels.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  13. acsimpson
    Member

    @Kenny, the lights on Burnshot and Barnbougle slip roads and the equivalent lights on the A90 control the arrival of cars at Barnton. This is primarily so that the queues are formed on the stretches of the road which contain bus lanes.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  14. HankChief
    Member

    The ones at work only work if you cycle over the side of the black box on the surface of the road. If you cycle over the front or back they don't work.

    For this reason I always cycle over the sides of black boxes when approaching lights. Doesn't always work mind...

    Posted 9 years ago #

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