The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #104303 Message #2135678
Posted By: MudGuard
28-Aug-07 - 08:13 PM
Thread Name: cyclists versus motorists
Subject: RE: cyclists versus motorists
Here we have many traffic lights which are activated by induction loops buried beneath the tarmac.
They show red light for the minor road and green light for the major road until the induction loop (in the minor road) gives the signal that starts the process of giving red to the major road, then green to the minor road. After a short time (1 or 2 minutes) they switch back to red on minor road and green on major road.
It needs a certain amount of metal moving over the loop to activate them - definitely more metal than in an average bicycle.
So a cyclist does not have a chance to activate the things.
What is a cyclist to do? Especially at night, when there is very little traffic?
Does a cyclist then have to wait for several hours till a car comes by on the minor road activating the thing?
Or should he call a taxi for the sole purpose of activating the induction loop?
Or just wait for a pause in the (mostly non-existing) traffic on the main road and then jump the red light?
(I do not understand why those things cannot be build to recognize bicycles - or why they can't be switched off at night/at times of low traffic)
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Something I also do not understand about car drivers:
along many streets here they built cycling lanes so cyclists do not disturb car traffic in its lanes. But in very many cases cyclists are forced to use the traffic lanes for cars anyway as the cycling lanes are blocked
by parked cars ...