MO - mc triggering red light sensors

[karen]

New law allows motorcycles, bikes to sometimes run red lights - Kansas City Star
Posted on Thu, Aug. 13, 2009
New law allows motorcycles, bikes to sometimes run red lights

By BRAD COOPER
The Kansas City Star The red light will soon be streaked with shades of gray.
For most of us behind the wheel, red means stop. But if you’re riding a motorcycle or a bicycle in Missouri, it will mean stop, but only sort of.
A new Missouri law that takes effect Aug. 28 allows motorcycle and bike riders to run red lights but only if they stop first and the signal remains red for an “unreasonable time.”
Missouri will be one of eight states that have similar laws, which are intended to address occasions when motorcycles or bikes aren’t detected by traffic signal sensors in the road.
When that happens, the rider sits at an intersection when no cross traffic is coming.
“It’s very annoying, especially at this time of year when it’s getting hot and you’re sitting and you’re sitting there and you’re sitting there,” said motorcycle rider Alan Greer of Johnson County, Mo. “One minute can feel like an eternity.”
Some traffic signals are triggered by a magnetic reaction coupled with wires embedded in the pavement.
The wires are sized in such a way that they are more likely to be tripped by a car or truck, said Pete terHorst, spokesman for the American Motorcycle Association.
Some motorcycles and bikes tend not to trip the signal because they have less mass and are made with parts that aren’t attracted to a magnet.
“It’s very common for a bike to come up to a traffic signal and it doesn’t change,” said Brent Hugh, executive director of the Missouri Bicycle Federation.
Missouri is the eighth state to pass this kind of law since 2002, the American Motorcycle Association said, and three other states considered legislation this year. The trend makes state and federal traffic safety experts uneasy because the onus is now on the riders to decide when it’s safe to proceed.
“Anytime you have people making judgments…it might increase the opportunity for a crash,” said Leanna Depue, director of highway safety for the Missouri Department of Transportation.
Some riders, though, say the law simply sanctions what’s practiced already.
“There’s not a rider alive who hasn’t at some point done exactly what the law is designed to make legal,” said motorcycle driver Bob Rippy of the Village of Loch Lloyd.
Rippy said the law doesn’t allow motorcyclists to “blast” through a red light. He compared it to the latitude drivers are given when they turn right on red.
Motorcyclists and bicyclists alike would be allowed to proceed through a red light only if:
•They come to a complete stop first.
•The signal continues to show a red light for an “unreasonable time.”
•The signal is malfunctioning or failed to detect a cycle.
•Traffic on the cross street doesn’t pose a hazard.
Engineers and traffic safety experts say the law should be applied mostly at intersections with detection sensors in the road. Detection should be less of a problem where signals are controlled by cameras.
“We’re hoping with the technology that’s out there, there’s going to be fewer intersections that aren’t going to recognize the motorcycle,” Depue said.
Kansas City, for instance, has about 600 intersections controlled by traffic signals. Only about a fourth of them have sensors in the pavement.
Traffic engineers acknowledge that motorcycles and bikes might not be detected at times. This can occur when the cycle stops beyond the white “stop bar” or when it’s too close to either side of the lane.
“I think where we have detection in place, you’re probably going to get the vehicle 90 percent of the time,” said John Miller, state traffic safety engineer for MoDOT.
Miller, however, expressed concern about impatient bikers at signals that are timed to the traffic flow. He fears some riders might not understand the timing and run the light before it completes its cycle, which can take a minute or two.
Then there’s the red-light camera issue in Kansas City.
A picture would be taken of the red-light runner, but police should be able to apply the law by looking at video of the possible violation, said Lowell Gard, a Kansas City prosecutor. If you do get a ticket, he said, the law will give you a defense.
“As a practical matter the police have always applied that,” Gard said. “If a stop light is obviously malfunctioning or hasn’t detected (a vehicle), they’re not going to write you a ticket for proceeding through an empty intersection.”
Hugh believes bikers can proceed safely if they make sure cross traffic has cleared, but said a better solution is for engineers to ensure that signals recognize bicycle riders.
The Federal Highway Administration doesn’t have jurisdiction on the issue and says research is limited. But it sides with Hugh on the signal issue.
“We would strongly urge states to look at traffic devices and to adjust them and make sure they work before they implement such laws,” said spokeswoman Nancy Singer.


K

[Tinman13]

Finally, a law that makes sense. I'm flyin' without a net here, but I believe Texas is the only state that showed enough force to get the D.O.T to install all new sensors.

In the past 2 years a few states, beginning with N.C., that got this red light running law passed. Most people think it' the weight of the vehicle that triggers the lights when it's actually the mass of metal that does it.

Thanks for the post.

[JW1200]

I've been running red lights for years here, but I do wait a long time and I make sure nothing is coming the other way. If I'm sitting for example, first at a left turn lane, stomping my foot on the big white line. And the light stays red for a cycle or two. I will pull up and motion for the car behind me to pull up to the big white line. Some people do, some people lock their doors. Badass biker thing I guess.

[Ultrableu]

Chit JW, you do that to me I'm pull'n the heat out and cap yer ass! Think is was a come on er somethin.....

[JW1200]

Originally Posted by Ultrableu

Chit JW, you do that to me I'm pull'n the heat out and cap yer ass! Think is was a come on er somethin.....

No you wouldn't!! You'd pull up to the line and trip the light. Or have you forgoten about the M-60?

[Ultrableu]

Originally Posted by JW1200

No you wouldn't!! You'd pull up to the line and trip the light. Or have you forgoten about the M-60?

Oh, uh, never mind......

[mes]

M-60 as in lots of shit flying really fast?

[JW1200]

Originally Posted by mes

M-60 as in lots of shit flying really fast?

Yeah.....You can see it happen here..............
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