Left turn lanes?



Keithmj

New Member
Mar 30, 2010
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Hi All..On the route that I take to work there is a couple of left turn lanes with traffic lights that when I ride into them I will not trip the left turn light. I was wondering if anyone knows how to get them to trip? There isn't any walk buttons to push on the light poles. I was thinking about mounting a magnet on the bottom of the bike but was wondering if this would work? Anyone else have this problem. I have been just running the light but can get a ticket for that..I am in Saint Petersburg, Florida and am riding a Trek FX 7.2..Cheers..Keithmj
 
Since, apparently, you have Internet access and a computer, you can Google the Annotated Code (Transportation) for your state (FL) and find out what is allowed.

In the state of Maryland, where I'm from, if a traffic control doesn't detect a bicycle within 3 minutes, then it is considered to be defective. Once you've deemed that it's defective, you don't have to wait for it to turn green or wait until some other vehicle sets it off for you to travel through it.

If you are stopped by a police officer for going through a defective traffic control device, then be prepared to show the officer a copy of the pertinent section of the Transportation Code and demonstrate that it's defective.

But, be aware that wheels have an affect on some of the detection devices in use these days (i.e., you may see at an intersection something that looks like two rectangles side-by-side embedded in the road. This is what detects something metal entering an intersection.) I have a set of alloy/aluminum wheels that set off most of these types of detectors, but my carbon wheels never set off this type of detector.

Another type of detector that I believe I'm starting to see (not sure about this one) depends on motion detection via a camera aimed at the intersection. If it detects an object entering within it's "field of vision", then it commences the changing of the traffic control device to be in your favor. This type has to be better than the metal detection type, especially considering some vehicles may not have enough metal to set it off (i.e., carbon wheeled bicycles).

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