ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 ก.ย. 2016
- If you've ever been stuck at a red light on a country road, you know it can be annoying. No other cars for miles, but you can't shake the feeling that if you run the light, one will appear out of nowhere and slam into you. Today we have some tips that might just make that light turn a little faster or, at the very least, kill some time while you're waiting for the light to change.
Hosted by: Hank Green
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"Just run the light" - Hank Green, 2016
+
laughed at his sudden change in voice.
That's the first sign you know you're a Libertarian. You see the red light. You stop. You realize that there's not a car in sight. And you put your foot on the gas.
- Gary Johnson
Read more at: www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/g/garyjohnso689401.html
Funny, but true! It's lawful, because the light is not operating correctly. "Proceed cautiously, like it is a stop sign," may be a better way of putting it, but that's less quote-worthy.
In states like PA it is actually legal to treat it like a stop sign if there is no oncoming traffic.
"The green wave" lmao I be getting that red wave every time
For real!
I can tell you how to make the lights turn green. Buy some fast food with the intent to eat it during red lights. All of the sudden you will start getting all green lights or extremely short red lights. Never fails. Traffic lights are sadistic and only want to make you wait for a long time if you're not doing anything. But the minute you actually start making use of red lights, they will start turning green. >:(
Or maybe it’d just feel quicker because you’d be preoccupied eating the fast food.
@@waleedabdulrab8779 it’s a joke
That "camera" you circled is actually a strobe sensor for emergency vehicles. I used to install traffic lights, and every single one used the metal detector under the road to detect waiting cars. In New Hampshire, I never worked on an intersection that ran ONLY on a timer.
For the induction loops, on a bike, you can usually see the cuts in the pavement where the wire is; position yourself over one of the lines that runs parallel to the flow of traffic, either in the center, or on either the right or left edge.
I also work with Traffic signals and the above comment is true.... however the concept conveyed in the video is accurate (video sensors, induction loops, etc.). Best you can do as a driver to "get the green light" is take a log of your experiences from day to day, log the intersection, time of day, day of the week, and what direction of travel you are going (northbound through, southbound left, etc.) then call in your concern to the roadway agency.. which could be your village/city, county, state transportation agency or public works department..... they can make sure the signal is doing its best.... beyond that a little patience in understanding that you do have to wait at a red light from time to time
Stephen Zulkowski I always wanted to find out if introducing a serious magnet to the equation would have any effect. I doubt it, but still.
It wouldn't. What would increase the detectable current is a greater cross section of metal moving against the magnetic field. So, having a gigantic sheet of metal move through the field is better than that same metal compressed into a cube as long as it's oriented properly.
Not sure if your asking if a magnet is placed on the pavement and then what that effect might be. Pretty sure it would think the magnet is a car ... Or the readings of induction will be so far out of the norm that the Signal detector would "fail" diagnostically. This would force the signal to provide the max green to the associated signal movement until the detector was reading a signal within typical thresholds. Just my thoughts though.
Stephen Zulkowski Change in flux induces current. Once you put on the magnet, it will no longer induce any more current because there won't be another change in the magnetic field. After a certain amount of time, I'm sure the sensor would realise there isn't a car anymore and ignore the first flip from the magnet being put on the sensor.
You missed the obvious solution: decrease its wavelength.
nerd jokes
Good one
#realnerdhours
Just go fast enough, physics should do the rest 😁
"Your honor, I could not have seen the red light, because I was driving so fast I caused it to blue-shift into green."
Or just be a cop. Flash the lights and sirens and flip everyone off as you cross the red light.
Better yet, drive an ambulance or fire truck. Many emergency vehicles have the ability to change the lights they're approaching to green.
+OOZ662 yeah i heared that too
+OOZ662 really :000 how
There are several methods. Look at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_signal_preemption
That would work fantastically for ambulances that must not be stopped (the deceleration is too damaging for the patient).
0:49 That's not a camera, that's a sensor for the emergency vehicle preemption system. It uses serialized infrared pulses emitted from emergency vehicles.
James B some do that and also use cameras in my town we use infrared for emergency vehicles
That's still not a camera. What he highlighted in the video was for emergency vehicles only. Thanks James B
Thats right. It's an EVP sensor
thank you I was not the only one who caught that
FYI, that camera you circled at 0:49 is actually a emergency vehicle detector, it picks up a special strobe light on ambulances and fire trucks to turn the light. The normal traffic cameras are a bit bigger than that.
I always assumed the grooves in the road were the outlines of pressure pads. Guess I was wrong.
Even if that were the case, my bike would still be to small to trigger it.
#thecycliststruggle
too*
Yeah, I know. I can't edit on mobile.
+Diana, the Inorganic Vegan Just call the road,fat.
It will get triggered.
Yeah. More of a metal detector coil.
I was once stuck behind two other cars waiting to turn left at a light. The light went through 4 cycles and we never got a green arrow, and all the oncoming traffic meant there was no room to get through a normal green light. Finally someone got out and told the car in front to move into the intersection and get through when the light first turns red, that way we can at least get one person through per cycle. As soon as they inched forwards to get ready the green arrow came on..........they had kept us waiting for more than ten minutes because they hadn't gone far enough forwards to trip the sensor.
Ugh. That sounds infuriating
Traffic lights are now a game of "Mother may I".
same thing happened to me
That happens to us all the time where I live. Most people that don't know about them happen to be the people in front, and everybody that does is behind them. Cue the large amount of honking that begins to get them to inch forward that little bit. (because where I live nobody is nice enough to get out of there car)
I have similar issues, on a bike I can't trigger the induction loop so I stop ahead of it so a car can come in behind me to trigger it. Doesn't work when a car insists on giving me 10+ feet of a gap leaving no one on the sensor and we miss light cycles. Happens all the time, I've learned to wave cars forward sometimes aggressively because they don't get it.
How to turn a stuck red light green: Get out of your car, go up and knock on the window of the person in front of you and tell them to pull up to the goddamn line instead of sitting a whole car length back!
I've found that with motorcycles I have more luck getting lights to change if I'm sitting over the edge of loop instead of in the middle of the lane.
THIS.
The sensor picks up better where the line entering the loop starts. I can trip most of them by putting a rear bicycle wheel on top of where the lines intersect.
Assuming you don't have a belt or shaft drive, your chain, rim, brake disc and cog are loops of conductive metal. Assuming you have room in the intersection, there is a much better chance of your rear wheel triggering the sensor when placed directly over the sensor/line intersection.
Actually, the corner of a single loop is the best place for a motorcycle to be detected. If it is a double loop, (shaped like a long, sideways number 8) the strongest detection area is at the front-center or rear-center of the loop
At least people there sit behind the line. People here think that line is for their back tires or to be 100% in front of that line.
Next time, just push your starter button. #thankmelater
There is actually another method that works, and it has a 100% success rate.
When you stop at a signal, just start staring at the light. If you stare hard enough, you will get it to finally turn green. This method takes patience, but it works every time.
lol i get it!
+Ringz 321
How could you not get it?
Sea Agate ...
That doesn't work! I used to try that when my mother was driving when I was in elementary school!
Or, just run the red. 99.99% success rate.
When i ride a bike and I'm stuck at a light, i like to keep it legal by carrying a 500 pound steel plate JUST to make sure i activate the sensors! :)
How to really stick it to the man
Stephen Fapsalot said: "add a little neodymium magnet to the bottom of a moped and it will solve the inductive loop problem, been using in NY all the time and I notice a big difference."
A magnet would be lighter, and work better.
Do none of you get that it is a joke?
Durrant miller No, I really do this. :)
Go at 1/6 c and that red light will become green!
Lol, beat me to it. +
What is 1/6c ?
Clever thinking, but I max out with my bicycle at 2.66851276e-8*c. :P
+drummerboy smith 1/6c is 1/6 of the speed of light in a vacuum. When you are heading towards a source of red light at 1/6c, the light will be blueshifted to the green wavelengths due to the Doppler effect.
+drummerboy smith 1/6th of the speed of light. If you travel that fast, the light from the red traffic signal will doppler shift to green.
last resort: just take a right, flip a quick U-turn and turn right again
CUT MY LIFE INTO PIECES
I thought i was the only ONE
"Just run the light" ~Hank Green 2016
As a cyclist, make sure there's no other traffic you'll get in the way of before running the red light. Please, just do it
Yeah, I do it all the time. Never get busted. Too small. XD
+Diana, the Inorganic Vegan are you made of silicon and gallium arsenide?
Ha! Nah. Just a vegan who is opposed to organic ag.
Then you only eat rocks and stuff?
+Diana, the Inorganic Vegan vegan and weeb too... noice
The "camera" that was circled in red was actually a 3M opticom receiver. It uses light pulses from a strobe emitter on emergency vehicles to give them green light clearance on their direction of travel. After the vehicle passes, the signal returns to normal operation.
Actually i think its tomar
This is actually moronic and wrong
OMFG!! It drives me crazy when people dont pull up all the way to the red light b/c of this!!!
How Can I Make A Hank Turn Green?
Inhale a whole cigar.
then fart the whole cigar in a single shot.
Blow your nose.
how to make Hank Green light??
You wouldn't like him when he's angry.
but I have a wooden car....
But the panels would be metal, the axle would be metal too.
But sometimes being fucked at lights is the price you pay for driving a vintage morgan
A WOODEN CAR? which model?
Flintstones model.
+Tanishq Sagar the gullible model
Uh no. There two sets of buttons. Assuming you are at a 4 way intersection at least. One for the light going north/south and one for the east/west as an example. this is all pointless considering its a joke
did hank just advocate for breaking the law?
Bikes don't really count
Bikers are above the law duh...
+Uhohhotdog Gaming yes they do, if they are on the paved road they have to follow the laws of the road.
no they don't, triple
LEGOFChannel Bikes are only annoying to people who are too lazy to ride one.
People on bikes would run the light anyway because they don't think the rules apply to them.
truth
I don't run lights because I'm not a cockweed. I also try to follow other traffic laws as close as possible ... except for speed limit because I can't go 45 MPH on a flat...
Watched a cyclist cut through three lanes of traffic and ride on the sidewalk to avoid waiting at the red light to turn left, before swerving right back onto the road after successfully dodging the light. He did this while going at least 20mph.
Bloodbath and Beyond I hate people like that I try to be respectful to other people on the road. What pisses me off is I've actually had people trying to run me off the road.
lol I agree so much. what reason do bikes serve other than to cut through traffic and speed away from people you pissed off by driving like an ass in the first place. 80% of bike riders in my opinion.
Thanks Scishow! I install and wire these loops mentioned. You guys put it easier than i could have, makes it great to have you here for when i need a quick explanation; And thanks for EVERYTHING else i've learned here. :D
I'm pretty sure all our local lights are timed to hit every damn one red!
Yeah, same with my area. I have to be the first one to the light and go ~5 mph over to clear the next couple lights.
Mounting neodymium magnets will work for motorcycles and small cars to trip traffic light induction sensors as well.
This is something I've been wondering about for a while. Thanks for giving a clear and easy to understand answer!
This was great! I have been wondering these things for years. This was great useful information.
Get off the bicycle and lay it on the ground horizontally.... Light should change
Or just wear an Iron Man suit while running.
Dorient François I've heard that if you TRULY believe.... The light will change....
What if my bike is aluminum or carbon fiber...
I've never had an issue with lights not changing when I'm on my bike. You don't have to lay it down, it works fine standing upright.
+Durant miller Aluminium, steel and titanium alloys all work, but with a carbon frame, you're fucked.
Basically free electricity with the right circuitry. I could charge my electric car at a stoplight now.
Yeah that would be one fast charger...
I have heard worse ideas
Sure but you would also get ticked for blocking the road, and just about how much current do you think you can get from one of those sensors? LOL
Great idea! Call us in 90,000 years when you finally manage to get a full charge.
Bloodbath and Beyond I know it is hard to convey on the internet, but it was tongue in cheek. Your comment is on point though. It would take a long time to benefit from it.
Around here, the camera sensors include infrared, pulsed emitters.
The see the retro-reflectors in your front turn signal lenses.
There was one camera that kept ignoring my existence.
I added a stripe of retro-reflector tape across the front of my hood,
and now, I get a green light, there, before I even stop.
For a motorcycle on the buried loop sensors,
the field is most concentrated close to the wires, (wrapping around them)
so putting the metal rims of the wheels right over one of the wire lines
(so that the wrapping field passes through the circle of the rim)
gives the greatest signal.
For vehicles with large, sheet metal floors,
that sheet metal runs the wrong direction for this effect,
and being in the middle of the loop intercepts the most field lines.
My apartment uses an induction loop to sense cars leaving the complex to open the gate from within. The pad to enter the code was broken so I ran a stop sign I bought at a yard sale and had been sitting in my trunk to the other side of the gate, laid the the stop sign flat and bam, gate starts to move open. Thanks scishow for giving me this info.
*Fun fact:* Those buttons to stop the traffic light are just for show and they don't really give any effect. It's just there to give the pedestrian a sense of control but doesn't really work. It's similar to the elevator close door button, made to look to work but really does not.
That's only true if the signal is in recall mode.
in australia.
The lights can be green 24/7, but will only go red when you push the crossing button.
All lifts I have been in, the door close and door open buttons work.
So it might just be your shitty country
It depends on the intersection and even the time of day/day of week/week of year. Traffic signals can be programmed to allow the button inputs or not for any period. Even when the light is changed to a pre-timed intersection, it is usually too costly to remove the buttons, so they are left in place, (but even then they can still be used to log the amount of times the button is pushed each day - to look for high pedestrian traffic for instance).
Why would you get off your bike to press the button? Wouldn't that keep it red ?
It's gonna stay red anyways so you might as well go over and push the button
+Nam Nguyen lol, nice XD
He said to get out your bike and press the button...what kind of bike does he have??
If you push the button for one of the other sides then it would force a green light on your side, a great way if the sensors are broken and you don't want to run a red.
I think he means get off your bike, press the button, and cross the road like a pedestrian.
YES!
A cop taught me about the sensors 10 years ago. He said if it's safe and no one is behind you to reverse your car away from the sensor then pull back in. It tricks the senor into thinking there are 2 cars which may be needed to trip the light.
TY for proving me and that officer right after 10 years of trying to convince people this is a thing!
There is a traffic light on a little used entrance to my neighborhood that has had what I assume to be an fault in its computer for years. If youre pulling left onto the entrance road, the induction loop senses you and immediately puts you next in queue regardless of any other traffic. it just randomly started doing that a few years back. I love that light.
ugh what's I live they use the opposite, red wave technique. so irritating.
You have to respect the speed limit in order for a green wave system to work...
Not always. Red lights can be used as traffic calming measures. Especially useful on long straight roads in areas where traffic is predictably low at certain times and where drivers should be discouraged from high speeds. Specific case would be late night in a residential area.
Near me is a road like this where, at night, all lights are red until a vehicle is a few meters from the light.
+Niall Kinsella wouldn't a green wave system work just as well?
street likely has a lot of fuel stations too. haha
unfortunately the next town over doesn't like us driving through to get to the freeway even though is the only path. .. Yea It's an intentional dick move.
did hank just tell me to break the law?
The induction loop explanation is good for explaining how VLF metal detectors work as well.
2:10 this speaks to me personally as I tried this on monday, the tone of his voice matches my feelings perfectly and made me smile
Just flick your high beams. That usually works for me
Yup, dumb sensors can't tell difference, so change.
Confused the hell out of my mates first time I did that.
Yeah where i live that works on pretty much all of them, even quicker at night...
Me too. when I am working lates at work, doing this save me a fair few minutes and a ton of fuel, because I'm not constantly stopping pointlessly, then pulling off again.
Flicking tou head lights does not work, and in most American cities it is illegal to flick your high beams when you're sitting at a red light. I have gotten a ticket for doing that.
Have to flash lights on the approach and still expect to stop, might be red for a reason afterall.
As for illegal. I live in the UK, never heard of such a law. should only flash your lights to alert other road users of your presence. Could argue that the lights are a road user.
How to make a light turn green:
1. Wait
Sometimes the sensor does not sense your vehicle. I work late at night and drive home at 2am. I have pulled up to a red light and waited several minutes and it didn't change. Driving a couple of feet back and forth usually gets the light to change but one night I tried that repeatedly and fifteen minutes later I decided the heck with it and just very cautiously crept through the intersection.
Years earlier I lived at an intersection where there was a set of lights. The cops would go out at one A.M. and activate the override. That would make one direction continuously red and the other one continuously green never changing. Then he'd park behind a bush and wait. He always set the light so that the busier street got the red light. At 1 A.M. it usually only took a few minutes for a car to come by and it would wait patiently, drive back and forth a few inches hoping to get the light to change and it wouldn't then finally he would slowly creep across the intersection when it became obvious that the light was never going to change. The cop then pulled him over. I stayed up one night and watched this cop pull over about 15 cars. He did this perhaps about once a week. Then around 5 A.M. he'd reactivate the normal traffic mode and be on his way. I tried to report this at the police station but was threatened with a charge of obstruction of justice if I went to the media. So I went to city hall instead and got the same threat. After moving away I learned that they did this at several other intersections and also had speed traps set up and between those two activities the city made about $3 million a year. Not bad for a city of 15,000 people. Within a couple of years of that happening the police chief committed suicide and the mayor went to prison and the city declared bankruptcy.
The left turn light never turned green for me after 3 cycles so I went straight.
PhoenixPoptart
2. Profit.
you can also flash your bright lights on and off quickly to trigger the light. a lot are set up that way for flashing lights on ambulances and fire trucks. works a lot for me!
For cameras _and_ inductance loops, you can also try flashing your brights. In both circumstances, that could cause the change that those systems are looking for.
Or you could just put a strobe light on your dash with an IR filter. Then record a fire truck or police drive by and replay the tape in slow motion to see the pattern or Hz of strobe.. Build a little circuit with a PLC controlling your strobe. Now you can turn all the lights green when its on. The IR filter blocks the flash in case you are worried about people seeing it.Forget the sensor just press a button!
you missed a solution, attach a neodynium magnet to the bottom of your bike
Wouldn't work
why not?
+Alex Randomkat Same electrical charge.
The magnetic field of the magnet would still affect the current in electronic writers near it
I knew stopping over those induction loops gave me left turn arrows, but I never understood how it actually worked. That's so cool!!!
You can change the light with a road bicycle actually if the rims are steel or if there's steel within the rims. I've been doing it for years! Just place your wheels over the wires in the street. Works every time! Helps if you place both wheels and roll back and forth on the wire a little bit.
Can you do one on cerebral aneurysms? I had one rupture at 19 and would love to learn more!
lol
Do you write this comment on every single fucking video?
Do you?
I'm pretty sure what you had was called a wet dream.
what if i add a strong magnet to the bottom of my motorcycle? would that help with the induction loop sensors?
Yep, you can even buy magnet kits at some motorcycle stores.
+R Brown (4Crawler) Never crossed my mind that lifted trucks would have issues tripping lights but that totally makes sense. If I ever see a dangling piece of metal on one, now I know and won't be thoroughly confused.
Yep, my truck is not really lifted all that high, 33" or now 35" tires. But I have the bottoms of the axle housing shaved off, spring over axle and the whole drivetrain lifted and tucked up into the frame. This leaves a good 24" of room underneath with only the front and rear axle hanging down about a foot off the ground. I used to find half the light sensors would not trip for me then added the low hanging magnet and I get better than 95% success now. Only time I have trouble is if I can see where the sensor is located since I need to stop with the magnet within it's sensing loop.
Next time, just push your starter button. #thankmelater
Mason Hil
*Neodymium
#thankmelater
Great question!
Thanks for explaining the induction loop, I've been wondering about that. While my car has plenty of conductive metal, none of it is ferrous (the car is primarily aluminum and carbon fiber plus lots and lots of batteries) and if the sensor was magnetic, I might be invisible. On the other hand, you can induce a charge just fine in a big aluminum frame so I'm good to go (literally)
Can you talk about how most cross walk buttons are a sham connected to nothing.
I know for a fact that that is not the case in Germany, pedestrian lights light up a "signal coming" light when the button is pressed.
'Scuse you? In my local town in the US, crosswalk buttons work just fine. It's probably just whatever town the OP's from that they don't work well.
You just think they work fine. Google "placebo buttons" www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2012/07/many-crosswalk-signal-buttons-dont-do-anything-anymore/
Edit: I went and double checked what the internet had to say on the crosswalk buttons in my area. Turns out not only do the majority of them not work, a fair number of the streets don't even have the buttons at all. I never travel anywhere on foot, and they seemed to work several years ago; guess they don't anymore. Cities are weird places.
I think where I live, all the cross walk buttons were built/renovated at different times so they all:
have different looks, may or may not work, and the traffic light timers are all unsynchronized and DO NOT change depending on the cameras or magnetic sensors.
Your complexion is particularly glowy
He's very pregnant, so.
He just had sex.
hahaha ^^
ok well thanks! I knew about the cameras (and I see too many people moving forward as much as they can and get past the camera sensor, making us having to wait the whole cycle for nothing), but I always wondered what those carves in the floor were.. I assumed they were made for those red light radars they install all over the place.. now I know! thanks scishow!
Here in Toronto, certain intersections have three white dots before the crosswalk on some roads. These detect if a bicycle is waiting (you're supposed to park on them when waiting) and the light reacts accordingly.
I use my strong imagination to picture a green light. Then I go.
Alternatively, you could drive fast enough to make the light appear to be green ;)
I have been wondering about those grooves for ages
thanks for such a helpful video.
Easier Answer: Extend your patience
I'm ignorantly baffled that in this day and age - smart phones, moon landings, super computers, Siri (lol) - that we still get stuck in mother fucking traffic on the mother fucking road. Where's the flying cars already!?
Well, we're not allowed to have affordable, efficient, practical public transportation because that would mean less money for the auto industry.
The electric self-driving ones are right around the corner.
And with the ability for multiple vehicles to coordinate their actions and communicate their intentions to each other, that could completely remove the need for traffic lights once all cars are self-driving. They would simply know who's about to go where/when and take their turn at the exact right time.
With the way people drive, you want to allow them access to flying vehicles???
We have flying cars. They are called air planes.
Airplanes are not flying cars. They are gigantic flying buses. Actual individual flying vehicles will only exist once automated cars are the norm. People are too stupid to fly cars without risking some of them crashing on a home and taking out a whole family inside. Hell, they manage to do it with regular cars.
When riding a bike I've found that I've had good success when I position one or both of my wheels directly on one of the grooves on the pavement. Works at most, but not all intersections.
I know this will get lost but...
I hope u have a great day!
:))
Hey, you too!
Well I'm not having a great day...but thanks :)
ikr
Frankly your hoping that anyone's day goes well has zero impact on it since reality is unaffected by one's thoughts unless put into action. But thanks for the positivity anyway. :)
How do ambulances turn lights green when coming up to a red light?
+ApacheThunder True, but an emergency vehicle crossing an intersection against the light is technically supposed to come to a full stop before crossing it. (
In Australia fire fighting vehicles are able to make the lights green before getting to them
As others have said, the camera pointed out in the video is supposed to detect when there is an oncoming Emergency vehicle with its lights on, so it can turn the light green.
Of course, these don't exist everywhere, so there are likely other rules in place too for this purpose.
All emergency vehicles are equipped with devices that send out a wireless or strobe signal that can override traffic signal timing when that emergency vehicle approaches a signal. Incidentally, the detention "camera" talked about in the video was actually one of the sensors that pick up the signal from emergency vehicles.
+EnySpaceCaptain Hey there, would you care to explain this? I read it about 17 times now and don't get it. :o( Sorry for being so nosey. ^__^
Er, Hank? Many of those pedestrian buttons don't work anymore.They used to...but cities stopped maintaining them because they were too expensive. So you basically push them so you feel like you're in control, and you're not. The light turns green because it was on its timer to do so anyway. abcnews.go.com/Business/idea-citys-crosswalk-buttons-work/story?id=24796722
This is true in some places I'm sure. But in my city you can see the effects of pushing the button. It will give your part of the street 40 seconds to cross. If you do not push the button the walking light will never come up, the light will never change unless a car triggers a different part of the intersection and such. My brother visited NYC and still believes all traffic buttons are pacifiers because of that.
Please do not write Er, hank in a condescending way if you don't know what you are talking about.
i didn't even know those buttos exist because in my city those are nonexistent LOL
Great video !
I always wondered about this topic.
I ride a motorcycle in S.W . Florida and sometimes I sit through a couple turns without being given a green light.
I am wondering if after a couple missed greens , when it is ok to go . Or when is it considered I'm not going to sit here all day , sorry officer , lol , but I wasn't given a green light for 3 turns .
Thanks for the info.
The inductive loops can have their sensitivity adjusted by the people who maintain or install the controls. These adjustments are usually done to loops in areas where there are adjacent lanes with loops also. Turning lanes are the reason why the sensitivity may be turned down to avoid accidentally triggering the turn signal when a car is actually going straight in the lane beside the turn lane. If you find that it is difficult to trigger a light, you may choose to go to the right hand lane and if on a motorcycle or bicycle, you can increase your chances of being sensed by stopping directly over the inductive loop line in the pavement. Another option is to put a ferrous (iron or steel) piece of metal on the bottom of your motorcycle or bicycle.
Just don't be an arsehole. Leave for work 5 or 10 minutes early and you won't be in a rush and tempted to take chances that may end up killing someone else.
If i put a giant straw from a ocean to the space will the vacuum suck the water
no
"If i put a giant straw from a ocean to the space will the vacuum suck the water"
Why would it?
vsauce answers this gizmodo.com/5993923/is-the-vacuum-of-space-strong-enough-to-suck-up-the-earths-oceans
can someone give me a short summary, i dont want to watch a 10 minute long video...
DjyTheKid Gravity still works inside the straw....
Many induction loop sensors have been designed and tuned/adjusted to also well pick up bicycles.
Some municipalities also specifically lay them out and mark where they're most sensitive to being able to detect bicycles.
Even if/when induction loop sensors aren't specifically marked, often going over them with bicycle around straighter edges of part of the loop, or any portions that cut through the center when they have additional pickups there, will be more sensitive and detect bicycles. Some municipalities also work to actively adjust and maintain the detectors so they well, and quite reliably detect bicycles.
I learned in the 80s that since most traffic lights have sensors that "sense" the strobe lights on emergency vehicles, if you see a red light from a hundred yards away or so... click your headlights from low to bright back and forth as fast as possible, and it will change it to green. Works awesomely at night !.... Most times during day. ;-)
And yes, I read the earlier comment from Snopes... but works for me !
What if you put a large magnet on your bicycle?
It may work.
then again, It might not work. I've never tried it.
If it's a neodymium it will work
Just don't drive past the stop line trying to trigger something. I can't believe how many people drive past the stop and into or over the crosswalk at a red light. It is stupid and dangerous.
I'm from Germany so it's quite common to ride the bicycle on days with good weather. "If you're riding a bicyle .. just get out and push the button" was the sentence I could relate to!
I usually flash my brights at the light. Light censors look for flashing lights so when an emergency vehicle is coming it can change in its favor, so just pretend to be an ambulance, yo.
www.snopes.com/autos/law/strobe.asp
Kiwii Kat Well, shucks.
nothing you can do? stick some neodymium magnets on there, good to go.
that was not a traffic camera. that was a 3M Opticom for emergency vehicles. some of this video is a load of BS!
Pro tip: some traffic light have sensors for the flashing lights of emergency vehicles, if you flash your headlights it will turn green
As a long time motorcycle rider I really appreciate that tidbit. I will try that kickstand trick and report back later with results.
In the UK a lot of traffic signals use microwave or infra-red detectors to detect presence of vehicles. Inductive loops are mostly used for MOVA or UTC (urban traffic control) systems, and most UTC systems use an algorithm called SCOOT to adjust the timings. Interestingly in the ITS (intelligent transport systems) world the US is playing catchup to other parts of the world as the traditional American response to traffic has been to build more roads.
I know at least where I live, and I'm sure elsewhere, if you look on the front of emergency vehicles there is a small strobe light almost in the center. Those hit a sensor by the street lights, maybe the camera, and it knows to let it get a green light priority. When I was riding a motorcycle just quickly flashing my brights worked for me to get a red light to turn green. Hope that helps
most detectors are positioned so they're nearly impossible to miss. depends on the intersection of course.
also timings typically change for different times of days. if you're at a fixed timing light on a minor approach at an off hour, you may be waiting a bit
"The computers know you're there"... Good for you! Here, in the south, we only have poles with happy-coloured lights which change on a fixed time.
Also I have had success with the metal ones when biking in a group. Get as many bikes as you can into the center of the circle, though two usually works, put your kick stands down and hope for the best.
At UNC there are smaller loops designed for bikes, and as long as you are inside the grooves, it'll actually notice you! It's pretty cool.
Ambulances and emergency vehicles used to have a special strobe to activate a green. You USED to be able to get a mechanics' timing light and modify it with a 555 timer circuit and a pot and point the timing light at the sensor on the pole and turn the pot until the light changed.
And then there are washington states traffic lights. Which either all turn green at once ensuring that you will hit at least another red before the end of the road, have a 10 second green time before turning red agian for 5 minutes, or are synchronized in revrese to ensure you hit EVERY red light possible while going down the street.
They had an induction loop for an exit barrier where I used to live.
If you put your bike on the ground, you could set it off.
Fun fact about bicycles and stop lights - if you want to get a turn signal, just wack a strong magnet, usually a large electron-magnet. This forces the induction loop and alters the current without having to have the massive metal frame. Sure it requires a battery and some extra weight, but it can easily be jerry-rigged onto the bike to ease the hassle. Then you never have to worry about the turn signal, or wait for a car to come and activate the current for you.
I do this and it works wonders. My physicist professor also does this.
Leaning your bicycle over so it is nearly horizontal over the loop seems to work well. I read about that technique years ago and have used it ever since.
Tip for the cyclists that might not know. If you are riding clipless pedals that are metal (some are just plastic on the bottom of your shoe, that is why I ride SPD) drop a foot near where two lines intersect in a ground loop. While not 100%, it gives a slightly better chance of loop detecting you. You can also contact your municipality and ask for the sensitivity to be tuned for bikes. Real good to get motorcyclists involved in that effort as well.
If you on a bike, get a few of neodymium magnets and place them on the lowest part of the bike's horizontal framework and that can affect the field of those lights and trigger them. This also will work on mopeds, scooters and motorcycles.
You can also flash your headlights to highlights back to headlights again and it will switch the light green.. long enough for just 1-2 cars to go through. Same tactic the police use with the blinking light on top of the traffic light.
In Ottawa the traffic department puts three yellow dots on the road above the most sensitive part of the loop. A bicycle or motorcycle positioned there has a very good chance of triggering the lights to change.
In my town, at certain lights, when you push the pedestrian light button the lights almost always change as soon as you press it so I usually wait for a big group of cars to approach right as I touch the button
I have found that with the pads on a motorcycle. don't stop in the center of the pad, get directly over the cut lines where the wire would be set in the cut marks or else you could be stopped with the wire completely circling you and not picking up your signal. And get a magnet on the bottom of the frame to help disrupt the sensor so it knows you are there. It may be the placebo effect for me, but I think it works.
You CAN do something with induction loops if you're on a bicycle. All you have to do is make sure you go through the loop closer to one side of the loop (left or right) rather than through the middle. This will ensure that you bike accesses two separate points of the loop at the same time, which seems to do the trick, especially for circular loops.
It works with a bicycle too on the lines in the road, and sometimes make little moves back and forwarts a little bit. But if you really wanne be shore, then install a little metal somewhere underneath your bike and the lines will detect you anyways :)
Another trick you can use(and it doesn't always work), is if you find yourself at a traffic light at night, with no one nearby, and you don''t want to wait forever, try flashing your brights at it 2-3 times very quickly. Some traffic lights are programed to recognized flashing lights as emergency vehicles(police, ambulances and soforth) and change quickly for their passage.