[*BCM*] Malfunctioning traffic sensor (was: Bostoncriticalmass)

[Tom Landers]

This is also my understanding (also as a non-lawyer), however technically you need to be
stopped long enough to determine that the light is in fact not functioning.
Two minutes can seem like an awfully long time.
Note that 'treat as a stop sign' doesn't mean roll through because that's what you do at
real stop signs.

The right thing to do is call the city and let them know. Put all that anger to use.
I got the light at Walnut and Highland in Somerville changed to blinking red for several
months a while back, because the sensor wouldn't register a bike and they didn't have
money to fix it right away.

It also may well be that the sensor doesn't see you if you are in the middle of the lane.
It's a wire loop embedded in the pavement; you can see where these go when they are
retrofitted into older pavement.
You'll see cut lines that have been filled with some kind of caulk. Try riding over the
edge of the cut, where the wire is.

MassHighway has been adding bicycle-specific sensors at new intersection rebuilds lately.
Depending on where you ride, you may have noticed the little bike-in-a-stripe symbol that
shows you where to stop to trigger the light. For an example, see McGrath Hwy and Pearl
St.


--- Chung-chieh Shan <ccshan at post.harvard.edu> wrote:

> On 2005-06-24T15:37:09-0400, Lee Peters wrote:
> > So how long do we wait for a traffic light that is triggered by a hulking
> > piece of metal over the top of it?  Do we wait all night until a cage shows
> > up?
> > 
> > This is how we have been excluded.
> 
> As a non-lawyer, I understand that a traffic light that a bicycle does
> not trigger is malfunctioning, and should be treated like a stop sign.
> 
> -- 
> Edit this signature at http://www.digitas.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/ken/sig
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