traffic lights and magnets

[oldenough]

An Higdonion urban cage will be delivered to me mid week and I've ordered a CMS Magnetics Super Strong Grade N50 Neodymium Rare Earth Magnet 3x1/2x1/2 Inches from Amazon that presumably has 71 pounds of attraction. I'm thinking of mounting this magnet either above or below the skid plate in hopes of activating pesky traffic lights in NC that currently seem to ignore me. My question is not whether or not the magnet will work - I've done a lot of research and am willing to take my chances on that. My question is whether there is some chance of damaging something about the FJ09, electrical or whatever? Any advice would be appreciated.

[Trambo]

Well, maybe. In-pavement detectors are buried in or under the roadway. Inductive detector loops are the most common type. They are sensors buried in the road to detect the presence of traffic waiting at the light. The sensor loops usually work in the same way as metal detectors. That's why small vehicles like bicycles or motorcycles may fail to be detected causing them to wait indefinitely. 
 
So, do magnets work? Jury is out on this, but I think they do not work based on how inductive loops work. Here's a good article that talks about the issue and use of magnets to trigger lights: https://www.revzilla.com/common-tread/what-to-do-about-traffic-signals-that-ignore-motorcycles
 
I'd save my money on this, but by all means let us know if you do it and how it works out.
 
 
 

[DavidS]

Here in Washington, as a Motorcycle, you can run the red if it doesn't change for you.

[suncoaster]

I used to push the centre stand down and drag it through the loop at one recalcitrant set of lights.
 
Another set of lights on a curve is wide enough that the loop doesn't pick up a bike unless you make the effort to run wide and ride over it.
 
You can also run the red here after stopping for an indeterminate amount of time..
Edit - but beware, there is no specific exemption in the road rules for this case in QLD as there is in some US states, you must proceed as if the traffic lights are malfunctioning.

[alejandro]

I put a giant magnet on the bottom of a scooter to try to get it to trip a garage door sensor. Didn't work, and it was hard to get the damn thing off!

[wordsmith]

You can also run the red here after stopping for an indeterminate amount of time..

 Sez who, Robert?

[suncoaster]

Some bloke on the internet !
 
No, it was advice from a training organization, you default to normal road rules:
http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/qld/consol_reg/toumrr2009629/s63.html
 
"Transport Operations (Road Use Management Road Rules) Regulation 2009 - SECT 63
63 Giving way at an intersection with traffic lights not operating or only partly operating"
 
The reason is something like "the signals have ceased to perform their intended function as a traffic control device and therefore one proceeds as if it is an uncontrolled intersection."
 
I've done it a few times at a certain intersection, and followed up by reporting the malfunction to Transport and Main Roads, who fixed it in a couple of weeks.

[josh]

I end up having to take a right and than a U-turn.

[stevesweetz]

You can also run the red here after stopping for an indeterminate amount of time..

 Sez who, Robert?

This is a law in several US states.  As far as I know, there are currently 19 US states that allow it. 
 
http://www.bikebandit.com/blog/post/how-dead-red-laws-let-motorcycles-run-red-lights-legally
 
Missing in this article is Pennsylvania, because we just had to be different and name our law "Ride on Red" so that the people who write articles like the above can't find it in a Google search :\\

[wordsmith]

Strange! I've lived and driven and ridden here in Oz for well over 50 years and never knew this dispensation about red-light riding - though I must admit to having done it once or twice (in the car) when held up interminably at clearly malfunctioning lights. One lives and learns!

[aeg]

Of course my oh so "liberal" state Corrupticut is not on the list. But phuck them with the phone pole, I still go through any time the light is not switching.

[aeg]

There is no chance in hell I am dragging a piece of junk on my bike just in hope to trigger the traffic light.

[DavidS]

If I wait for the light, and it doesn't change in a reasonable amount of time, and the coast is clear, I just go. I've never been pulled over, nor had anyone hassle me about it. Maybe I'm just lucky, but most cops I know say they have more important things to do than hassle motorcycle riders for that kind of infraction. The cops know that the issue exists, and unless you pull out dangerously, they look the other way.
 
Now if you are being an A**hole, all bets are off..........

[fddriver2]

Now if you are being an A**hole, all bets are off..........

True everywhere you go, and everything you do. 

[owle]

There are a set of these lights that i come across late at night, a motorcycle will not activate them, so i go through in a safe manner of course, always wondered what the police would do if they happen to observe me, in the UK running a red light is points on your licence which affects insurance premiums, so has quite serious consequences.