New Tennessee law allows motorcycles to run red lights.....

[The Stigenator]

i dont know what to say other than i am shocked


http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/0603/06redlight.html

edit: to beat this problem I have magnets on teh bottom of the bike that trigger 70% of the senors.. only once in a while i find one that doesnt trigger/

 

[tennesota]

This quote originates in a link referenced in a post by: The_good_guy
At least one other state, Minnesota, has passed a similar law, ...

That's news to me...I didn't know we could do that in Minnesota.

And we do not have helmet laws so I have the right to splatter my brains if I crash...

 

[WinkOsmosis]

Interesting. Why aren't the magnets standard then?

 

[BentValve]

I wonder if motorcycle sales numbers will go up?

 

[The Stigenator]

Originally posted by: WinkOsmosis
Interesting. Why aren't the magnets standard then?

dont ask me why..

I have a powerful bar magnet mounted on the crossbar of my center stand and when i come to a stop at a decent speed (from 5mph to stop) over teh sensor it picks me up right away.. if i creep up it wont see me. But then there are some that just plain wont see me until a tank / truck / hummer is behind me.

 

[pyonir]

Some idiot on a bike is going to run a light, get hit, and then claim we don't "see motorcycles"

 

[Gonad the Barbarian]

I love this quote:

"It almost takes it out of our hands to write a ticket for motorcycles running a red light," said Lt. Bob Lyons of Nashville's Traffic Division. "How do we know if he's been sitting there or not?"

 

[olds]

I already do this in my truck. Why should I let a mechanical device tell me when it's safe to go? I come to a stop, if no traffic is coming, I go. I am not going to sit there waiting for a light to change.

 

[TallBill]

Originally posted by: oldsmoboat
I already do this in my truck. Why should I let a mechanical device tell me when it's safe to go? I come to a stop, if no traffic is coming, I go. I am not going to sit there waiting for a light to change.

lol, around here, the lights go into night mode, and as soon as you stop, the crossing lights change color.

 

[illusion88]

Originally posted by: oldsmoboat
I already do this in my truck. Why should I let a mechanical device tell me when it's safe to go? I come to a stop, if no traffic is coming, I go. I am not going to sit there waiting for a light to change.

wait until you go to a city with cameras...

 

[Crimson]

I have a smaller motorcycle and I run into this problem ALL THE TIME.. the pads just don't work right with Motorcycles.

 

[NeoPTLD]

Originally posted by: illusion88

Originally posted by: oldsmoboat
I already do this in my truck. Why should I let a mechanical device tell me when it's safe to go? I come to a stop, if no traffic is coming, I go. I am not going to sit there waiting for a light to change.

wait until you go to a city with cameras...

flash snap and you can expect a pretty expensive bill by the government that you have to pay full amount or waste your day going to court.

 

[olds]

Originally posted by: NeoPTLD

Originally posted by: illusion88

Originally posted by: oldsmoboat
I already do this in my truck. Why should I let a mechanical device tell me when it's safe to go? I come to a stop, if no traffic is coming, I go. I am not going to sit there waiting for a light to change.

wait until you go to a city with cameras...

flash snap and you can expect a pretty expensive bill by the government that you have to pay full amount or waste your day going to court.

Hmm... Good points. I guess if we get them here I'll have to snipe them from a distance.

 

[flxnimprtmscl]

Originally posted by: pyonir
Some idiot on a bike is going to run a light, get hit, and then claim we don't "see motorcycles"

Get a bike and ride for a week. Provided you're still alive you'll see that alot of the fvcking stupid cagers don't see bikes. That and the fact that alot of them think a bike is just a small car and you can ride their ass, cut them off, etc. and there's no problem with that.

 

[tk149]

If they're going to pass a law like this, they should add a section to deal with tort liability. If the motorcyclist blows through a red light, then anybody with the right of way who hits them should have no liability. Otherwise, you're going to see a lot of really stupid lawsuits.

 

[ShawnReeves]

We got cameras. Gotta be good now.

 

[mattgyver]

The other day I saw a car tailgating a motorcycle very closely. If the guy had had to lay the bike down for any reason, he'd never have a chance. It's hard to believe that people give such little thought to what can be very dangerous situations.

 

[Talon02]

control the lights did not recognize motorcycles, which are now made mostly of aluminum and fiberglass, not metal.

Aluminum is not a metal, wow, I must have missed that in Chem.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: Talon02

control the lights did not recognize motorcycles, which are now made mostly of aluminum and fiberglass, not metal.

Aluminum is not a metal, wow, I must have missed that in Chem.

It's not ferrous, it doesen't trigger the inductive sensors. But I agree, pretty poor choice of words.

 

[Rastus]

I had a friend that had an old Harley that he made into a chopper in the late sixtys. It had a suicide clutch (left foot pedal) and no front brake. When he stopped at a red light or stop sign on a hill he was screwed. He ran a lot of lights and signs and made a lot of unplanned right turns.

 

[kyutip]

While it is sux that the sensor can not recognize motorcycle, this law is really stupid.
They are going to get creamed by cars/trucks one of these days.

 

[amnesiac]

Originally posted by: illusion88

Originally posted by: oldsmoboat
I already do this in my truck. Why should I let a mechanical device tell me when it's safe to go? I come to a stop, if no traffic is coming, I go. I am not going to sit there waiting for a light to change.

wait until you go to a city with cameras...

Or cops.

Considering most LA area police are more than happy to ticket you for rolling a stop sign @ 5mph or not completely stopping at a red light to make a right turn, I'm sure they'll be ELATED pulling your ass over and shoving their baton up your butt for failing to follow rules.

That's just because LAPD officers are dicks though. I wish I lived in a city where stoplights were optional.

 

[Stratum9]

This seems like a half-baked piece of legislation to me! As the cop said, how is this to be enforced in such a way that doesn't prevent certain riders from taking advantage of the law. And as someone else mentioned already there's bound to be a lot of liability suits.

Why not seek a way to improve the sensor technology? Or make it standard for bikes to have something like the magnet to improve triggering?

 

[McCarthy]

You're right, some motorcyclist is going to pull out and get hit by oncoming traffic.

REPEAL THIS LAW

Oh, and ban all those highway crossing where only the side streets have stop signs.

4 WAY STOPS EVERYWHERE.

Isn't that effectively what this does, makes 4 way traffic controlled stops into "Warning, cross traffic does not stop" crossings?

Motorcylists don't like playing the Reality version of Frogger any more than pedestrians or little green frogs. Are some morons going to blow through lights without stopping? Yes. Do morons do that whether riding on top of a Honda or seated in their Civic now? Yes. This simply brings reasonability back to traffic flow regulation. Signs and lights are there to reduce collisions. So making adjustments to allow the flow to continue without significant safety decrease to others is only reasonable.

For the record, sold my bike years ago. Found it boring (I like the radio) and more of a hassle than it was worth as transportation. Now I just have a small car instead and still run into the traffic light problem during periods of light traffic. Such as at night, 4am stoplights really hate me. Usually if I rock back and forth I can trip the sensor, but after awhile I give up on it and go if it's a small downtown intersection, or make a wide right on red to stay somewhat legal on the highway crossing.

 

[pyonir]

Originally posted by: flxnimprtmscl

Originally posted by: pyonir
Some idiot on a bike is going to run a light, get hit, and then claim we don't "see motorcycles"

Get a bike and ride for a week. Provided you're still alive you'll see that alot of the fvcking stupid cagers don't see bikes. That and the fact that alot of them think a bike is just a small car and you can ride their ass, cut them off, etc. and there's no problem with that.

ummm i've seen just as many asshats on bikes that think riding a motorcycle gives them the freedom to weave in and out of traffic like fscking dumbasses.