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| November 4, 2009

Motorcycles and red light sensors; which ones don't work?

Thomas Bachur's photo
Baltimore Motorcycle Travel Examiner

A Typical Inductive Loop Sensor

In my article "Motorcycles and red light sensors, what to do?" I indicated that I would be performing testing on a commercially available magnetic "red light changer" to see if this product worked as advertised.

Here's my plan:

  1. Identify four or five traffic signals where the inductive loop sensor does not sense motorcycles.
  2. Through observation, verify that the inductive loop sensor does function for cars and trucks.
  3. Perform testing to verify that the inductive loop sensor fails to recognize my 700cc 1987 Honda Magna motorcycle.
  4. Install a magnetic "red light changer" on the same motorcycle, and retest the same inductive loop sensor to see if it will recognize my motorcycle with the magnet installed.

I'm in the process of locating traffic signals that do not recognize motorcycles.  I encourage anyone with knowledge of non-motorcycle-friendly traffic lights in the Harford County and northern Baltimore County area to email me (use the "Email" link at the top of this article) or post a "Comment" to this article.

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Baltimore Motorcycle Travel Examiner

Tom's an avid rider, a Motorcycle Safety Instructor and an editor of the "Super Magna" discussion forum. Tom's been "riding Baltimore" for over 25...

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