An article appeared in a San Francisco paper last week about bicyclists (and even motorcyclists) having a tough time triggering a traffic light to change from red to green:
People who ride two-wheelers do some pretty strange things trying to get a red light to turn green.
A cyclist lays his bike flat on the pavement, hoping to trip the sensors that control the light. Or he jumps off, darts to the crosswalk and pounds the pedestrian button. A motorcyclist puts down the kickstand again and again, or rocks his bike back and forth searching for that sweet spot where sensors are located. A cop frantically waves at the driver of an approaching car to move inches behind his motorcycle to trip the light.
And then there are those who give up and blow through the red light.
I’ve tried all these methods and usually they don’t work. But unlike my motorcycling friends, I have limited power reserves. So often, I will 1) pedal over and trigger the pedestrian crossing (it’s broken in some places like Sierra & Placerita) or 2) break the law and cross at my own risk.
But credit to our City for keeping us in mind at least in some places around town. At Orchard Village Road & 16th Street, the bike lane ends at the intersection with sensitive sensors beneath it. That intersection is my main ingress/egress point for the entire SCV while on bike, and I can’t tell you how much it pleases me to know that my bike and I can trip the sensor to let the intersection know that there is human life waiting to turn.
But other places in the SCV need drastic help. At the corner of Tournament/Valencia, where cars exiting and getting on the freeway routinely hit 60mph, I can’t for the life of me trip the sensor. I’ve literally hopped up and down on it, laid my bike on top of it, and rode around in circles while on it. Nothing works. And it’s too dangerous to cross. Pedestrian option? No go at that intersection! There’s no crosswalk across those four lanes of freeway-like road.
So I usually wait and pray for a motorist to come behind me. But they, in their kindness, usually stop a good 15-20 feet behind me. So I have to dismount and motion them forward with my hands, all the while pointing down at the sensor, hoping they understand. They usually don’t and think I’m a creep.
The City is set to remove even more on-street bike lanes in the future under the OVOV plan and will continue to segregate cyclists from other forms of transportation on the off-street bike paths. That’s nice in one sense, in that it allow me to continuously pedal without stopping at lights or intersections. But ultimately, as someone who cycles for transportation and not just recreation, I want to go where the roads go. So they must build a network that compliments the roads if they’re going to force us off the streets.
Comments (4)