Cyclists should have to stop at lights

I recently read in the Daily Herald that a law has been passed that allows motorcycle and bicycle riders to go through traffic lights if it doesn’t change in a reasonable time. This seems like a really bad idea to me.

There’s already enough confusion about what laws cyclists and bikers should follow.

What may not be widely known is that the sensors detect the magnetic presence of a vehicle’s metal, and weight does not matter. These sensors are made of a wire loop laid into the roadway, usually in cuts made in the asphalt.

A bicycle or motorcycle — even my aluminum bicycle — can trigger these sensors if the bike is stopped directly over one of the wires (not in the middle of the loop). With a smaller vehicle, you need to be able to see where the wires are, but these become obscured over time from repaving, potholes and the like.

One can strap on rare-earth magnets (that are actually fairly easy to find) that reportedly increase your magnetic signature and make it easier to trip the sensors. Rather than giving the go-ahead for bikers to ignore the lights, it would be better to educate riders and to mark the loops clearly, perhaps with paint, so that cyclists and motorbike riders know where to stop their ride.

Cyclists in particular need to be encouraged to follow standard laws, not break any more.

As a cyclist, I see that most riders fall into two camps: those that don’t know they are supposed to ride on the right (they are basically motorcycles, legally), and those that ignore stop signs.

If you don’t respect the rules of the road, don’t expect cars to respect you.

Rob Neff

Lake Zurich