Recently they started using ramp signals on the freeway I use to commute to work. The signals were installed years ago but were not turned on until recently.
They’re only on sometimes, presumably based on traffic. I’ve only encountered them functioning 3 times so far, and all 3 times had a problem.
The way they function is that they alternate between red and green (no yellow). They have a sign that says one vehicle per each green.
When I’ve encountered them, I sit on the ramp in a line of cars and watch as the cars ahead are allowed onto the freeway one every few seconds, until it gets to me. At that point it stays red.
The first time I assumed that whatever algorithm they use had decided for whatever reason to hold us back a little longer. I waited about 30 to 45 seconds, then the cars behind me started going around me so I pulled out. I assumed it had malfunctioned and I had been unlucky enough to be next when it happened.
The second encounter, it happened again. This time I waited maybe 10 or 15 seconds and then pulled out.
This morning it happened again.
Once is bad luck. Twice raises questions. Three times tells me that it’s likely that whatever senses the presence of a vehicle is not sensing mine for some reason.
I drive an Insight hybrid. Could something about it make it invisible to the sensor or interfere with the functioning of the sensor in some manner?
Not that I can think of. A lot of vehicle sensing systems are using an inductive loop sensor, and an Insight should have more than enough metal to trigger it. This is frequently a problem for motorcycles, however.
Pardon me if this is a dumb question, but I’ve seen people stopped in the wrong location, out of the inductive loop field, and therefore the sensor was not activated.
The Insight is a small car; is it possible that you’re too far back, too far ahead, off to the side or something?
I once sat behind a thousand year old lady who was stopped 10 feet short of the traffic light and I waited, and waited, and honked, and waited, and honked some more before finally deciding to back up and turn around.
Since it’s possible to trigger many lights in a bicycle if you stop in the correct place I don’t think there’s anything special about your car. I also suspect that you’re just not stopping in the right place.
Maybe the inductive loop is looking for the big ferrous metal lump of the engine sitting fairly close to the road; if your engine is small enough (like a motobike) or too high from the ground, then it may not be enough to trigger.
You may want to contact PennDOT if your car still doesn’t trip the metering light after ensuring you’ve stopped at the sensor. Usually, it’s a semi-obvious rectangular loop on the pavement. There may be a known issue with your particular model of car, or the sensor may not be working properly.
If you give up on the light and a cop sees you go while it is red, you might get a ticket for running a red light, which tends to have a pretty stiff penalty.
Hmm. That may be the problem then. I’m seeing a lot of Insights on the road lately so this should cause a stink pretty quickly if it is a problem. I’ll definitely contact PennDot if it isn’t just where I’m stopping.
Maybe you need to mount a large wire loop on the underside of the vehicle and hook up a switch to fire it when you want to set it off.
I’ve always thought a setup like that to trigger false red-light camera pictures would be handy - run the camera to the end of the roll with pictures that can’t be used for ticketing. Obscure license as needed.
Cool, learn a new thing every day. I always thought traffic lights used some kind of pressure plate to let the signal know there was a car waiting at the red light and to trigger some kind of a countdown for the signal to change.
I do know that some of the lights around here are on some kind of a timer, because the lights on a main thoroughfare will inexplicably turn red to allow the signal on the side streets to turn green when there aren’t even any cars waiting on that side of the intersection!
A pressure plate is really old technology and prone to breakage. I doubt if they are used any more.
Most intersections are on timers. They’re cheaper and more reliable than sensors.
There is a light I frequently have to cross with a proximity sensor that will not detect my motorcycle. Normally I have to wait for a car to come up on one side of the light or the other, but the other day, a second cycle drove up and stopped next to me. As I was explaining we might have to wait for a car, the light changed, so I guess two motorcycles are enough.
Or if there are, it opens up the possibility that your ex is employed in the control room and is playing with your mind by keeping the light red just for you.
The more I think about it, the more I think I must have been doing something wrong. I can’t see how it could fail to detect my car.
They weren’t activated for the commute home tonight so I couldn’t test it but the next time they are I’ll pay attention to exactly what the other cars are doing.
My car is on the smaller side so maybe the positioning is important. Someone on another forum who has an Insight said that he had this problem at a specific intersection until he figured out precisely where to stop the car. Oddly enough, he said that he has to stop slightly before the indicated spot for it to work.
Maybe the “Stop Here” signage is off a little but works for larger vehicles.
Why would a sensor even be need for an on-ramp light? I can see the point of having sensors at an intersection, but I should have thought a simple timer would have been perfectly adequate for an on ramp. If there is no-one there, it will not matter if it is red or green anyway.