sorry…with temporary traffic lights, the trick I’m referring to is when you used to approached a set of temporary traffic lights from a distance at night and no other traffic was about and they were on red, if you flashed them with your main beams they would automatically change to green so you didn’t have to stop,
It used to work a while back but nowadays I’ve noticed it doesn’t seem to work so you have to roll up and sit there like a lemon till the traffic lights have gone through their sequence . I mean I wouldn’t dream of ignoring the red light if no other traffic was about, honest officer
So does this still work or has traffic light technology now changed such so you cant no longer trigger an sudden green from a distance.
Flashing your lights never worked, there is a PIR (passive infra red) sensor on the top of traffic lights which detects the presence of a vehicle stopping at the red traffic light and notifies the computer that a car is present and the lights should be changed.
bubsy06:
:lol:
Flashing your lights never worked, there is a PIR (passive infra red) sensor on the top of traffic lights which detects the presence of a vehicle stopping at the red traffic light and notifies the computer that a car is present and the lights should be changed.
Theres a few sets of lights in Basingstoke where late at night or early in the morning you could fly upto them in the knowledge theyd change as you got there…
bubsy06:
:lol:
Flashing your lights never worked, there is a PIR (passive infra red) sensor on the top of traffic lights which detects the presence of a vehicle stopping at the red traffic light and notifies the computer that a car is present and the lights should be changed.
aware of the sensors must of been a fluke every time then unless those sensors have a heck of a range on them as every time i tried it they changed as soon as had flashed from some 100- 200 yrds may be.
Modern Traffic Lights are computer controlled, on large busy junctions the light sequence will alter depending on the time of day and the volume of traffic. If you look down on the road as you approach the lights you will see diamond shapes or diagonal lines cut into the road these contain sensing wires that calculate the amount of moving and standing traffic there are usually at least 2 or more depending on the complexity of the junction, the lights stay green on the major route when the volume of traffic is low the sensors will switch the lights to green as you approach .
Some lights at night will stay red all directions and then change to green when an approaching vehicle is detected. Others like the ones in Nuneaton remain rigidly on their timed programme and leave you sitting at a red light with no other traffic for a couple of minutes at 0300. Not that annoying you say, but if you’ve had to stop for one you’ll have to stop for them all.
tofer:
Some lights at night will stay red all directions and then change to green when an approaching vehicle is detected. Others like the ones in Nuneaton remain rigidly on their timed programme and leave you sitting at a red light with no other traffic for a couple of minutes at 0300. Not that annoying you say, but if you’ve had to stop for one you’ll have to stop for them all.
tofer:
Some lights at night will stay red all directions and then change to green when an approaching vehicle is detected. Others like the ones in Nuneaton remain rigidly on their timed programme and leave you sitting at a red light with no other traffic for a couple of minutes at 0300. Not that annoying you say, but if you’ve had to stop for one you’ll have to stop for them all.
the traffic lights at deerpark (M8 j3) are like that. not another vehicle in sight but you still sit there like a pillock waiting for them to change to green. roadworks are a different story but i dont know why they dont just turn the regular traffic lights off at night. outside city and town centres, is there really enough overnight traffic to need them on?
scanny77:
the traffic lights at deerpark (M8 j3) are like that. not another vehicle in sight but you still sit there like a pillock waiting for them to change to green. roadworks are a different story but i dont know why they dont just turn the regular traffic lights off at night. outside city and town centres, is there really enough overnight traffic to need them on?
I have only seen a few places where they have part-time lights, surely every roundabout should have them instead of having them on all the time.
Going to work at 3.30am on a motorbike is even worse as they don’t trigger most sensors, after sitting there a minute or so, unless another vehicle approaches you sometimes have to go across on red.
I,ve noticed on some big islands in the daytime when the lights pack up there is less traffic hold ups !
sorry…with temporary traffic lights, the trick I’m referring to is when you used to approached a set of temporary traffic lights from a distance at night and no other traffic was about and they were on red, if you flashed them with your main beams they would automatically change to green so you didn’t have to stop,
It used to work a while back but nowadays I’ve noticed it doesn’t seem to work so you have to roll up and sit there like a lemon till the traffic lights have gone through their sequence . I mean I wouldn’t dream of ignoring the red light if no other traffic was about, honest officer
So does this still work or has traffic light technology now changed such so you cant no longer trigger an sudden green from a distance.
Cheers
I don’t know about ‘that old trick’, but around Cambridge in the middle of the night when there’s hardly anyone at all around and you approach a green light it suddenly changes to red for no reason, and I’ve found that turning your main beam off sometimes but not always, stops them turning red on you. I can’t fathom out why they have to be like this, but it sure winds the hell out of me, stopped for nothing at all. That and the 24/7 lights on the traffic islands
CC
we had a bloke stop ,who had jumped the temporary lights we had up on a burst main ,the sensor on the top of the lights looked like a small camera and he had come back to ask us if it was a camera and had he been caught jumping the red ,we told him the truth in the end
we get people flashing them all the time and are convinced it works ,if they are set up correctly on detection not fixed time they work well
but the problem is when people jump the lights and prevent the people with the green from going ,the sensor picks up no movment so puts it back to red
as it continues to pick up no movment it stays red causing havoc
Flashing the lights is an old wives tale, it’s the sensors under the road that change em
I remember a few years ago as a naughty teenager coming across a set of roadworks on my local industrial estate that had the tempory lights, and the workers forgot to lock the generator that controlled the lights, there was just a load of dials like you get on an old cooker that controlled how long each light was on red/green.
I recall turning each dial to the max setting, then running away and hiding as all the lights got stuck on red, causing a mini traffic jam
Quite a few sets now are set to change to red both ways when no vehicles are present, mainly on narrow bridges etc. When a vehicle approaches from either direction the lights change immediately then go straight back to red.
so you have to roll up and sit there like a lemon till the traffic lights have gone through their sequence 
. I mean I wouldn’t dream of ignoring the red light if no other traffic was about, honest officer 
I can’t fathom out why they have to be like this, but it sure winds the hell out of me, stopped for nothing at all. That and the 24/7 lights on the traffic islands 