Temporary Traffic Lights

[DaveReading]

If I'm not confident of getting through before the lights in the other direction turn green, then I'd prefer to pedal through with a line of cars behind me, rather than be at the back and end up on my own exposed to the oncoming idiots.

The answer to a driver coming the other way who complains that you've held them up (apart from telling them to read what green means in the Highway Code) is to point out that if the all-red time was extended to accommodate the average cyclist, then drivers would wait longer at every cycle of the lights and not just when the occasional cyclist comes through.

 

[snorri]

Play that game too often

It's not something that happens often, but the act of aggression has already occurred when the driver has ignored the cyclist and proceeded in the hope that the cyclist will take action to avoid a collision.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

They should only proceed when the way is clear. If they didn’t see you then they should have gone to Spec Savers

 

[HLaB]

Hi all
I am talking about the sort of thing we have in the UK to control traffic round road works

I have had a few problems with them over the last few months and I was wondering if others have the same issues
The problem has been that, although starting off as soon as the lights go green - by the time I get to the far end then the lights in the opposite direction have gone green.
On one occasion the car coming towards me started off and actually started coming down the single lane of traffic - followed by a large van. There was nowhere for me to go so we ended up with me just riding down the middle and forcing him to stop. I don't think he was impressed!
On another occasion the car opposite started off but stopped allowing me time and space to get up to him and get round him
Another time I noticed the car starting off but there was room on my right to dodge into the traffic cones so it worked out OK

I was wondering if this is just me - or does it happen elsewhere as well - and who can it be reported to - I presume there are set rules for how long to hold the traffic for, based on the length of the road works

I should mention that I ride an ebike so
a) I was doing a reasonable speed - faster than most none road bikes might be expected to do
b) it has a speedometer so I know I was doing about 15-17 mph - so going over the motor cutoff at times so I could get a move on


Thanks

Traffic is usually that heavy I can drop into the middle of the traffic stream or jump onto the back of it so that I have no worries. If its rural there's usually a get out area (slotting between cones etc) if I am caught out so I have no worries there either. I usually take a strong central position when I see a stationary (about to be) on coming car and don't worry about being caught out as hopefully a stationary driver has better observational skills than a moving one.
The timing of your lights seem way off, I'd complain to your local county council/ unitary authority. They might not operate the lights but they can instruct whoever does to sort them.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Thanks for the replies
Seems like other people have come across this

Clearly if everything is time for a slow cyclist to get through then car people will be waiting for an excessive amount of time
WHich I would find annoying when I am in the car

It does seems that other people have had the same problem
and have found some solutions with and without assertive measures to stop the problem

I will contact the local councillor and ask who to direct a problem to - I will post any useful info here.

Thanks again for the comments - any experiences or ideas for avoiding problems are welcome

 

[HLaB]

Thanks for the replies
Seems like other people have come across this

Clearly if everything is time for a slow cyclist to get through then car people will be waiting for an excessive amount of time
WHich I would find annoying when I am in the car

It does seems that other people have had the same problem
and have found some solutions with and without assertive measures to stop the problem

I will contact the local councillor and ask who to direct a problem to - I will post any useful info here.

Thanks again for the comments - any experiences or ideas for avoiding problems are welcome

But you are not a slow cyclist. The operator only needs to install/configure sensors which detects a cyclist and extends the red for oncoming traffic. No cyclist, no extension and no frustration only safety

 

[Racing roadkill]

Whoever set the lights up got the timing wrong. I’ve found a few that have done this. One was very interesting when the approaching driver started getting all ‘frothy mouthed’.

 

[Slick]

I watched them delivering the new roads and street works qualification at my work and I took the chance to ask them if they considered cyclists when setting the timer. Obviously they thought I was some kind of assessor as I got the stock answer but they all went very quiet when I asked them why I never see it out on the road, including their real instructor.

 

[PaulSB]

We suffer from this from time to time but not enough to be overly concerned. We tend to brazen it out when it does.

One difficulty with temporary lights we frequently encounter is the ones with sensors to detect approaching traffic before changing. Overall this is a positive introduction but they often don't detect cyclists.

Our solution is to begin frantically waving the left arm at about 100 metres. Usually works.

 

[DaveReading]

Whoever set the lights up got the timing wrong.

Depends on your point of view. If the all-red time was long enough for the average cyclist to get through, the result would be that most traffic is unnecessarily delayed.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Do traffic lights have different colours, don't they all mean go for cyclists?

 

[Levo-Lon]

Is this the traffic lights causing the problem or moron drivers ... I'll go with morons

If the road isn't clear you wait, quite a simple analysis for anything with a brain

 

[rivers]

We hit a temporary traffic light on a club run last year. The 8 of us went through the light when it turned green, but it turned red before we could get through the roadworks. We were nearly to the end of the 500m section when the lights for the opposite direction turned green, and the cars decided to proceed, despite us being in clear view. And of course we received a substantial amount of abuse from the oncoming vehicles, despite us doing nothing wrong.

 

[nickyboy]

Not everyone likes how I deal with it but I try and filter to the front if safe to do so then pull into the coned area to let traffic pass which works well as long as you can say for certain there are no obstacles in your path. Doesn't work all the time and last week I was almost at the front of the line and just held my line and went as fast as I could to make sure I got through.

I do that too, but it feels more uncomfortable to do so if the coned area is on the right rather than the left. Probably because if the coned area becomes obstructed I'd have to re-enter the traffic from the right.

More generally I find I'm ok with temps on a flat road. But some around here are very steep uphills and it feels like the timing doesn't take into account how slowly a cyclist goes up a steep hill

 

[nickyboy]

They should only proceed when the way is clear. If they didn’t see you then they should have gone to Spec Savers

What about when you can't see the end of the roadworks while waiting on red? This happens a lot on the steep hills around here, they're rarely straight. You drive cautiously forward on green and can't be blamed if you meet a slow cyclist coming the other way