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Waiting minutes for a light that never changes
On Sun, 8 Nov 2009 09:24:23 -0800 (PST), larry_scholnick wrote:
> Much of the City of Los Angeles has traffic signals where the primary > street gets a green light forever, until either traffic on the side > street is detected by the sensor or the pedestrian button is pressed. > > This morning while walking I came upon the scene of a woman who had > stopped at a red light on the side street, but had driven through the > crosswalk and was stopped beyond the crosswalk. The traffic sensors > are located in all traffic lanes in the 20 feet preceding the > crosswalk and halfway through the crosswalk. She had stopped so far > forward that the traffic signal was completely unaware of her > presence. > > While I was watching, a southbound car on the primary street tripped > the left turn lane sensors; the traffic signal responded > appropriately. Northbound traffic cycled to red and the southbound > left arrow cycled to green. Much to the women's dismay, the traffic > signal returned to its default state, green for north/south, and > waiting for sensor input from east/west or from the left turn lane. > Luckly for her, another car pulled in behind her, stopping legally > (before the crosswalk) and tripping the sensor. > > I considered walking out to explain the situation to her, but I'm not > sure that I could have avoided being insulting, so I quietly let her > experience the consequences of her actions. > > For those of you who wonder why the traffic sensors did not trip when > she drove over them (which she certainly must have done), let me > explain. Many traffic signals in Los Angeles operate on a fixed > timing sequence. Here's a typical 60-second cycle: > > 00 - Check sensors; if car present or pedestrian button has been > pressed since last sensor check, begin blinking red DontWalk for side > street. > 10 - If cycling, solid red DontWalk, and display Yellow light for > primary street. > 12- If cycling, display Red light for primary street and Green light > for minor street. > The light stays green for the minor street for 20 seconds if the > pedestrian button was pressed, or until 2 seconds of sensor inactivity > on the minor street. > 32 (or earlier) - Display Yellow light for minor street. > 34 (or earlier) - Display Red light for minor street and Green light > for primary street. > > If you are not on a sensor at 00, the minor street cycle is not > initiated. If you are turning right, pass the sensor at some other > time in the cycle, and proceed with your right turn, the minor street > cycle is not initiated. If you are going straight or turning left and > you run the light, the minor street cycle is not initiated. Only if > you are on a sensor at the moment it is checked does the minor street > cycle get initiated. That cycling method sucks. At the least, it should check the sensor every 5 - 10 seconds. Continue the light cycle normally. If the sensor is tripped, change the lights accordingly. In many locations, the sensors are practically checked constantly. So as soon as a vehicle crosses one, the lights begin to change. When I first began riding my bike in 1978, I found out quickly that many of the sensors could not be tripped. In many cases I had to position the bike over the corners to get it to trip. |
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