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Sep  07
20

How to Turn Traffic Lights Green


I don’t drive yet, but I found this really interesting. Basically the traffic lights try to detect traffic using electromagnetic coils which detect changes in conductivity from a car’s tires. Normally when a car pulls up, it will check if there are any other cars, and will adjust the lights accordingly. Unfortunately if you have a motorcycle or scooter, the sensor doesn’t always detect you. By taking a high-powered magnet and taping it to the underside of your motorcycle, sensors will detect you more easily, and you will hit less red lights. Of course, if you already have a big heavy car, this trick will not do much, because the sensors probably already detect your car. The best part is, this trick is completely legal!

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5 Comments so far »

  1. Sydney said

    am September 20 2007 @ 2:01 pm

    Most traffic lights are on a timer, especially on busy roads. The only time there would be a sensor like that is when cars come up on a street that normally doesn’t have too much traffic and it would be useless to have a green light for no cars.

  2. Patrick Kelso said

    am September 20 2007 @ 6:23 pm

    In Sydney, Australia most traffic lights have those sensors, many’s the time I’ve had to run a red light on my motorcycle for the simple face that the light would NOT change, even after ten minutes, even at major intersections.

    Sure the lights have timers too, so when there are cars at all the intersecting roads the lights don’t get stuck in one direction.

  3. GhillieSuits said

    am December 12 2007 @ 1:00 pm

    Has anyone tried this and confirmed it to work? If it does, I’ll be adding that magnet for sure.

  4. Bill said

    am February 3 2009 @ 8:59 pm

    I’d like to see this in action but I really doubt this would work unless you had a huge magnet…

  5. The Driver said

    am April 21 2009 @ 1:37 pm

    This is a load of rubbish. Such a small magnet could never trigger this, and anyway, in Britain, this sort of traffic light is not used. We use timers I think. And anyway, how often is it that you have to wait more than a couple of minutes at traffic lights? It’s a waste of time, I’m telling you!!!

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AboutGearfire

Gearfire was created in January of 2007 by Geoff R and Jordan S. Gearfire deals with personal productivity, organization, and Getting Things done from a student's perspective. Gearfire is written entirely by students, and is written towards students, but is usually applicable to a general audience. Our other writers are Daniel and Chris, whom have joined us over the past year.