ms_tapestry
06-26-2007, 10:53 AM
N.C. SENATE
Bill would keep bikers from waiting at lights not tripped by sensors
BRUCE SICELOFF
(Raleigh) News & Observer
Sometimes the electronic pavement sensor doesn't notice Vinny Neuman sitting there on his motorcycle at the red light on Kitt Creek Road in Research Triangle Park.
He waits a few minutes for the light to change so he can head down N.C. 55 toward home. He puts down his kickstand. He turns the Harley-Davidson off and fires it up again.
There's nothing he can do to trip that sensor, which is supposed to make the red light turn green.
"You sit there and sit there," said Neuman, 42, of Apex. "When you get tired of sitting, you basically look both ways and then you take off."
Tired of breaking the law, motorcyclists have won political support for a new state law that would shield them from tickets when traffic signal sensors don't recognize motorcycles.
A Senate bill headed for a final House vote next week would allow motorcyclists to run red lights with impunity, in some cases, after waiting there for at least three minutes.
"It's common sense," said Sen. Austin Allran, a Hickory Republican who sponsored the measure. "The only alternative now if the light won't change is either go forward and break the law -- or turn around, or go right on red and look for another intersection that might work."
Many intersections have electromagnetic sensors called induction loops, embedded in the pavement, to detect vehicles pulling up to red lights on side roads and in left-turn lanes. Some motorcycles don't have enough steel to trip the electronic signal, so the light stays red until a car pulls up behind the motorcycle.
Bill would keep bikers from waiting at lights not tripped by sensors
BRUCE SICELOFF
(Raleigh) News & Observer
Sometimes the electronic pavement sensor doesn't notice Vinny Neuman sitting there on his motorcycle at the red light on Kitt Creek Road in Research Triangle Park.
He waits a few minutes for the light to change so he can head down N.C. 55 toward home. He puts down his kickstand. He turns the Harley-Davidson off and fires it up again.
There's nothing he can do to trip that sensor, which is supposed to make the red light turn green.
"You sit there and sit there," said Neuman, 42, of Apex. "When you get tired of sitting, you basically look both ways and then you take off."
Tired of breaking the law, motorcyclists have won political support for a new state law that would shield them from tickets when traffic signal sensors don't recognize motorcycles.
A Senate bill headed for a final House vote next week would allow motorcyclists to run red lights with impunity, in some cases, after waiting there for at least three minutes.
"It's common sense," said Sen. Austin Allran, a Hickory Republican who sponsored the measure. "The only alternative now if the light won't change is either go forward and break the law -- or turn around, or go right on red and look for another intersection that might work."
Many intersections have electromagnetic sensors called induction loops, embedded in the pavement, to detect vehicles pulling up to red lights on side roads and in left-turn lanes. Some motorcycles don't have enough steel to trip the electronic signal, so the light stays red until a car pulls up behind the motorcycle.