Since I switched my commute from the highway to surface streets a week or two ago now I need to deal with traffic lights. I try to coast or glide toward the light when I notice a red light ahead of me, but I'm finding that my timing is not always good... often I'll start coasting too late and I'll still be traveling at 20 or 25MPH when I get to the car in front of me and have to stop, or I'll err on the other side and still be 1000 or 2000 feet from the light when everything clears up in front of me. In fact, this morning I started to slow down so soon that I was still some distance back from a light when it turned green, I started accellerating again, but I was so far back that it turned red before I could get through it and I wound up having to stop. I'm not sure if it just takes some time to get the hang of this or if it's just me. I do have ambliopia in my left eye, which makes it difficult for me to judge distances (and prevents me from seeing 'magic eye' pictures too), so that might be part of it. Hopefully as I continue to learn my route and the lights I'll improve more. But does anyone have any tips or suggestions for help with timing lights well? One thing I have noticed is that some of the lights on my route have pedistrian walk/don't walk lights too, and if I can see the 'white' walk indicator I know the light will be green for a while... if the red 'don't walk' is on or flashing then I know I have less time. Some of them even have a count down timer which I can read as I approach the light and that definitely helps too. Thanks, Brett
Lights stink, but not as bad as stop signs (you avoid the lights sometimes). In addition to practice on your normal routes, work on rabbit timing (tortoise & hare). Be the tortoise. Hang back from the rabbit so he stops and triggers the sensors and you roll through on green.
I too watch for other traffic to trip lights. Because of low traffic in my area, most intersections are trip activated and not timed. Trivia: single motorcycles can't always activate the magnetic trips due to a) their low mass and b) a majority of that mass is non-ferrous metal and/or plastics.
Motorcyclists currently testifying in Topeka to for law to allow running red lights in no traffic conditions for exactly that reason (after stopping I believe).
If possible, watch for the pedestrian lights mounted on the traffic lights on the perpendicular road. Gives a great clue as to what your lights are about to do.
Like ozark said the opposing crosswalk light can be a big help. I do it all the time. Most of them around me will flash "dont walk" 12 or 14 times before the light changes to yellow. I've found that looking at the traffic lights as far ahead as possible helps too. If you can see 3 or 4 lights ahead you'll get the timing down better.
Once you start to realize what the lights are doing, you may be able to alter your route to make better use of the lights. I do this now every morning, and I end up avoiding a light altogether because the timing is "you hit one on red, you hit them all on red". The change shifts the timing by 10-15 seconds for me, and that makes some difference. I now start out with about 1/2 mile of highway driving to start my trip - helps the engine warm up a little quicker than the 35 mph start with 3 lights in that 1/2 mile. Doug - I've heard putting the kick-stand down can help trigger the light. Haven't had any issue with the lights since I've upped to the HD Street Glide, though. They sell magnets (or something) that you can attach to the bottom of the frame that will supposedly "trip any light sensor".
Often (but not always) traffic lights have a fixed cycle. If yours are like this, and you don't object to being a bit of a fanatic, you can try really "timing" them with your GPS. (See RIKLBLOG - Save Gas With Your GPS ) Either way the other suggestions above are very helpful, especially using the perpendicular lights as cues as to when yours might change. Richard
We are very lucky around here. We have the "Don't Walk" signs with countdown timers, so you can see how many seconds you have before the light changes. A great help when trying to time lights.
One thing that helps me is to pay attention to cars making left hand turns in the cross direction, because I know that for those signals that have turn lights, it means that my green light is about 5 - 10 seconds away. I also pay attention to how many cars are stopped at the light. It easily takes 2-3 seconds a car for traffic to flow. Lastly, try to note not just the signal ahead of you, but the signal two ahead. That way you know how long it has been green. My town has certain streeets where the signals are timed for a particular speed. I *love* those routes. You might be able to call the local traffic office and get a listing. Good luck! Signal timing is quite a fun game, and I find I get better at it as I play
Not all streets are timed. Heck, when I was in CA, I was very annoyed by one expressway that seemed to be not timed at all (or not done right) at night. It seemed like I had to stop at EVERY traffic light at night. As I posted at http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-prius-fuel-economy/89337-what-its-all-about.html#post1254909, I learned of some streets that definitely were timed and others that were definitely not.
Where I live, light are difficult to time because they're triggered by sensors in the road. Some days it seems like I breeze into work with hardly any red lights and other days it seems like I stop at all lights. It seems pretty stupid to stop a dozen cars so 1 car can cross a lighted intersection as soon as they trip the sensor.
It's impossible where I live. As soon as one changes green, the next is red. And they are only about 100-200 feet apart.
