We don’t have many lights where I live, actually only one in the entire county. However this year I’ve ridden around a good portion of the Northeast and this was a serious PITA. The thing about the protected right is that if you’re in a dedicated left hand turning lane it means going across at least one, maybe more, lane. The closest I’ve come to making a very serious blunder came when sitting, sweating and getting frustrated in a left turn lane near Albany. Cars where whizzing by, but nobody else wanted to make that left turn. When I realized the light wasn’t going to turn, I had read about this but this was my first experience, I figured the best thing was to get to the next lane, go straight and make a left at the first intersection where I saw a car already waiting. However the situation was so new to me and I was so frustrated that I almost took off with just a quick look in the mirrors rather than a full head turn. If I had pulled out all I can say is I wouldn’t be here typing this morning.
I know from one previous experience many yeas ago in my car where a light wouldn’t change for a ridiculous amount of time that the cop didn’t want to hear about why I blew the light the fact is I blew the light and he was going to write me up.
This isn’t a daily problem for me so I just kind of forget about it, but for some of you guys it must be something you are constantly dealing with. I’ve heard that the little magnetic devices they sell are pretty worthless. Seems like there has to be something that could be done to make lights sensitive enough for motorcycles. It is a safety issue, does anyone know if the AMA considers this an issue and is trying to lobby to rectify it?