ORLANDO, Fla. – News 6 traffic safety expert Trooper Steve Montiero answers viewer questions about the rules of the road every week, helping Orlando-area residents become better drivers by being better educated.
Trooper Steve was asked, “What should you do if you are on a motorcycle at a red light and it won’t change to green?”
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“I rode motorcycles for a long time and totally forgot about the inconvenience that they can have sometimes,” he said, “This didn’t happen to me a lot, but I understand the question, motorcyclists have so much to be aware of while traveling out and about on the roadways the last thing that they want to be concerned about is if the traffic light is going to change for them.”
According to Steve, the majority of traffic lights have sensors either built into the ground or up at the traffic light itself to determine if there is traffic there so that the traffic light can begin to rotate and allow other traffic to move. Sometimes these devices do not acknowledge a motorcycle.
“If you’re a motorcycle rider and you are approaching a light look on the ground, try to position your motorcycle on top of the pressure plate that you would see carved out on the road. If that doesn’t work and you find yourself there for a little too long try to move slightly forward onto the stop bar,” he said.
Ultimately, no matter how long it takes the light to change, you can’t just run a red light. But, Trooper Steve has an alternative idea.
“I’m not going to tell you to just proceed through the intersection. What I will say if you can make a right and avoid this intersection and maybe make a U-turn later on down the road that would be your best bet,” he said.
If you find yourself alone and at an intersection where there is no other traffic, and the traffic light is refusing to change then this could be a faulty intersection and you would want to report it to 511.