Ohendo
Site Supporter
We've all had the issue where you roll up to a traffic signal and the wire loop sensor fails to recognize the FZ, forcing you to either run the light, wait for a cager to trip it, or perform some other maneuver. Well I've got a new issue that may become more prevalent as it is adopted further.
On Route 3 (West Chester Pike) in West Chester, PA, a particular stretch runs through a township called East Goshen. There are five traffic lights on Rte 3 controlled by this township. They've taken it upon themselves to program the lights differently on off peak hours vs peak hours. Here's the deal: From 10pm to about 6am, these traffic signals sense your approach (using a camera or light detector or something) and turn the signal to red just as you get close, forcing you to stop abruptly. As soon as you've come to a complete stop, the light changes back to green. Each of the five lights I mentioned does this. So if you're driving along the route in the middle of the night, with no traffic to speak of, you will get stopped at five traffic lights in a row guaranteed. Going slower or faster produces no remedy. Annoying waste of brake pad during stop and fuel on restart.
To make matters worse, there's a flaw in the programming. The signal can sense a motorcycle approaching, and turns to red. But for whatever reason the signal fails to sense the bike sitting at the light, so it STAYS RED indefinitely! Imagine five lights in a row, each one turning red on you and failing to ever turn green, forcing you to run five signals consecutively.
I wrote the township manager who said they have done this as part of a new federal program to reduce accidents by speeders and drunk drivers on major roads. I say it's another case of government run amok, and a new method of entrapment to catch an unaware motorist running a red light. The LEO often sit just past one of the five lights waiting for a red light runner.
I need to find a new route and avoid this stretch of road!:banghead:
On Route 3 (West Chester Pike) in West Chester, PA, a particular stretch runs through a township called East Goshen. There are five traffic lights on Rte 3 controlled by this township. They've taken it upon themselves to program the lights differently on off peak hours vs peak hours. Here's the deal: From 10pm to about 6am, these traffic signals sense your approach (using a camera or light detector or something) and turn the signal to red just as you get close, forcing you to stop abruptly. As soon as you've come to a complete stop, the light changes back to green. Each of the five lights I mentioned does this. So if you're driving along the route in the middle of the night, with no traffic to speak of, you will get stopped at five traffic lights in a row guaranteed. Going slower or faster produces no remedy. Annoying waste of brake pad during stop and fuel on restart.
To make matters worse, there's a flaw in the programming. The signal can sense a motorcycle approaching, and turns to red. But for whatever reason the signal fails to sense the bike sitting at the light, so it STAYS RED indefinitely! Imagine five lights in a row, each one turning red on you and failing to ever turn green, forcing you to run five signals consecutively.
I wrote the township manager who said they have done this as part of a new federal program to reduce accidents by speeders and drunk drivers on major roads. I say it's another case of government run amok, and a new method of entrapment to catch an unaware motorist running a red light. The LEO often sit just past one of the five lights waiting for a red light runner.
I need to find a new route and avoid this stretch of road!:banghead:
