Most cyclist will have experienced traffic lights that never change until a car comes along. The best solution is often to go to the pedestrian button and press it although this is inconvenient. Many just jump the lights after a couple of minutes waiting, which promotes the idea that the road laws do not apply to bikes. In South Carolina they have changed the law to permit bikes to jump the lights after a 2 minute wait.The problem is that the inductive sensors at traffic lights are only tripped by vehicles with sufficient mass, which includes cars and trucks but not bikes. Pedal mobility, as usual, was not included in the road concept.
A new invention will allow bikes to carry a switch to change the lights at will. So far the device has been patented but is not yet in production.
Is it legal or is it interfering with traffic signals? This question is yet to be clarified but it is clearly safer to be able to activate the light switch than to risk crossing the road against the lights
