Just curious. I was at a stoplight and across from me was a porsche. All of a sudden he turns on his high beam for like 10 seconds until the light turns green for both of us ( both making left turns ) and then he turns it off as he turns..and I'm just like "wtf?"

wtf is that suppose to mean? Just bmw hatred or some sorta signal or what?

[SantaPimp27]

dude prolly wasnt paying attention

[endofanera7]

My guess is that he turned it on so that the light will turn green faster, because most of the traffic lights use some sort of sensor device to operate at night.

The same thing when you're approaching the yellow light (doing speed limit), flash your high beam if you're trying to get past it quick, you will notice the yellow light will stay on a lil longer til you passed.

[solefald]

ever noticed how often at night lights turn green when you pull up?

during low traffic times, traffic lights are activated by lights/movement.

he was trying to set-off the green light


those lights suck ass when you are on a motorcycle.

[Memphis1]

hahah, i do that all the time, there's a couple around town that respond to the horn and a few that respond to the high beam.

[MadDog]

Originally Posted by endofanera7

My guess is that he turned it on so that the light will turn green faster, because most of the traffic lights use some sort of sensor device to operate at night.

The same thing when you're approaching the yellow light (doing speed limit), flash your high beam if you're trying to get past it quick, you will notice the yellow light will stay on a lil longer til you passed.

Originally Posted by solefald

ever noticed how often at night lights turn green when you pull up?

during low traffic times, traffic lights are activated by lights/movement.

he was trying to set-off the green light

those lights suck ass when you are on a motorcycle.

Originally Posted by memphis2012

hahah, i do that all the time, there's a couple around town that respond to the horn and a few that respond to the high beam.

Another urban legend. Snopes.com

[c0nstant]

i thought they were activated by some sort of sensor in the pavement or some shit

[Memphis1]

Originally Posted by MadDog

Another urban legend. Snopes.com

you wish...

i've proven it thousands of times at those crossings. light turns red seconds before, i beep the horn and if there's no traffic on the cross street it will change, but if i don't do anything it takes its normal time. and to finish it off, some old people sometimes stop too far away from the white line right below the light, and the traffic light will completely skip changing for that side of the street.

[335R1]

Originally Posted by jh valley

i thought they were activated by some sort of sensor in the pavement or some shit

I know in CT they are. When I'm no my motorcycle, I'd have to put the kickstand down sometime to attemtp to activate the sensor underneath.

Yea around where I live, there's little cuts and markings on the pavement just before the intersection line and I thought ours was pressure activated underneath the concrete or something lol i kept thinking I should have high beamed him back

Yea around where I live, there's little cuts and markings on the pavement just before the intersection line and I thought ours was pressure activated underneath the concrete or something lol i kept thinking I should have high beamed him back

[kyleb350]

Maybe he was testing his high beams?

[c0nstant]

maybe when he signaled he toggled his brights on. it happens to me from time to time

[solefald]

Originally Posted by MadDog

Another urban legend. Snopes.com

Maybe, but sometimes it works. It may work due to this:
http://www.wikihow.com/Trigger-Green-Traffic-Lights

[aut0sh0cker]

From someone who has a history in the industry: traffic signal algorithms are based both on subterranean in-pavement traffic sensors (mostly inductive detector loops, that essentially function as metal detectors) and on traffic flow rate sensors above ground (low-power K-band radar, laser, or more rarely, image based). These are typically backed up by a timer-based rotation algorithm, should any of the other sensors fail.

So to debunk the myths: honking your horn wont do shit, flashing high-beams will only work if there is a non-intrusive image-based detector system that would somehow not pick up your car otherwise

[Dackz]

Originally Posted by solefald

ever noticed how often at night lights turn green when you pull up?

during low traffic times, traffic lights are activated by lights/movement.

he was trying to set-off the green light


those lights suck ass when you are on a motorcycle.

Yup I do it all the time around here, works great with the xenons

[Choolgooz]

Originally Posted by memphis2012

you wish...

i've proven it thousands of times at those crossings. light turns red seconds before, i beep the horn and if there's no traffic on the cross street it will change, but if i don't do anything it takes its normal time. and to finish it off, some old people sometimes stop too far away from the white line right below the light, and the traffic light will completely skip changing for that side of the street.

+1

At night i have had luck flashing at red lights at long distances, usually by the time i coast to the intersection it turns green.

[pmeloche]

I heard that in some area the lights trigger when they detect a slight variation in the space-time continuum when a massive object like a car approaches the intersection.

[radix]

Originally Posted by Choolgooz

+1

At night i have had luck flashing at red lights at long distances, usually by the time i coast to the intersection it turns green.

no,no,no,no,no,no


If it "works" for you, it's coincidence and nothing more. Your probably setting off the motion sensor in the pavement, many of which are placed well before the intersection (see solefad's link).

[radix]

Originally Posted by memphis2012

you wish...

i've proven it thousands of times at those crossings. light turns red seconds before, i beep the horn and if there's no traffic on the cross street it will change, but if i don't do anything it takes its normal time. and to finish it off, some old people sometimes stop too far away from the white line right below the light, and the traffic light will completely skip changing for that side of the street.

correlation != causation

[MadDog]

Originally Posted by radix

no,no,no,no,no,no


If it "works" for you, it's coincidence and nothing more. Your probably setting off the motion sensor in the pavement, many of which are placed well before the intersection (see solefad's link).

That's what I said.

Perhaps it's time for some

[777ER]

For the 3M opti-com sensor to change the traffic lights for emergency vehicles, it requires a stobe which flashes @ 40Hz, some of them are encoded and need to be activated by a flash pattern.

As for motorcycles, you can get the device to mount on it and it will make the motorcycle 'seen' by the current loop underground.