Motorcyclists will be able to legally run red lights

Gov. Mark Sanford will sign a bill Wednesday that will allow motorcyclists to legally run red lights.

Some traffic lights do not know when motorcyclists pull up to an intersection because bikes aren't heavy enough to trigger embedded sensors.

The bill will allow motorcyclists to pass if the light doesn't change within two minutes of stopping.

Comments

[Sylvia Rauch]

This would not be a smart decision! Think about it! "Most people". while at a stop light will take off if the person in front of them does (reflex reaction) and did not even look to see if the light had changed. I feel this will cause more accident's. Also, if the motorcycle is at a red light, the opposite traffic will be going thru the green light and making it dangerous for the motorcycle to go thru a red light. Please re-think this. My Mother and her best friend died due to someone not paying attention on the interstate and many others have died, so please,do not pass this bill and make it (safer) for all drivers. Instead, check into what can be done to improve the sensors so that a motorcycle can change the light legally!
My Sincerest Thanks! In Loving Memory of My Mother and her Best Friend.

[Todd]

In response to Sylvia Rauch's response...

What do you suppose to do? Make a camp fire and wait for a car to come along and trigger the light?

[Carolina Politics Online]

I’m all for the no helmet law because that’s a matter of personal responsibility and the only person getting harmed by not wearing a helmet is the person who chooses not to wear it. This running the red light deal, though? This is a bad, bad idea in my opinion.

This is several accidents waiting to happen. Bikers are going to get into the habit of doing this and as they do it more and more the two minute window they are supposed to wait in is going to get less and less for some of them. It’s going to get to a point where some bikers are going to start treating red lights like a stop sign and get careless with it. If there are no cops around they are going to pull up for a few seconds and go or just roll right through them. Mark my word, you’re going to see this happen and someone of these are going to result in accidents that may cost not just the biker his life, but possibly others.

Governor Sanford, you should veto this bill for the safety of everyone on the road.

[imaginaryfriend]

Maybe it might be more prudent to reconsider the type of sensors we place in the pavement before we go waiving the red light rule?

[DM]

Though I agree with imaginaryfriend that making that improving the sensors would be the best solution, the fact is, it would be quite costly. The improvements need to be done for ALL vehicular traffic, not just motorcycles.

There are several intersections in and around Columbia where a person can sit...wasting fuel and time...for 3-4 minutes with little or any cross traffic.

On my motorcycle, I've sat for much longer periods...

[DM]

Though I agree with imaginaryfriend that making that improving the sensors would be the best solution, the fact is, it would be quite costly. The improvements need to be done for ALL vehicular traffic, not just motorcycles.

There are several intersections in and around Columbia where a person can sit...wasting fuel and time...for 3-4 minutes with little or any cross traffic.

On my motorcycle, I've sat for much longer periods...

[John P. Baker]

This is an bad idea that will get more people injured and killed.

You will have some motorcycle operators who will now stop for a few seconds, run the red light, and then claim (assuming that they don;t get killed in the process) that they had waited the requisite two (2) minutes.

At some point, more likely sooner than later, they will pull out in front of an oncoming vehicle, and then someone will be injured (certainly, the motorcycle operator; likely, the operator of the oncoming vehicle) or killed (likely, the motorcycle operator).

And what will be the net result! Higher insurance rates for all of us.

Absolutely brilliant!

[Mike Griswold]

You can purchase heavy duty magnets (ranging from $5 to $25) that, when mounted on the bottom of the motorcycle frame (or bicycle), will trip signal coils, just as a larger vehicle. I have one, it always works and it will last forever. So, change the signal not the law.

[Troy Rodgers]

Now hold on folks! Lets look at this issue from a bikers point of view. The issue with these sensors are that it not only is a hazard having to sit out in harms way for some vehicle to come along and strike me from behind, because he didnt see me. Sitting at a light that doesnt recognize me is only denying me and my friends access to roads that we pay taxes on. This law clearly states that we may proceed after we have observed the light to be faulty and the road way has been clear for two minutes. Yes there will be some folks who will abuse this but there are abusers in every type of situation. For instance driving with a cell phone to your ear and swerving from side to side is not looked apon as illegal but it may be looked apon as wreckless driving by law enforcement. I say sign it Governor Sanford, as fast as you can

[Motorcycle Rider]

I have waited at lights that would not change for my bike for ages 'trying to do the right thing'. The majority of bikers will cross that red light cautiously knowing how fragile their bike and person is. As for stupid people you really can't do much about them. You can't keep a fool from hurting and / or killing himself.

By the way I feel that helmits should be manditory law. However not everyone agrees with me.

[cst34mil]

Going thru a red light will be no different than crossing any othern corner. You look for oncomming traffic before you cross just like at any other intersection

[Bob]

THIS IS STUPID!!!!! WHO IS TO WITNESS IF TWO MINUTES EXPIRED? I GUESS WE'LL NEED TO HIRE A STATE EMPLOYEE FOR EVERY STOP LIGHT IN THE STATE TO TIME THE STOP INTERVAL ON MOTORCYCLES. HEY, WE WOULD HAVE "FULL EMPLOYMENT!"

[Ford F250]

SPLAT!!!!!!!!!!!

[mike]

So its just too hard to occasionally make a right turn on red (legal) make a u-turn (legal) and another right turn? If traffic is too heavy to do this safely then going through on red is better?

[Just another voice]

If the light does not change then why not just make a right turn and then turn around at next available oppourtunity? There is a way out now without breaking the law or waiting 2 minutes!

[William]

I have been riding motorcycles for over forty years. I do not like waiting at red lights until a car comes up but I do. From a safety standpoint this law will be a disaster. People will get killed because of it. A law is suppose to be for the greater good of a greater group of people. This law is not one of those.

[David]

This is ridiculous. If it's "legal" to run the redlight, what happens when their is an accident with a car/truck coming the other way?
I understand the "right of way" issue, but, when the biker is seriously injured or dead, and the folks driving the vehicle that hit them have to live with this the rest of their lives, what then?
This is horrific. Sanford, you are even worse a state leader than I had previously thought if you sign this bill into law.

[Heath]

Wow!, thats great!, if you need a new Heart, or Lungs, I comment him for this, he must have a love one with medical problems, up north they call motorcycles (Donor Cycles) now if we could only get Lieutenant G, to take his cell phone out the car when he drives, the Highway P, could give him a ticket, before he hits a (Donor Cycle),
(I'm looking for a job, do you have one?)

[Cliff]

I've sat at lights before long enough to smoke a cigarette, take a nap etc. If you're in the left turning lane, it's very hard to back up a 650# motorcycle and hope it doesn't fall over just to try and make a right turn. Once you make a right turn the majority of intersections have a double yellow line on the road which makes it illegal to make a u-turn.

[Motorbike helmets]

What? that is outrageuos. Somebody is going to get killed...