Bicycle accessory turns red traffic lights green

It's been suggested that some cyclists go through on red because traffic lights are unable to detect aluminium or carbon bikes – a problem tackled by a new accessory called the Veloloop.

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Many traffic lights in towns and cities detect whether cars or lorries are waiting, and change their phasing accordingly, but the technology recognises only ferrous metals – such as the steel in cars and lorries. This technological blindness leaves the rider of a carbon fibre, aluminium or titanium-framed bike all but invisible to traffic lights. Unreliable detection of bicycles by traffic lights can mean cyclists wait longer if there are no cars around. The frustration that ensues may prompt some to jump the red light.

The Veloloop attaches to your bike frame and at intersections triggers sensors just like a car does.

An LED on the Veloloop tells the rider if the Veloloop is searching for a sensor and when it is triggering the sensor. The device uses such little power that a pair of AAA batteries powers last for at least one year.

Find out more about the Veloloop

Red light jumping

Every time you jump a red light on a bicycle you are breaking the law and fuelling the popular misconception that cyclists are more careless than motorists. However, it is possible to understand why it happens without condoning it. According to a 2008 Freedom of Information Request, in the rich mix of pedestrians, cyclists and traffic lights that is London, no pedestrians were killed in collision with a cyclist going through a red light between 1998-2007. Cyclists were involved in only a small percentage of injuries to them. Over the same period, 12 pedestrians were killed by motorists jumping red lights a fact that did not prompt newspapers to trade headlines about cyclist red light jumping for articles about the danger from cars.

The technological deficiencies of traffic lights mentioned above are interesting, and it is right that they are addressed, but they do not explain why red light jumping occurs. The question of whether, in certain circumstances (and always once all those on foot have crossed), it is safer for a cyclist to cross a junction while the light is still red is complex. The majority of serious road traffic collisions involving bicycles may occur on or near junctions, but have little to do with red light jumping. The single most serious risk to cyclists in urban areas is posed by lorries pulling away from lights and/or turning left. Indeed, some suspect the disproportionately-high number of women cyclists killed by lorries in this way may be explained by a reluctance to wait in front of a queue of traffic at lights (and perhaps pull away just before the light turns green), and a willingness to wait beside the kerb on the inside of traffic.

Protection for you and your bike

Bicycle insurance from the ETA does not claim to be the cheapest on the market. It's a robust policy that includes as standard everything that will be important to you. We never devalue, we don't charge extra for things like third party laibility, personal accident or friends and family cover, and we have a sympathetic policy on storage in sheds and garages. Take a look for yourself

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