Frustrated motorcyclist left seeing red

When gas prices surged, Steven Ragland of Hannibal went looking for an economical alternative. He found it in when he purchased a Yamaha Virago 250.
“I get 75 mpg on this,” he said with a smile.
His wonderful gas mileage suffers when he finds himself sitting at a traffic light which refuses to change. It’s happened to him at different locations in Hannibal, according to Ragland.
“I counted three stoplights here in Hannibal on McMasters Avenue,” he said, citing U.S. 61 intersections at Warren Barrett Drive, James Road and Route 168 as spots where he has found himself waiting for a red light to turn green. “My daughter and myself were on the bike riding and we wanted to turn left. The stoplights skipped us two, three, four times until a vehicle got behind us and close enough for them to change.”
Ragland’s complaint is rare, but not unique, according to Mark Giessinger, district maintenance and traffic engineer for the Missouri Department of Transportation.
“Once in a while we’ll hear about it,” he said. “If it’s a very small motorcycle or bicycle it won’t pick them up and the reason is there’s a loop detector at those areas and it’s based on the magnetic field that’s generated from that wire. When a metal object goes above it it changes the magnetic field and that’s how it detects it.”
Giessinger said it’s possible to readjust the sensor, but that can lead to more problems at the intersection.
“We can set them real sensitive to pick up a smaller motorcycle like that, but what happens is every time the temperature changes, they actually get too sensitive. They start signaling that there’s something there even when there’s not,” he said.
Giessinger suggests Ragland contact MoDOT.
“If it’s a particular location that he’s talking about we can try and set the sensitivity a little bit more sensitive for him. That’s about all we can do without getting false calls,” he said.
Ragland has tried different solutions.
“I’ve pulled off to the side and waited until another car comes no matter how long that is,” he said. “I’ve also gone out of my way to avoid that light.”
Other motorcyclists have experienced the same frustration, according to Ragland.
“I’ve talked to a few people who said they just run the light. That is wrong. I would never do that because I’d be busted,” he said.
Ragland contacted the police and asked if he could turn his motorcycle off and walk it across the intersection.
“They told me I couldn’t break the law,” he said.
Capt. James Hark of the Hannibal Police Department says there is no easy answer.
“I don’t want to recommend that they run the light. However, they can’t sit there and wait either,” he said. “From a safety standpoint this has disaster written all over it. Hopefully MoDOT can make this situation better.”
Conceding he’s frustrated, Ragland says he hopes something can be done.
“I paid taxes for a motorcycle. I should be able to ride on the streets,” said Ragland, who asked if all the stoplights along U.S. 61 could be put on a timer.