What car/driving related urban myths have you heard of?

[Marlin45]

reaper7 said:

Midlife crisis Porsche/Ferrari buying.

Just buying a car in the hope he will get sex like a young would if he could.

?

[DrTre]

The "pipeline" card scheme.

[LuS1fer]

Marlin45 said:

reaper7 said:

Midlife crisis Porsche/Ferrari buying.

Just buying a car in the hope he will get sex like a young would if he could.

?

I think he means there is a misconception that older men buy these cars to pull birds when in fact they are simply buying cars from an era when they were young and couldn't hope to afford them. In essence, that there is no mid-life crisis but rather a time when you can afford what you could only once dream about. It's not a crisis, it's an achievement of a goal.

[bababa]

tvrgit said:

I'll say it again. No traffic lights have a sensor to detect flashing headlights. It's a myth. The subject of this thread. Myth.

I'd agree with this - otherwise, you could rotate temporary traffic lights to face south and the lights would stay green in your favour for most of the day until the sun went down

[Maximum Bobs]

Having no tax disc invalidates your insurance.

[angusc43]

Negative Creep said:

The Alfasud rusted so badly the engine could fall out

Well that's true of the Lancia Beta - or at least the front subframe, carrying the engine, box and lower suspension links would drop out at the back when the floor rotted through. I've seen one where that had happened.

I've also seen a Sud crack laterally behind both front suspension turrets (!)

It's amazing how cr*p the steel was that they used.

Made them cheap as chips secondhand, though, and the ones I had were fine.

[tvrgit]

DodgeRam Van Man said:

tvrgit said:

I'll say it again. No traffic lights have a sensor to detect flashing headlights. It's a myth. The subject of this thread. Myth.

You keep saying it, but you are wrong as I've done it myself so know it's a fact, no question! I've done successfully it a grand total of twice over the years, both at temporary lights. The first time I did it was many years ago, waiting at the lights gave it a couple of flashes and the light went from red to green immediately, skipping the red/amber phase.
The second time was only a year or so ago, the lights were up ahead of me and had just gone from green to red, and a car was waiting to pull out of a driveway between me and the lights. I flashed the car to come out, and straight away the traffic lights jumped from red to green - they had only been on red for a few seconds!

OK let's start from here:

How many sets of traffic signals have you personally designed and specified? I'll go first - about 200.

How long is it since you designed your first set? I'll go first again - 31 years.

Where does it say in the T2500 specification, or on the forms for setting up the controller, that there is a headlamp sensor? I've never seen it.

Your turn.

Seriously mate, it's a popular myth, but there is NO headlamp sensor in UK traffic signals.

[Guyr]

tvrgit said:

I'll say it again. No traffic lights have a sensor to detect flashing headlights. It's a myth. The subject of this thread. Myth.

Exactly. Why would a professional equipment manufacturer design a sensor system to prioritise traffic flow that only worked at night.

The sensors are based on IR detecting movement or pressure plates. If you flash your lights at a trafic light on enough occasions then sheer randomness will make it coincide with light chances a few times.

I have been stopped at traffic lights and have picked up a coffee from it's cupholder and the lights have changed. Previously I'd thought 'bugger' and put it back quickly often spilling it in order to reach the gearstick to get 1st gear. Clearly now I've read this thread what I have actually discovered is 'A new miracle way of changing traffic lights to green - just reach for a coffee cup' it's worked for me a few times .

[pincher]

DrTre said:

The "pipeline" card scheme.

Whatever happened to Mr. Scamell (other than aligning himself with 'carefully chosen strategic partners', none of which had anything to do with cheaper petrol)?

[denniswise9]

Alfanatic said:

I was on the fence with this one until you said that. There's no way there's a set of traffic lights around that won't turn green for you unless you flash them. That would be the dumbest idea in traffic planning since Sandra Bullock agreed to drive a bus.

Obviously they do change eventually, but you have to wait for the timer like a mong and I know I will never get those second back.

Now you can get back on your fence.

TVRgit you are wrong, next time I am going towards them I will film me flashing them and them changing, then I will go back and not flash them and film it and you can spot the difference.

To make it a fair test I will only flash them as soon as they go red so there is no coincidence calls.

[tvrgit]

denniswise9 said:

Obviously they do change eventually, but you have to wait for the timer like a mong and I know I will never get those second back.

Now you can get back on your fence.

TVRgit you are wrong, next time I am going towards them I will film me flashing them and them changing, then I will go back and not flash them and film it and you can spot the difference.

Well I learn something new every day. I wonder what today will bring? It certainly won't be this!

TRAFFIC SIGNALS CAN'T DETECT HEADLAMP FLASHING! There is no light sensor (apart from one that reduces the power and dims the lights at night). It cannot physically work!

[esvcg]

we need to get some of these on mythbusters!

[anonymous-user]

denniswise9 said:

Obviously they do change eventually, but you have to wait for the timer like a mong and I know I will never get those second back.

Now you can get back on your fence.

TVRgit you are wrong, next time I am going towards them I will film me flashing them and them changing, then I will go back and not flash them and film it and you can spot the difference.

To make it a fair test I will only flash them as soon as they go red so there is no coincidence calls.

TVRgit is, as usual, not wrong.

I've been using (as in, I have hired them) temporary signals for the last 6 months, and more often than not they broke/got fked around with by the kids and showed red-red for hours on end (overnight, until I got in at half 5).

Traffic lights sensors do not respond to flashing lights. They respond to motion (or input on the back of the control panel if they're on manual) and nothing else.

Edit - spelling.

[denniswise9]

The ones I am referring to are not actually temporary they are permanent light signals, but I feel I will have to film this in order to prove it.

Is there any way the motion sensor could be triggered by headlight flashing - say for example it thinks my car is closer because of a change in light and triggers it to change therefore giving an illusion of a headlight sensor?

[anonymous-user]

Photos of the back of a broken set outside my lil' cabin.





Note the paper instruction sheet. It specifies detection as "Radar". There is NO reference to light detection.
(Left hand side, second instruction from bottom)

[denniswise9]

I personally don't dispute those temporary lights never had it work on temps flashing at them

[Gnits]

There is some freaky permanent lights in Basingstoke then.
If you flash them and the other road has no traffic you get priority every time. You can even see the light for the other road cycle directly after you flash.

If people are really sure there is no sensors involved I need to do me some experimentin'!
Perhaps there are pressure sensors in the road.

[LuS1fer]

angusc43 said:

Well that's true of the Lancia Beta - or at least the front subframe, carrying the engine, box and lower suspension links would drop out at the back when the floor rotted through. I've seen one where that had happened.

I've also seen a Sud crack laterally behind both front suspension turrets (!)

It's amazing how cr*p the steel was that they used.

Made them cheap as chips secondhand, though, and the ones I had were fine.

I had an "old" 1200Ti and a newer 1300. The Ti was very rusty such that when I ran my hands across the radiator fins, they all fell out. It also leaked like a sieve but was an exceptional car dynamically. The 1980 1300 hatch was far less so and would randomly rust in places like the middle of the roof but then lets' not forget many cars of that era rusted to buggery and back, just not quite so bad. The electrical problems were evident on both however.

[Twincam16]

'The faster you go, the more fuel you use' - typically said by the sort of people who can be found doing 50 in the middle lane. To them (and the government, it seems), fuel use is related only to speed. So nothing to do with gearing, torque, aerodynamics, weight distribution and reduction, rate of acceleration - etc...

[anonymous-user]

Gnits said:

There is some freaky permanent lights in Basingstoke then.
If you flash them and the other road has no traffic you get priority every time. You can even see the light for the other road cycle directly after you flash.

If people are really sure there is no sensors involved I need to do me some experimentin'!
Perhaps there are pressure sensors in the road.

You mean, as you approach them, and if there is nothing on the other side of the road, then they change?

That will be detector/control loops cut in to the road.

Traffic lights do not respond to light signals.

There really is no argument to it.