"RIGHT TURN ONLY? - Samuel Wattles of Rosamond stands with his Smart ForTwo. Wattles recently purchased the Smart ForTwo and was baffled when the car did not activate left-turn signals at several intersections in Rosamond." RON SIDDLE/Valley Press "RIGHT TURN ONLY? - Samuel Wattles of Rosamond stands with his Smart ForTwo. Wattles recently purchased the Smart ForTwo and was baffled when the car did not activate left-turn signals at several intersections in Rosamond." RON SIDDLE/Valley Press bttt
Would sticking a fairly powerful magnet under the car work?
“You turn if you want to. The Lady’s not for turning.” — Thatcher
It is a problem with the ferrous content of the automobile. Pressure plates have not been used in several decades that I can recall. Try beefing up the metal content or putting a flux alternator in the car on the bottom....
I’m calling BS here. Every sensor-controlled stoplight I’ve ever encountered used metal detectors, not weight sensors, to detect cars in the intersection and most are sensitive enough to be triggered by my 240lb scooter. Does California use weight sensors? They don’t in MI, OH, PA, NY or ON.
The writer is out of his mind or just plain stupid.
I set off left turn signals on my bike and my bike weighs less than twenty pounds.
I’ve had the same problem with my Harley. But it’s a mass issue, not weight.
These traffic light sensors are NOT triggered (”tripped”) by the weight of a vehicle, but my the mass of steel (magnetic metal) which is located over it. Apparently the Smart Car does not have enough steel in it to “trip” some traffic lights.
Motorcycles have suffered from the same problem for decades.
If you are having a problem at a given signal light, contact your local highway department or public works department (as applicable) and report the specific lights which your motorcycle or “Smart Car” will not “trip”.
The sensitivity of the sensors IS adjustable and most lights can be set so a motorcycle can “trip” them.
Many localities are taking care of this issue by eliminating sensors under the pavement and switching to camera activated traffic lights. Personally, I like this type of traffic light, and even a person on a bicycle can “trip” them.
Also, there are some companies that market a small device to motorcyclists which is mounted on the underside and hangs down closer to the road than the bottom of the engine (it appears to me to be a poerful magnet). This device is supposed to “trip” the errant, less sensitive, sensors. I have no idea how they work because I have never used one. I do not like the idea of magnets hanging off the bottom of my motorcycles.
Someone had dropped a golf ball in the gas tank. The gas had eaten the outer covering of the golf ball and caused the rubber bands to swell up. When you made the fatal turn, it would roll over the fuel line.
Something is definitely not right here.
But can you make a “Michigan Left” in it?
So the Zoolander-mobile is pissing off the communist/democrat (redundant?) drivers because it won't go to the left.
I think he is probably not going to have to worry for long about the turning problem.
From the looks of that silly clown car, I would have to say it’s a death trap in waiting.
It’s a short car. Some people don’t understand the definition of ‘intersection’. I wonder if this guy has a habit of pulling so far forward that his car isn’t even over the loop.
I have a left turn on my way home and it requires two cars to trigger the arrow. (There isn’t a red arrow, so we can turn left late in the cycle if there aren’t two or more cars.) Several times I have pulled up behind someone so far over the crosswalk that they don’t contribute to the count of cars and we both wait.
On the other hand, I have been known to stop waaay back when I am the only car and still get my green arrow! :)
Because it worked so well on the Vega.