14
E-bike crashes account for almost 1 in 5 serious injuries to cyclists in London
(www.standard.co.uk)
this post was submitted on 10 Feb 2026
14 points (93.8% liked)
London
1352 readers
39 users here now
"who’d a thunk it"
For discussion about London including the surrounding Greater London area. Discuss all things from news, travel, culture, and general life around the capital and largest city of England!
Rules and other welcoming info can be found here.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
It's magnetic induction sensors I believe, you need magnetic materials.
Most bikes are built mostly out of aluminium (or carbon) now, so don't trigger them.
Not sure who started that myth, but the inductive loops detect any conductive material, like aluminum or carbon fiber, there is no magnetism involved.
They oscillate in a resonant mode oscillator at high frequencies causing eddy currents in ANY nearby conductive material. The eddy currents in the conductive material produce opposing magnetic fields that will reduce the inductnace of the inductive loop, which in turn changes the resonance of the oscillator. The detector senses this change in frequency.
The trick with bikes is to place the bike right above one side of the loop, not stop in the middle of the rectangle.
There were older designs that did use magnets, but like 40 years ago. Civil engineers were well aware of the bike issue.
Wikipedia link for those interested.
Thanks for that, it makes sense when I think about it. It's been a while since physics class!
I can sometimes get them to trigger by going over the return line to the pavement. Still a big problem for carbon bikes though!