I’d have done what you did and called stopping. I’d have waited for green. Then gone and caught up the rest of the group. What I did after that would depend on how well I knew the group. If it was a group I rode with regularly and had any kind of influence within I’d have had a proper chat either during or after the ride about the principles of safe group riding. If it was a group I didn’t know well and didn’t feel I had any ability to change how they rode then I wouldn’t catch them up and I wouldn’t ride with them again. The riders behind you were riding along chatting away in a bubble and not paying attention. As it happened it was “just” a light with nothing else coming. But if that had been an emergency stop situation with a hazard you’d seen where you actually all needed to stop or somebody was going to get hurt, there would have been a pile up. Personally I don’t want to ride around with ~15 people like that behind me!
The riders on the front have the best view of what’s ahead, they’re in charge, if they say you’re stopping you’re stopping. If you stopped or slammed on the brakes and they disagree with your decision they talk to you about it afterwards, they don’t just decide to do their own thing. The bigger the group, the bigger the imperative to all be on the same page around how to ride, and the bigger the need to err on the side of caution. In a 6 man group the riders at the back still have a pretty good idea what’s happening and can directly hear any calls from the front. When there’s 15+ riders those at the back have almost no idea what’s happening at the front and have to rely on calls being passed back and reacting to what the wheel in front of them does.
Well, you have edited your post because your original said “other than saying it is the law / what you should do”…and limiting the responses available to others is not indicative of someone looking to engage in good faith discussion (nor is passive-aggressive responses).
The lights would change for you because they are controlled by a magnetic sensor in the road.
If you knew for sure that they would not change (eg there was a sign saying ‘lights not working’) then yes, you should go through as long as you can judge it to be safe.
If the light is broken, or you can’t trigger the light change, it would be prudent to treat it like a stop sign and stop, then proceed if it’s safe. That’s how we treat those conditions.
People in the paceline still have a responsibility to pay attention. They should have seen/been aware of the stale green and been prepared to stop, if necessary. They’re simply inattentive and irresponsible IMO.
I agree that the sensor would be activated by a car. But not activated really quickly.
In a car I would approach the red light, activate the sensor, come to a stop (or much much slower than the speed I’d been travelling at) and then the lights turn green and off I go.
Disclaimer - I’m not an engineer and don’t have a deep understanding of how induction loops work.
That said, I have been told that induction loops should work even for bikes and have had positive experiences where when this clearly hasn’t been the case (I.e. Sat on red as lights go through at least one full cycle) I’ve contacted the relevant council (UK), had messages back to say one of their engineers has investigated and fixed the problem, and then lo and behold the next time I use that light it changes for me even with no car behind. Worth a try at least if it’s a light you pass regularly.
