A bill is being considered by Indiana lawmakers to allow motorcycle riders to proceed through a stop light if they come to a complete stop for two minutes.
Crawfordsville Representative, Tim Brown, is co-sponsoring the bill and he says a lot of stop lights are magnetically triggered so motorcycles don't always trigger them. Leaving those on bikes waiting for a light to change to green, sometimes for a long time.
"It's like okay, now we're gonna have to run this light. You know. And if you get a ticket, you're getting a ticket and it's not your fault." says Gerri Mason, a motorcycle enthusiast.
Motorcycle enthusiast will tell you they love the freedom of being on a bike. What they don't like is sitting at a red light that won't turn green.
"We will sit there for hours on end til that light's gonna turn. Unless somebody pulls up behind you with a car that's gonna trigger it," says Mason.
Indiana lawmakers are considering a bill for this very reason. It would allow motorcyclists to go through a red light if they come to a stop for two minutes, and there's no oncoming traffic.
"You gotta leave it up to the motorcyclist. We are very conscious of what's going on around us, and if there's no traffic coming, if they want to go we should be allowed to go," says Christine Blake, a Rolling Thunder member.
Mike Green, a salesman at Bud's Harley-Davidson, says it has to do with magnetic strips in the roadway.
"You kind of see them cut into the streets. The magnetic strips," says Green. "If the bike doesn't hit them just right, there's not enough material there for the lights to trip."
Green says he's experienced the dilemma himself, but he still doesn't think the bill is necessary in a city like Evansville.
"You know, if we lived in a bigger metropolitan area, where in town driving is more frequent than out of town driving. It may have a benefit," says Green. "Whether it's a serious enough issue to be made a law. I don't know if I agree with that."
Lawmakers say similar bills have passed in other states, like Illinois, no word on how soon it could be voted on here in Indiana
