WHAT is the point of traffic lights if they won’t change for road users, or if they exclude legitimate vehicles from using a section of road?

Several times I have emailed Southampton City Council asking that they fix the lights on Bargate Street so that they recognise bicycles.

Each time I got a reply stating “nothing wrong with the lights, you need to position your bike on the sensor loop”.

The problem is I do. And the fact that the lights never change leads me to understand why so many riders now just ride through.

Recently I thought I’d time this interaction to see how long I had to wait until I got a green.

On three separate days they timed as five minutes 10 seconds, four minutes five seconds, and then today seven minutes 12 seconds, and these lights didn’t go green for me, they went green as a bus appeared (I presume they have transponders).

This is not joined-up inclusive infrastructure and the council needs to fix this! It doesn’t cost the earth and leads me to think they’ve simply left it because they cannot be bothered.

So the next time you see a rider going through a red, ask ‘does that light even work for the rider?’. Surely the council needs to take some of the blame. Or is this a cunning plan to roll out to motorists too at a later date?

D J COOK, Sholing, Southampton.