Reminder that Roads Have Magnetic Sensors

The entry ramp from Mathilda onto 101 Southbound is under construction.  Only one lane is open.  This week, the old carpool lane is open, but the metering lights on the regular lane is still on during rush hour. 

The problem is that drivers are stopping at the carpool lane light, but waiting for the metering lights on the other lane to turn green.  It will never turn green because it doesn't detect cars waiting.

This is a gentle reminder that our roads have magnetic sensors.  In this case, the sensors are at the end of the line, depicted by the red rectangle below.  This means that each lane has its own sensor.  And so even if the metering lights are red on the right hand side, they will never turn green because the cars are on the left hand side.

I unfortunately did not find any traffic rules on how to handle this, but according to this article, California drivers must treat them the same as broken traffic lights - stop then proceed with caution.