So, you are driving along at night and you reach traffic lights which
are red for you. Nobody else has been through the intersection for 10
minutes or more.
Why do traffic engineers make you wait at the red light for 10 or more
seconds before the green light for the cross road changes to orange?
I've spoken to a traffic light engineer and he has no good reason for
the delay, which can easily be set to 0 seconds. But they don't do
that, just because they have always had a delay. Are they stupid, or
is there a good reason for the delay?
I'm not actually that impatient, but there is a situation where public
transport has a tight schedule to keep, and the extra 10 or 20 seconds
on every trip does make a difference, and is a waste of time anyway.