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Why You Wait Too Long at Red Lights, and What to Do About It

Updated on January 2, 2017

Does the Light Take Forever to Turn Green?

Let's face it—everyone hates waiting at red lights. However, in many cases it is the drivers themselves who are responsible for the long wait, because they do not understand that most traffic signals are now run by sensors and computers. By understanding how traffic sensors and the traffic computers control the change of signals, you can help ensure that everyone waits less at red lights.

Worse than the time lost waiting, all those waits at traffic signals mean that you are spending more for gas, and you are experiencing more stress, which costs you more at the doctor's office, too! And frequent stopping is harder on your brakes and transmission, and idling at traffic signals causes pollution, which again, means more money at the doctor and less money for you.

This article may seem to be a little technical, but if you take the time to read through it, you will be more than repaid by the time saved not waiting for the light to change any longer! The savings of time, health and money are worth the few minutes you invest to learn how traffic signals work, and how your driving habits control how long the wait for the light to change will be.

Do You Spend Too Long Waiting for the Light to Change?

I spend way too darned long waiting for those red lights to change.

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Traffic Sensor

A detector loop buried in the pavement sends signals to the traffic control system.
A detector loop buried in the pavement sends signals to the traffic control system. | Source

How Traffic Signals Work

Some traffic signals are on a fixed time. In this case, there is one remedy for waiting too long at red lights. You can contact your city, county or state Department of Transportation and request a signal review, or you can go to a website called "See, Click, Fix" which will automatically report the problem to local authorities. (This website is also great for any kind of local problem such as potholes, code violations, and much more.) A review of different traffic signal retiming projects throughout the U.S.A. and Canada revealed that by retiming traffic signals, delays can decrease by 13 up to 94 per cent! The Traffic Light Synchronization Program in Texas reduced red light delays by 24.6 per cent. (In my case, I reported a mistimed traffic signal, and within weeks the city was at work fixing it. When the fix was not sufficient, I posted video of traffic blocking driveways to apartments, and pointed out that emergency vehicles could not enter apartments. The city came out and fixed the timing again, and now I have very short waits at that signal.)

A few intersections still use pressure plates at the intersection. This works just like the automatic door opener in many supermarkets, and the best way to ensure that the signal is sent to the traffic control panel is to slowly roll your tires onto the pressure plate and let them rest there. (A pressure plate looks like a large, rectangular metal plate in the roadway.)

However, almost all modern signals use a detector loop system. For a signal to be sent to the traffic control panel, this requires that the presence of metal cover the entire loop for a certain period of time (otherwise it would register passing traffic as waiting for the light to change). Since most drivers either do not know how detector loops work, or ignore the knowledge, then they do not position their cars properly on the detector loop, and the loop does not register the presence of their car. When the loop cannot detect your car, it cannot send a signal to the traffic control panel that you are waiting at the red light, and therefore the light will take forever to change. It's really that simple!

So why don't the detectors work better? I took a three-month survey every time I was stopped at a red light. More than three-quarters of the drivers I observed did not position their cars over the loop detector, so the signal was never sent to the traffic control panel. Drivers pulled either far ahead of the stop line, so that the rear of their car was not aligned with the rear of the detector loop, and therefore the detector loop decided that their car had already passed through the intersection, or the drivers stayed too far behind the line, so that the detector loop signal from the front to the back of the loop did not complete. As a result, everyone was sitting and waiting at the traffic signal—and often the people who were most annoyed were the people who were causing the problems!

Where to Position Your Car so the Red Light Will Change

To properly position your car over the detector loop, you need to understand where the loop is. In states with "stop lines" (a wide white line in front of the pedestrian crosswalk), the detector loop usually begins two feet behind the line. To make sure the loop is entirely covered, the best place to position your car is with your front bumper approximately one foot to eighteen inches behind the stop line. This way, the detector loop will detect your car motor over the loop, and it will send a signal to the traffic control panel that your car is waiting.

Note that although in the photo above the loops are circular, this is not always the case. Detector loops can also be oval or rectangular, therefore it is best to stay in the middle of the lane and use the stop line or pedestrian crosswalk to adjust the position of your car. If, as often happens, the detector loop is put in after the road is completed, cuts in the pavement will tell you exactly where to position your car.

A broken traffic signal.
A broken traffic signal. | Source

How to Avoid Red Lights Altogether

If you are stuck at a red light, you certainly don't want to be stuck at the next one! How do you avoid getting stuck at red light after red light?

There's one very simple answer to this: when the light turns green and you begin driving, accelerate slowly and smoothly up to the speed limit. Then drive the speed limit.

Why does this work? Traffic signals tend to be timed in sequence, so that if you make one green light you will make them all. (This won't always be the case, as some parts of traffic grids do not communicate with other parts of traffic grids.) But, as you go through a green light, take a tiny amount of time to notice the pedestrian signal. If pedestrians have a "walk" signal or the signal has just turned to "don't walk," keep driving exactly the speed limit. If the "don't walk" signal has been there a little while, drive about a half-mile per hour over the speed limit to the next light, then continue at exactly the speed limit. You do not need to speed; in fact, going over the speed limit will make you wait at a red light.

Mixed Signals

I'm sure everyone feels this way at one time or another!
I'm sure everyone feels this way at one time or another! | Source

I Know All This, But It's Those Other People That Are the Problem!

There's a simple solution to educating all those other drivers, too! Simply start sharing this page with everyone you know who drives a car, and as the word gets around, more and more drivers will begin to understand how the position of their car at a red light, and their speed, will enable them to spend far less time waiting at red lights. As Thomas Hobbes wrote back in 1658, "Knowledge is power." And there you have it. The problem of waiting too long for the traffic signals to change will be solved, everyone will be happier, and they will save money, too!

Have You Tried This? Did It Work for You?

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  • classicalgeek profile image

    classicalgeek 6 years ago

    Some cities have not implemented smart traffic systems, or perhaps you just had a case with wacky drivers not putting their cars over the detector loops properly and causing mayhem. I notice that all the time, and there is one signal where I know I am going to have to wait at a light. My solution is to take my foot off the accelerator, so I am using less gas, having less wear on my brakes, and waiting less time stopped and idling. Of course, the person behind me who doesn't understand how traffic signals work usually has something not very nice to say about that. ;)

    Thanks for visiting this very geeky hub!

  • rebekahELLE profile image

    rebekahELLE 6 years ago from Tampa Bay

    Very interesting! I have learned something helpful that hopefully will save me some time. Tonight on the way home, I hit every red light, even the ones that hardly ever turn. It must have been the time of day also. Thanks so much for sharing!