Why do people not push the button at road crossings?
Posted by WrickyB@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 299 comments
[removed]
Posted by WrickyB@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 299 comments
[removed]
BoboFuggsnucc@reddit
It doesn't do anything.
Very few of those buttons actually do anything.
downlau@reddit
It's been years and I still remember the time some guy was trying to frogger his way across the road for a good minute or so while I was walking up to the crossing, I hit the button and wow, we were both able to cross within seconds. (A set of lights on a busy road that literally only existed to allow pedestrians to cross, so the crossing cycle was 100% triggered by pushing the button).
I won't always push it if there's a clear and safe space for me to cross, but if I'm stopped and waiting I'll push it for sure.
broketoliving@reddit
these people are not sheep and think about it, why press the button when there’s no need to, other idiots just press the button and wait when the roads nearly empty.
Visual_Stable3692@reddit
I sometimes don't, and it depends on the traffic and layout.
If traffic is light and I can see both ways, then I probably wont press it. I'll just wait for a suitable gap and then cross. that way I don't hold up cars un-necessarily.
If its busy or if the layout of the road means I cant see what's coming, then I'll use the button and wait.
Worst kind of crosser is someone who presses the button, but then crosses anyway before the lights change making the cars wait for an empty crossing.
Eastern-Move549@reddit
In all the years that i have been pushing never has the light changed before the traffic cleared.
The only exception to the above is in big cities where the traffic simply never clears.
SignificantCricket@reddit
Thank you, OP. I have thought of posting this question quite a few times while waiting to cross roads, but never remembered at a time when I was on Reddit.
redmanshaun@reddit
Waiting for an opening if I see one coming rather than bother stopping the traffic
Nine_Eye_Ron@reddit
Why not both?
redmanshaun@reddit
Takes a second to see a gap coming up to decide if I should press the button or not.
Sasspishus@reddit
Some people stand there for like 5 minutes though
paunnn@reddit
Well those are bad apples
Sasspishus@reddit
No, they're humans...or so they claim
Diligent-Way8231@reddit
They are just npc’s struggling with their programming
behemuffin@reddit
So bad, they're not even apples.
jarviscockersspecs@reddit
I wouldn't say they're bad apples, but they certainly aren't good eggs
EarlyRaccoon4745@reddit
And they definitely don’t know their onions
SallySpits@reddit
That's not true though is it
ayanam1_rei@reddit
Maybe not to you, but to everyone who has seen it happen it is
SallySpits@reddit
5 minutes. They stand there for five. minutes.
Go take a stop watch. Start it. Wait for 5 minutes. Think about it. Then come back to this post.
ayanam1_rei@reddit
You would be surprised how often this has happened with me literally stood next to them. Heavy traffic flow with someone blocking the button, and myself being too afraid to ask them to move or push it. We are genuinely just stood there for 5 minutes or longer because they would rather wait for the light year long queue of cars to drive by than press a button
SallySpits@reddit
You are not stood there for 5 minutes.
Grow a fucking pair and bush the button.
NecktieNomad@reddit
There have been numerous studies on queuing that show people think they’re queuing far longer than they are. Unoccupied time feels slower than occupied time, plus people are miffed about others’ ineptitude (which we see as the cause of the queue). Couple that with the ‘helplessness’ queues trigger and you’re psychologically out of kilter.
To summarise, I agree with you that five minutes waiting to cross the road (one twelfth of an hour!) is nonsense. Probably more like one minute. For most people, if they hadn’t crossed the road in one minute they’d continue walking down the road and try to cross elsewhere in a little while, anything to minimise that ‘dead’ waiting time.
aezy01@reddit
And you’d rather stand there next to them for 5 minutes instead of just speaking to them? That’s probably worse.
ayanam1_rei@reddit
I thought social anxiety was well researched in the modern era, guess not. Will always be assholes in this country
aezy01@reddit
It’s not social anxiety stopping you to simply say ‘excuse me’ to someone and press a button. Plus you expecting someone to make an exception for your social ineptitude but denigrating someone else who may also find normal everyday human interactions difficult is hypocritical to say the least.
NecktieNomad@reddit
Maybe they’ve planned to cross in 5 minutes time, not before /s
lapsangoose@reddit
Are they the same people that stand at the front of a self-service checkout queue until a staff member points to a till for them?
quellflynn@reddit
this means that there are some other people watching, and timing, people who are waiting to cross.
Sasspishus@reddit
Or there are people who can see the crossing from afar and it takes 5 mins for them to walk there, to then realise nobody has pressed the button
lilium_x@reddit
While blocking the button so no one else (e.g. with young kids) can press it either.
Username__-Taken@reddit
So you’re one of those people who presses the button and then walks across stopping traffic for no reason
Nine_Eye_Ron@reddit
It happens, of course it does. It’s unavoidable.
I want to cross safety but also reasonable quickly.
El_Scot@reddit
The traffic lights outside my work take longer to wait on, than to just cross. Push the button, and you have to be the asshole that stopped traffic for no good reason.
Metrobolist3@reddit
As a pedestrian I'm not really going to lose much sleep over that. I'll obviously look when I get to the crossing and just cross without pressing it if I can but if there's no obvious opening I'll just press it and cross before it changes if the opportunity presents itself.
tobotic@reddit
If there's a chance to quickly cross, I'll just press the button afterwards at the other side to make up for missing it before I crossed.
Visible_Nothing_9616@reddit
As a driver, I curse that person, as a pedestrian, I am that person.
Sharp-kun@reddit
I wouldn't lose sleep, but I also know I'll prob judge a time to cross before the green man. If I do I don't want to inconvieniance others.
I know better than some silly green man. Put that on my tombstone ironically when that attitude kills me. :)
likes2milk@reddit
Whilst I'm za pedestr now, I'll be stuck at the.lights later on the bus or in the car. Waiting for good karma to come round
cragglerock93@reddit
I generally try to make it over without pressing, but I disagree that you're an 'asshole' for using the road as designed and I hope everyone presses the button when you're driving.
M90Motorway@reddit
Some traffic lights will change to green the minute a pedestrian has crossed. Other ones (usually the ones located on the exit to a roundabout to ensure maximum disruption) will sit on red with nobody on the crossing and no need for anyone to be stopped as the road is completely clear for a good 8 seconds.
Newer ones seem to sit on red for so long that you are almost temped to go through them thinking they are malfunctioning and have gotten stuck on red!
BaronSamedys@reddit
An opening always comes before the button creates ones. You cross and see all the traffic stopping as you're already fifty metres down the road. That beeping in the distance as the accumulating traffic wishes death to the arsehole who pressed the button.
Dear_Culture2618@reddit
Yeah that's why i always press the button
thehealingprocess@reddit
Why not Zoidberg?
AstoundedMagician@reddit
Politeness
Naive_Product_5916@reddit
I only do that at the one by my house because it changes almost immediately and it’s also near a bus garage and I like the buses to be able to have a run.
Qyro@reddit
This. I only press the button if it’s busy enough that I could be waiting a while for an opening.
chef_26@reddit
I approve of this approach but I am curious, do you always aim to cross in these locations or do you just cross wherever?
No-Elderberry-2676@reddit
As a child when I used to go to town with my mum we always used the bridge to cross a busy four lane road. I went to town with my mate and his mum once and she crossed the busy road frogger style, vaulting over the fence separating the lanes. I was shocked!
redmanshaun@reddit
If it's quiet enough, I'll cross wherever. But I'll usually head towards a crossing.
When I'm driving, it annoys me when people cross halfway and wait in the middle of a road. So I'll only cross if it's clear on both sides.
evenstevens280@reddit
Okay but what if there's someone else who wants to cross?
oldman10000@reddit
Then they can push the button themselves?
evenstevens280@reddit
Or you could just press the button? Doesn't take much...
mentaldrummer66@reddit
If it doesn’t take much why can’t the second person push the button?
Pedantichrist@reddit
Someone is standing in the way.
lilium_x@reddit
Because the non presser loves to stand directly in front of the button, blocking access to anyone else
evenstevens280@reddit
Well if you got there first then you've saved you both some time.
mentaldrummer66@reddit
But I don’t need to push the button. I can wait for a gap in traffic. Not my problem
evenstevens280@reddit
Sorry you don't seem to live in a community. Must suck...
mentaldrummer66@reddit
Wtf are you even on about? Go back to your cave
evenstevens280@reddit
I'm not the one scared of a button
redmanshaun@reddit
They can press it whilst I'm taking the gap in traffic that I spotted earlier.
evenstevens280@reddit
What have you got against pressing a button?
redmanshaun@reddit
I told you already. If it isn't needed and I can cross without stopping traffic, then why would I press it?
If im waiting a while, im obviously going to press it.
evenstevens280@reddit
You can press it incase other people show up behind you and want to cross
PassiveTheme@reddit
So you're pressing the button on the off chance that someone comes across at the right time to use it to cross? If this hypothetical person doesn't turn up, the traffic is going to get stopped for no reason, which wastes some drivers' time, reduces their fuel efficiency (thus increasing pollution), and might reset the timer in the lights meaning when someone else comes across later and pushes the button, they may have to wait longer.
If you can safely cross without pressing the button, why would you press it?
evenstevens280@reddit
Puffin crossings don't work in the way you're describing
PassiveTheme@reddit
I was exaggerating things for effect. The point still stands: there is absolutely no point in pressing the button if you're going to cross without it and it doesn't benefit anyone (apart from your hypothetical person who happens to be following directly behind the person who already crossed).
dglp@reddit
I so totally agree with you. That's exactly why I press every crossing button as I'm walking along the pavement even though I'm not crossing the road. Those buttons have a purpose in life, which is to be pressed, so I do my civic duty by pressing every button I can. Sometimes more than once. Even when I can't see any other people on the pavement on either side of the road I will push the button because you never know if somebody might want to get out of their car on one side of the road and cross over to the other side of the road. So I just push the button in case that ever happens and it's more convenient for them.
redmanshaun@reddit
Sounds like an absolute waste of time and defeats my original reason to not press it and let traffic flow.
I've already identified a time to cross, they can either take it or decide to press the button and wait.
evenstevens280@reddit
Not everyone else in the world is as able as you are.
redmanshaun@reddit
Not everyone is as quick either. Watch me wobble across the road while you are stuck on the other side.
If someone needs help sure but im not pressing it just in case someone shows up.
Euphoric_Wish_8293@reddit
Jesus. This guy is having a wild Friday night. Has he got shares in button pressing or what? Imagine arguing with multiple people over this.
evenstevens280@reddit
Empathy alive and well in the UK, I see.
miked999b@reddit
This is the correct answer. I only push the button if it's really busy
RaspberryTurtle987@reddit
Scrolling these comments, we are such a car-centred nation it’s so sad. Pedestrians have just as much right to exist in public space as do cars. People putting their lives in danger so as not to inconvenience a car? Wtf?!
BaronsCastleGaming@reddit
How did you even come to this interpretation? I cross without pressing the button if it's more convenient for me to do so, not because im trying to not inconvenience the traffic. I'm not "putting my life in danger" because, well, I'm not completely inept.
Pedantichrist@reddit
How is it more convenient to you!
BaronsCastleGaming@reddit
I can't tell if people misread my comment or what. If I walk up to a crossing and there are no cars, why would I press the button instead of just crossing?
RaspberryTurtle987@reddit
I am just so perplexed why pedestrians are prioritising cars when they are pedestrians and much more vulnerable in any situation when they come into contact with a car.
sp1z99@reddit
Came here to say this. “Oh I’ll wait for a gap!” but then some moron in a corsa zooms across you at 60.
Cars legally have to stop at red lights. If i’m at a crossing I’m pressing the button regardless of it it’s “clear”. The drivers can wait 20 seconds, I have priority when the man goes green.
And don’t even get me started on the bellends that see and Amber light as an invitation to accelerate. I tend to find pretending to step out into the road has them stop pretty quickly which they should have done anyways.
And before someone says “yeah but accident if someone rear-ends them!?!!?!”. If you manage to read-end someone, you’re driving too close and you get what you deserve. Try learning to drive.
AnonymousTimewaster@reddit
If they're doing this then they're very unlikely to actually stop for a pedestrian crossing.
ProofAssumption1092@reddit
Cars legally have to stop for people also.
RaspberryTurtle987@reddit
Agree 100% 👌
nunsreversereverse@reddit
I was wondering if it was partly a British politeness thing. People saying they don't want to inconvenience the traffic etc
Although i guess it doesn't work the same from the traffic, they wouldn't care about inconveniencing.
Peppl@reddit
The traffic here have to give way if you're on the road, pedestrians have right of way
Pedantichrist@reddit
There is no right of way on the UK roads.
Peppl@reddit
You're not allowed to drive over pedestrians on the road. that's right of way
Pedantichrist@reddit
You are not allowed to walk into cars either. It in incumbent in all road users to avoid collisions.
Some road users have priority.
Peppl@reddit
Priority lands with pedestrians, not the person driving several tonnes of metal down the road. We have stringent driving tests for a reason.
Pedantichrist@reddit
Yes it does.
I am not taking a side against anyone here, I am merely letting folk know that there is no right of way on UK roads.
Peppl@reddit
Not what i was taught on my drivers lessons, in any case, running down down a pedestrian is seen as a fail
Pedantichrist@reddit
You will not have been taught that we have right of way.
There are rights of way, but that is a different matter.
Peppl@reddit
I went with the AA, if someone has their foot on the road, dont drive into them with your car, its that simple.
Pedantichrist@reddit
Yes, that entirely true.
You seem to be arguing against a position I do not hold.
Peppl@reddit
Im not sure, a pedestrians right to cross the road seems to be a 'right of way'?
Pedantichrist@reddit
It is a priority.
There is a legal requirement for all of us to avoid collisions. If I am in a roundabout, I have priority over someone who pulls out in front of me, but I stop have a legal requirement to avoid a collision.
We have no right of way, only priority.
This is not subjective, it is the law.
RaspberryTurtle987@reddit
I think it must be a mentality of cars as kings of the road, while I am bit a humble peasant sir, please pity me!
gundog48@reddit
I don't want to inconvenience anyone unless I have to, no matter how they traverse themselves! If I can cross without holding a dozen people up for 30 secs then I will. I wouldn't cross if there was any real danger.
Like if I was going to cross a narrow pedestrian bridge and there were 10 people about to cross the other way, but I was there first, I'd let them cross first, so the overall amount of waiting being done is minimal!
notouttolunch@reddit
I learned to cross the road as a child. I don’t put myself in danger when I cross the road. I also drive a car and ride a bicycle.
I have lived in places with “shared spaces” like Poynton in Cheshire or hybrid experimental efforts of the same and they are really stupid. Having good uniformity is a super idea and brings a lot of safety and confidence.
I’m not really sure what the point of your comment is.
RaspberryTurtle987@reddit
With shared spaced, You mean like pedestrian only streets?
The point of my comment was to express how strange it is that we prioritise the car rather than ourselves as pedestrians when if there was an accident from not pushing a button, the pedestrian is MUCH MUCH more vulnerable.
notouttolunch@reddit
You clearly didn’t look to see the prime example because no, that’s not what I meant!
Misty_Pix@reddit
Honestly...all that comes to my mind is "think of the children"
I have seen parents drag their kids in a "traffic gap" and thats dangerous.
It's fine if they want to risk their own life but their kids, as well as teaching kids to not cross correctly is dangerous.
This is how children then miscalculate and get harmed.
I rather wait a bit longer than risk my or my child's life.
Unlikely_Doughnut845@reddit
I know, right? As a pedestrian we have to stop and wait for people in cars to go past at the local (busy) crossroads. Often can be a 3-4 minute wait for the green man if you have arrived at the wrong time in the cycle. The green man stays on for SEVEN SECONDS. Even then you get people nipping through on red.
cragglerock93@reddit
Aye it's proper perplexing to me. So I'm expected to accurately assess the gap every time and never push the button unnecessarily, yet a solid 10 - 20% of drivers will sail on right through a zebra crossing without a thought in their wee heads? Give me a break.
Unlikely_Doughnut845@reddit
10-20% don’t stop? Where do you live? Our nearest zebra crossing has been there longer than I have been alive yet I estimate it is 10-20% of drivers actually slow down and stop
No_Image4505@reddit
i don't usually press the button at traffic lights because i can usually cross quicker by reading the traffic and walking out, i don't know if it's just me but i don't think a car wants to hit me either
Clean_Personality324@reddit
I usually only ever press the button if the traffic is really heavy. Otherwise I just wait until I can find a gap between cars to cross - much faster than waiting for the lights
luala@reddit
Our local ones time-out so you have to push it repeatedly. You might be seeing that
HauntingDay31@reddit
I do if there's too much traffic to find a gap.
But if there's only one or two cars and I clearly have enough time to cross, I'll do so without activating the red light that you have to stop for.
There's no need to make you stop if I can cross before you even reach the lights.
HauntingDay31@reddit
Wow, fancy getting downvoted for being considerate of others... what the fuck is wrong with some people?? 🤣🤣
SituationIcy5938@reddit
Ok. so if I can see a gap coming up I won't push it because I know how annoying it is for the light to go red when nobody is at it.
If I'm at a busy junction it's pointless because you don't actually need the green man, all it does is slow everyone else down.
Pedantichrist@reddit
Not very annoying. I have to stop and then catch up with traffic again.
Nothing lime as annoying as someone crossing in front of me.
AnonymousTimewaster@reddit
Forcing a bunch of stop starting in traffic is pretty bad for the environment though.
Pedantichrist@reddit
Periodic stops which allow for multiple pedestrians to cross will prove markedly better than a steady stream of minor slowing manoeuvres.
Terrabletypo_@reddit
As a driver myself unless the road is really busy I won’t push the button. When I’m in a car, it’s mega frustrating to be held by a light with no one crossing; people push the button and just cross when there’s a gap anyway. Will always use a button if there’s kids about though, or wait for the light even if there is a gap.
E5evo@reddit
It boils my piss. Pedestrians walk up to the crossing, head down in the phone, don’t even look at what’s around & automatically press the button. Fuck all for 100 yards but they wait. Or, even worse, they press the button, realise there’s Fuck all & cross before their little green man comes on, causing any traffic that’s approaching AFTER they’ve crossed, to stop. Imbeciles.
pullingteeths@reddit
Thousands of pedestrians are killed by drivers in the UK every year. Pressing the button is safer than chancing it. Pedestrians have every right to cross safely at traffic lights instead of peering around and dodging traffic. And if there really is fuck all after pressing it what exactly would be the point of waiting longer at that point when it's going to stop you anyway?
E5evo@reddit
Do you even drive? Did your parents never teach you how to cross a road? If it’s a busy road, yes, press the button, if your blind or partially sighted, press the button, If you’re a complete fuckwit & there’s no vehicles approaching, press the button.
GoodTelevision9197@reddit
I purposely never push the button unless it’s very busy traffic. One of the main reasons this country has gone to shit is because people are too scared to make their own decisions and think for themselves. If you need a little green/red man to tell you when it’s safe then you’re part of the problem.
pullingteeths@reddit
Every hour two pedestrians are killed on roads in the UK
GoodTelevision9197@reddit
Water kills more people everyday. Should we stop drinking it?
pullingteeths@reddit
Ridiculous comparison, nobody said we should stop driving cars. A better comparison would be if you were advocating against water related safety measures eg lifeguards at beaches. Traffic lights save lives.
GoodTelevision9197@reddit
So was yours. In the first sentence of my post it says I use it in very busy traffic.
prustage@reddit
They are not waiting for the green man. They are waiting for the gap in the traffic that they have already spied to reach them. They don't press the button because they know the gap will reach them faster than the lights will change.
They also know that if they did press the button, the lights would change after everyone had already crossed and the traffic would have to stop for no reason and that would be downright irresponsible.
It's called being a traffic-aware pedestrian rather than a mindless button pusher.
IAM_THE_LIZARD_QUEEN@reddit
Usually, yeah, but you do get the odd absolute melon every now and again who is just waiting for nothing and not even looking at the traffic. They definitely haven't spied a gap while they're looking either at the crossing light or at their phone.
Definitely a minority but they do exist, if you walk around a city enough you'll see them.
BeatificBanana@reddit
If you're in a city, it's likely that the reason they don't bother pushing the button is because they know the button doesn't do anything. In most cities, during daylight hours, the pedestrian crossings are on a timer. So the traffic will stop and the green man will appear regardless of whether you push the button. It's just a placebo.
I figured this out quick enough after moving to a city. Sometimes when people reach the crossing after me, they press the button while shooting me a confused or judgemental look because I hadn't already pressed it. But I know it doesn't do anything so there's no point getting my finger covered in germs for no reason.
IAM_THE_LIZARD_QUEEN@reddit
No, I'm specifically talking about junctions in my city that are not on timers, and I've watched people do it. Like I said, it's not super common, but it does happen.
BurlyJoesBudgetEnema@reddit
Probably better off asking them rather than us
doctorocelot@reddit
This is like 2% of the people waiting without pushing the button though. The other 98% are simply dim.
Eddie_Honda420@reddit
That's not a nice way to speak about the Germans
evenstevens280@reddit
What the fuck are you talking about? What a weird response
Rekyht@reddit
They’ve literally answered the question asked, are you in the wrong thread?
Lukeautograff@reddit
What annoys me more is when someone has clearly seen you’ve already pressed and it’s lit up but still press it themselves
AnonymousTimewaster@reddit
Maybe I just like pressing the button OK
RaspberryTurtle987@reddit
This is the circumstance in which I don’t press the button. When I can clearly see someone else has. What pisses me off is when someone presses it multiple times to try to speed up the lights, like it doesn’t work like that!
boolee2112@reddit
At some crossings the button is just a placebo effect
bluejackmovedagain@reddit
It depends on the crossing, some lights by are automatically timed and pressing the button does nothing.
evenstevens280@reddit
More and more crossings are puffin crossings, where the pedestrian cycle doesn't engage if no one pushes the button
Please just press the button.
badgersruse@reddit
How will it cancel? If you are suggesting it knows you’ve crossed how does it know all of you crossed? This is just silly.
NessieGB@reddit
Many pedestrian crossing have sensors on the top of the lights to monitor pedestrian movement. There is usually 3 sensors on both traffic light poles. 2 facing either direction of the pavement and one facing towards to the road.
This allows the the system to detect when pedestrians are present, whether they are just walking passed the lights, or if they are actively using the crossing. These sensors give the system enough points of information to know when pedestrians are crossing, so even if you press the button and cross before you get the green light to cross, the system knows you've already crossed and if it detects no other pedestrians waiting, it can cancel the signal.
notouttolunch@reddit
*there are
I have heard rumours of lights like this but have never actually seen them. I can also think of reasons why they would not be reliable enough to exist. I’m not sure that any pedestrian crossings actually operate this way and when I have found crossings that might operate that way, I’ve paid close attention and seen that they don’t.
K-o-R@reddit
There are several pairs of crossings (staggered separate crossings, one per direction of traffic) that automatically push the button on the second crossing as you exit the first. You see the second "wait" light come on as you approach. Witchcraft.
NessieGB@reddit
Ive seen a few that work using the sensors. They allow for much faster light changes when pedestrians have finished crossing, but also allow slower moving pedestrians (kids, older people, disabled people, etc) extra time to cross without feeling rushed by the lights changing on a set cycle.
However I will agree with you that not all lights with sensors actually utilise them, some of them probably still use timed cycles, which is probably more down to the local authority than the actual hardware itself.
notouttolunch@reddit
The only consistency is the phasing out of flashing amber. Probably for the best since people are terrible at being both pedestrians and drivers. The rest seems variable or undetectable!
I’ve just been working on some thermal imaging algorithms and to be honest, I’ve not found it to be very reliable even in lab conditions. The expectations have been higher than the results. Still, there’s only room for improvement.
NessieGB@reddit
Honestly my knowledge on the system isn't too vast. From a quick Google, apparently the sensors kerbside sensors for detecting someone is at the light waiting are Infrared and the sensors for detecting actual crossings are microwave sensors.
Ive found in my experience the sensors on top of lights are pretty hardy and reliable. Most traffic lights have some form of sensor to detect cars, which probably employs the same tech, and Ive found that you can tell when a set of lights has them set up correctly as everything just flows more efficiently.
However, I wouldnt be surprised if alot of crossing with the sensors provisioned just aren't set up correctly, either deliberately or through incompetence.
mata_dan@reddit
My thoughts exactly. If there are junctions like this, they are going to be in busy spots where the pedestrian cycle almost always goes during the day anyway and later on it's either quiet enough that it's not needed or they disable the timing because it would just lead to unreliability - then realise there's no point at all so switch it off permanently.
notouttolunch@reddit
The technical capabilities exist but sensors getting dirty, needing to be accurate at detecting adults and children on their own (just because they have run away from home, they need to cross the road). It’s easier to just have a button! Tried and tested.
BeatificBanana@reddit
So why do you have to push the button then? If it can detect that there are pedestrians waiting to cross, why doesn't it automatically trigger the pedestrian cycle when it senses people waiting?
NessieGB@reddit
Because not everyone standing in the sensors zone might be waiting to cross.
BeatificBanana@reddit
If it's not reliable enough to know whether someone is waiting to cross then surely it can't be trusted to know that everyone has crossed. Nah.
NessieGB@reddit
Eh what? The sensors know when someone is waiting to cross and they know once they have finished crossing just fine. Your asking why they dont automatically change the lights without pressing the button and im telling you they need to button to prevent false positives, as not everyone who is in the sensors occupancy area might actually be waiting to cross.
You've literally made an issue out of nothing. They are reliable and they work great when they are actually enabled. A crossing near me has them enabled and they allow much faster light changes when pedestrians have cleared the crossing, but also give slower moving pedestrians (think kids, older people, people with wheelchairs/disabilities) extra time to cross without feeling rushed by the lights cycling.
badgersruse@reddit
That’s a neat idea. I have never seen a crossing do anything that would indicate that is going on.
What I’d really like is for the one near me to stop triggering when there are no pedestrians within 100s of yards, which l infer is a faulty sensor. Which I’ve reported and they’ve fixed at least three times. Still does it.
NessieGB@reddit
To be fair, whilst some crossing might have the sensors present, I think they may not always be in use. There's a few crossing in my town that have sensors on top of them and take less than 10 seconds to cross, yet take like 30 seconds before they go green for traffic again even with nothing crossing the road.
My town also has a faulty set of lights. Happens pretty much every year around November/December. Something breaks and the crossing constantly cycles with no pedestrian input. Right outside of a retail park and like 10 metres from the roundabout thats also the entrance to a supermarket and B&Q. The traffic at Christmas time can get get quite bad as you can probably imagine lol.
insufficientbeans@reddit
Well there are sensors that it let it know you've crossed, so many crossings all over the country have this, haven't you noticed?
badgersruse@reddit
I see lots of things up there, I’ve just never noticed a crossing do anything other than a timed cross after usually a minute of waiting.
marktuk@reddit
How does that work then?
evenstevens280@reddit
Puffin crossings have sensors
marktuk@reddit
All the ones near me will still activate if nobody is standing there 🤷♂️
evenstevens280@reddit
They might still be Pelican crossings then, but that style has been slowly replaced by Puffin crossings for the last decade
marktuk@reddit
There's puffin crossings apparently, because they don't have the green/red man lights on the post. But they are also traffic control for the junctions, so they work like OP is describing i.e. the button probably doesn't do anything.
evenstevens280@reddit
Ah yeah they look like puffin crossing infrastructure but without the accompanying sensors.
I guess they're just puf crossings 😂
The_Blip@reddit
I wouldn't assume this is always true though. There's some lights in my town where the signalling necessitates that pedestrians can cross because those parts of the crossing the cars will be stopped so that other cars in the interchange can get to where they need to go. Like, the cars from one road need to be stopped so that other cars can go through the interchange, so pedestrians can always cross at those stages. There isn't a dedicated pedestrian phase.
bluejackmovedagain@reddit
I know the lights on the main road by my house aren't controlled by the button, so why would I push it?
If I'm wrong, who am I harming by not pressing it? The worst case scenario is that I waste my own time. Why would whether or not I press the button matter to anyone else?
evenstevens280@reddit
If the pedestrian phase on the lights by your house aren't button controlled at all then fair enough. They must be really old!
notouttolunch@reddit
This will waste the time of people who have to stop at the red lights.
Most of your comments lack sense.
Pedantichrist@reddit
You do not know how puffin crossings work, do you?
They watch you and know if you cross.
notouttolunch@reddit
As I said on another part of this thread, I know how they’re supposed to work but I’ve never actually seen one operate that way.
Pedantichrist@reddit
They do. Most of them.
notouttolunch@reddit
See above.
Pedantichrist@reddit
What we are seeing here is your lack of understanding of what you see, not a lack of puffin crossings.
This is akin to folk thinking there is less AI these days, because they see less of it.
notouttolunch@reddit
Who is Al? I’m not sure Alastair is a less common name than it once was. Really obscure thing to bring up.
My point still stands.
Pedantichrist@reddit
Ah, a 'comedy' character account.
Well done, you got me. Bore off, there's a dear.
notouttolunch@reddit
You did bore me off, if that’s even a grammatically correct sentence. But I humoured you.
Emitime@reddit
It's not a case of being old. If it's part of a busy junction then it'll be on a timer to keep the traffic flowing most efficiently.
Feels like Leeds City centre is on one giant loop, there's definitely lights a kilometre apart that work together.
There are also pedestrian crossings that you have to press to trigger. But if you pay attention a little bit then you figure it out the difference pretty quickly.
bluejackmovedagain@reddit
It's a two stage crossing with a central reservation on one part of a badly designed and overcomplicated junction.
Both sides of the road have to have red lights for cars at different points in the traffic flow sequence, and being able to trigger the pedestrian crossing at any other point except for when the lights are already red would cause traffic chaos.
tmr89@reddit
Thank you for calling them out
M90Motorway@reddit
They don't though. Half the time the lights near me turn to red no matter if someone is crossing or if they have already crossed. If someone does cross using the lights, 3/4 of the time traffic is held at a red light, blocking a busy roundabout with absolutely nobody on the crossing as the pedestrian has already crossed.
carbon_dry@reddit
Yes but https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20150415-the-buttons-that-do-nothing
PartyPoison98@reddit
This still doesn't make sense. Either the button achieves nothing or it achieves a positive outcome, there's never any reason why you shouldn't press it.
BeatificBanana@reddit
I don't know about "shouldn't", but for me
lavajelly@reddit
Allot of crossings have sensors to detect people anyway. A bit like allot of traffic lights detect cars.
rovstuart@reddit
Wait, you actually see people use the lights? Everyone knows that you walk 5 or 10 yards past the lights and cross there.
ibaconbutty@reddit
Lights will stay green until there’s no cars and then go red. Or they’ll stop one car when there’s nothing behind them… so just easier tbh unless it’s a really busy road.
No-Suspect-6104@reddit
When people push the button and then proceed to cross whenever. Drives me insane
coginamachine@reddit
That doesn't bother me. I don't know why but internally I get infuriated when someone presses the button and then crosses before the green man. Leaving me sitting at a red light for no reason.
MrLubricator@reddit
It's frustrating it when people press the button without looking up to see if there is any traffic. Unless it is a really old person or a mum with kids or something. Most people though can look up, see the gap and go.
Raven-Nightshade@reddit
If a road is not too busy, it can be better to just wait for an opening to safely cross.
The button doesn't do anything at junctions, the lights are on a timer to regulate traffic flow.
Johnny_975@reddit
Couple of reasons, if I’m with my kids I always push the button and wait for the green man but if I’m by myself often times there’s a gap in the traffic before the green man comes on and I’d feel like a dick if the green man came on forcing people to stop after I had crossed, also for some reason only god knows if I’m the only person crossing on the green man I feel self conscious
CommonSpecialist4269@reddit
It’s extremely frustrating to me to watch someone approach a crossing, push the button, then immediately cross because it’s clear. Lights go red, traffic stops for no reason. By crossing at the crossing area you’re already making it safer for yourself than crossing at a random point in the road. Being observant is a crucial skill whether you’re a pedestrian or in a car.
cougieuk@reddit
I like to assess the situation first.
If it's a quiet time then I'm happy to cross without assistance using just my wits and lightning fast reflexes.
If it's busier though I'm pressing the heck out of that button.
Even if I did get abused by some nob in a white van for daring to use the crossing.
Sadly I didn't get the actual wording he was using as I had my headphones in, but I got the gist. And black marked his company.
exactly2thepoint@reddit
People need to get in the habit of pushing the button even if they don't intend to cross.
gundog48@reddit
Wtf why?
Low-Understanding119@reddit
I don’t want to stop the flow of traffic if I don’t need to, so I wait for a gap.
EntryCapital6728@reddit
Depends on the road. I use my eyes and if its not busy, ill wait til a car passes.
I fucking cannot stand people who walk up to lights, see that im the only car within 10 miles and still press the fucking button
Dolphin_Spotter@reddit
Quite a lot of them are placebo buttons. They are there to make you think you are in control, but they actually don't do anything.
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20150415-the-buttons-that-do-nothing
evenstevens280@reddit
Not a lot of them are these days. To enable the pedestrian phase of a light sequence the button press is necessary.
nogeologyhere@reddit
No, loads of junctions are just on permanent timed loop to allow the free flow of traffic, and pedestrians cross during the red light phases. Pressing the button on these does absolutely nothing.
M90Motorway@reddit
Most junctions will skip phases where no traffic is present. This includes both road and pavement traffic. There's no point in everyone stopping to let nobody out or for no pedestrians to cross the road.
InsaneNutter@reddit
The vast majority of crossing in my town seem to just be on a loop, the only one that isn't is a zebra crossing.
By my work I've crossed enough times over the years to know exactly when the crossing is going to go green based on which direction traffic is going through the junction. It makes no difference to the timing if any button on any crossing is pressed.
notouttolunch@reddit
They are placebo buttons but the box and the lights are useful as an accessibility aid.
notouttolunch@reddit
People aren’t generally very bright. They think they know everything because they read a Wikipedia page or asked Google.
Pedantichrist@reddit
I am not sure why this is downvoted. They are. The little cone in the bottom of the box is a godsend to the blind.
Temperance_Lee@reddit
The button doesn't actually do anything.
bouncer-1@reddit
Real life Frogger is more fun
Indigo-Waterfall@reddit
They could be foreign. Lots of other countries dont have buttons.
JavaRuby2000@reddit
I've come across people in London who absolutely refuse to press it because they are scared of germs. You can even buy keyring with Traffic light prodding sticks.
p0tatochip@reddit
People are idiots.
There may be some truth that not all pedestrian crossing buttons do anything but the logically impaired think that means that all crossings buttons are a scam and refuse to use them despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
Jess_7478@reddit
One set near me is basically a 4 way junction with islands in the middle for two of the directions, one full length, and one none existent crossing
One of the islands has one actual button controls it, and one just goes green when that flow of traffic is red anyway
One of the islands has both gaps be controlled by who is allowed to go car wise
the full length is actually controlled by the button
People learn what theyre patterns are and which they actually need to press
beeurd@reddit
Sometimes I wait and see if there is a gap first so I don't have to stop the traffic. If no gap seems likely then I'll press it.
What gets me as a driver though is when people stand waiting to cross like 20 yards away from a perfectly good crossing - if you can't cross you might as well walk to the crossing!
-SG6000-@reddit
I don't push those buttons for the following reasons:
Some / many of them are pacifiers and have no effect on traffic light behaviour
I don't like to wait and prefer to keep moving, slipping in between traffic as I see fit
I also don't enjoy touching dirty public surfaces at the best of times.
So yes I am one of these people and am glad to read that there are others like me.
banxy85@reddit
If they are used to cities then the crossings will be on a timer
TwoBadRobots@reddit
I'm not touching that button, you press it.
SallySpits@reddit
Just to annoy you specifically.
s_dalbiac@reddit
If I can see an opening to get across the road without pressing the button I’ll do it. Few things are more frustrating as a driver than having to stop at a red light because someone’s pressed the button and disappeared so I take it into consideration as a pedestrian.
Fickle_Hope2574@reddit
How could you possibly know they haven't pressed the button?
Pedantichrist@reddit
There controls indicate whether they have been activated.
Girru95@reddit
I'm more annoyed by people that DO press it when, if they took their eyes off their phone for a few seconds, they would realise that there is ample time between passing traffic to cross without holding anyone up with a red light. Or, worse, people that push it, cross when it's green as there is time to do so and then you get stopped at a red with no one crossing.
Pedantichrist@reddit
You are no more inconvenienced than you would be if they waited.
RoutineImpressive395@reddit
Dear, check yourself, wind your neck in and give that head of yours a wobble... it only takes one moron, out of its face on something going the wrong way, to drive too fast through a pedestrian crossing and it could easily be game changing or game over.
Girru95@reddit
Green Cross Code, motherfucker!
AskUK-ModTeam@reddit
Don't be a dick to each other, or other subreddits, places, or people.
Don't be a dick to each other, or other subreddits, places, or people. AskUK contains a variety of ages, experiences, and backgrounds - consider not everyone is operating on the same level or background as you. Listen to others before you respond, and be courteous when doing so.
RoutineImpressive395@reddit
you're not worth my time you asinine troglodyte.
UnacceptableUse@reddit
!dick
Fel_Eclipse@reddit
There are two crossings near me where sometimes the crossing will just reset.
You press the button the "wait" sign illuminates and so you stand there and look around for a bit. Then when you look back its no longer lit and so you have to press it again. (These two do not have pedestrian sensors either)
Quite often as a result you just cross anyway because there will be a break in traffic at some point and then because you have pressed the button again it ends up stopping cars just when you get to the other side. Oops.
EatingCoooolo@reddit
I just assume someone has already done it.
MrRWhitworth@reddit
Because it’s convenient not to stop traffic for 45 seconds for a five second cross
aStrange_quark@reddit
I forgot to, usually.
evenstevens280@reddit
There's a pedestrian crossing near me where you have to press the button, because it's an actual crossing that isn't at a junction. It's across a very busy road and I reckon about 33% of the time I'll get there and there'll be about 5 people on either side of the road waiting and NO ONE'S PRESSED THE FUCKING BUTTON
GUYS. JUST PRESS IT. WHAT ARE YOU DOING
aStrange_quark@reddit
If there's people already there I guess you just assume someone else has already pressed it.
IsItToday@reddit
I see this all the time. Busy road and people waiting there for the magic green lights or the unicorn gap. Then I press the button and everyone finally crosses. I feel like a nanny herding a bunch of little useless kids
throwaway7362589@reddit
And I think this situation is what OP is referring to, not what most users seem to think like 1 or 2 pedestrians waiting for a gap. I see it often myself as well - 5/6 people just standing around waiting, I walk up, press the button and it changes within a few seconds…
Seems like people assume someone else has pressed the button. That’s why I always check first
TheClnl@reddit
I use a particular crossing 2 times a day with my bairn. As kids are, he's obsessed with pressing the button even if it's already been pressed so I know the button has definitely been pressed. Fairly often the button just turns off without actually stopping traffic and needs to be pressed again
If it can happen at my crossing then surely it'll happen elsewhere? After all, what even is the process for reporting a malfunctioning crossing?
evenstevens280@reddit
To the highways department of your district council
Unlikely_Egg@reddit
I've waited at a crossing before like a lemon after pushing the button (confirmed it lit up) and not realising that after a few seconds it reset itself!? I looked like a right idiot.
permanently-cold@reddit
There's a new crossing near my house that must have weight sensors under the tactile flags. I used it the other day and didn't press the button, but the lights still changed and stopped traffic.
miggyuk@reddit
What about the people who see road is clear but press the button anyway then proceed on thier merry way.
FerrusesIronHandjob@reddit
What's the point? 90% of the time it isn't gonna change until there's a 20-second gap in traffic anyway
Olliebkl@reddit
I mean there’s one on my way to go work which goes 4 ways but it’s beyond pointless. Because only 1-2 lanes can go at a time there’ll always be a gap to cross, or you just wait and then you’ll be able to fully cross
Plus if it’s a normal crossing I’d rather not hold up traffic and just find a gap to quickly cross when I can
kipha01@reddit
I don't press if the flow of traffic is sporadic enough where a gap may form to enable me to cross instead of impeding traffic by forcing it to stop.
I will press it if the flow of traffic is too great.
I hate stopping at lights because someone has auto pressed, is long gone and I have stopped for nothing. It's just thoughtless stupidity.
RonBonxious@reddit
Can't believe how many people here say they don't want to inconvenience those poor vehicle drivers by making them stop for ten seconds to allow people to safely cross the road. (I'm both a pedestrian and a driver.)
trev2234@reddit
At junctions you don’t need to push the button. The button those crosses simply lights up the bulb behind “wait”. Since the waiting is a given, I don’t push the button to see the suggestion.
It’s crossing not at junctions where the button actually controls the traffic lights. If no one presses that button, then they’ll never change.
Emilyx33x@reddit
i got time
Sad_Lingonberry_7949@reddit
If there is a button and no one pressing it. Is it a button? Sorry, but, that buzzer is getting pressed. Otherwise the squirrels get you in your sleep.
geriatrikwaktrik@reddit
wow people are really out there worrying about how to cross a road
Cpt_Saturn@reddit
On crossings where the button doesn't do anything I don't bother pressing the button. Even when the button does work I don't want to stop the traffic just for me to cross
Acrylic_Starshine@reddit
Some crossings are placebos and are just there to keep the pedestrians waiting and not trying to cross dangerously. Locals will know these and probably not bother pressing. In a high traffic area with lots of junctions and phrases a green man is probably already calculated at an optimal time to aid traffic flow.
jeffprop@reddit
Probably too busy staring at their phones to realize there is a button to push.
Iz_lps@reddit
Personally, I always press them unless I know it's a calm road that I'll just be able to cross after a car or two pass - when I do wait without pressing, that's why
If the road is busy though, I'm pressing it every time - far too many people in my area speed up to get through the light even if it's very much green still when in the busy areas, and I'd rather not be on the local news as the kid who got hit in one of those situations
Ill-Case-6048@reddit
Because we know you also have to wait for lights ...if we press the button a gap will probably cone up and we cross then you have to still wait because button waa pressed
PerformerOk450@reddit
I prefer to cross without stopping the traffic if possible, if it's too busy I press
evenstevens280@reddit
Car cuck
PerformerOk450@reddit
I think I'm old enough to cross the road without help
evenstevens280@reddit
You must be so proud of yourself
BeatificBanana@reddit
What a weird comment
HiItsClemFandango@reddit
I twiddle the knob
StegoLavaLamp@reddit
Out of all the crossings on my route to work, only one of the buttons actually triggers the lights to change. The rest of the crossings are on timers due to them being in systems with other lights, and they all are on timers for traffic flow. No matter if I press these, I’m still going to have to wait as long as if I didn’t press them. I save myself the germs and avoid them.
OrdinaryQuestions@reddit
Sometimes I know the road and that there will be gaps due to traffic lights further up the road. So I just wait.
I feel bad making traffic stop just for me. If there's a crowd then I will.
WhiteDiamondK@reddit
The bigger question is why do people press the button when it has visibly already been pressed?
WhiteDiamondK@reddit
It depends on the crossing. Some of them, the button has no function but to appease the pedestrians, as the lights are on a pre-programmed rotation.
All the crossings I use regularly, I know if the button changes the light sequence or not. Even if I’m in a different location, it’s normally pretty easy to work out if pressing that button is likely to make a difference.
ElvishMystical@reddit
They're probably looking for an app on their smartphone.
True_Sir_4382@reddit
I agree with some of the people who say there waiting for the gap in the traffic but I only do that on two conditions, I know the road and the traffic will create a gap and it hasn’t been longer then 5 minutes. If not I press the button and I always press it even if someone is already there waiting.
ImpressNice299@reddit
Because it's covered in horrible germs.
EVILFLUFFMONSTER@reddit
I'm used to the same crossings and the frequency of traffic, I'm usually cycling home, but there's about three crossings I'm required to make across roads, some with dedicated cycle paths to and from them.
At certain times of the day, traffic is low, and I'm in no rush to get home thirty seconds faster because I pressed a button.
Other times, if it's a crossing where it's safer to press the button, like I can't see round the bend, and cars tend to hurtle round the roundabout on one of the places I cross, I might wait on pressing the button till the few cars I see have passed, if a car does come then, I've only delayed one car, not a string of them.
Other times, the last crossing is right near my house, I'm almost home, and if there's a bunch of cars I feel wrong delaying their own journeys when I'm not bothered waiting a short time. If there's no gap in traffic for a long time, I'll press the button if I have to.
Some work shifts I want to get home fast, so I might press the button - others, there's no benefit to getting home faster because I gain no useful time from doing so, at least not where a few minutes makes any difference.
revpidgeon@reddit
If it's at a junction it's just a placbo.
butwhatsmyname@reddit
I was the fourth person walking into a lift the other day, behind two guys I recognised from the same floor that I work on and one other random guy.
The first guy got off a floor below ours and then the lift... just kept going up. Because it turns out the next guy into the lift didn't press the button for our floor. He just walked in and then stood with his back against the panel of buttons.
And I heard his friend say "What were you doing? Why didn't you press the button?"
And he replied "I don't know. Someone else usually presses it!"
It was the most perfect illustration I've ever seen of the fact that there is a whole little wedge of society who basically just let everyone else carry them along through life. It wouldn't occur to them to press the pedestrian crossing button - but it also wouldn't occur to them that it's a bad idea to stand so close to it that nobody else can press it either.
I don't think it's necessarily malicious or deliberately selfish - and it's not necessarily about being stupid/unintelligent. It's just about a comfortable kind of passive entitlement. Someone else sorts things out so that they don't have to. They've never HAD to think about that kind of stuff. So they don't.
Significant-Gene9639@reddit
Cooties
justbiteme2k@reddit
https://youtube.com/@chrisspargo
Chris Spargo has a few brilliant videos on this topic.
Misher_Masher@reddit
They're also drivers and don't want to inconvenience anyone.
TFST13@reddit
Because often if I do press the button, a gap opens up before the light changes, I cross and then the cars are left waiting for nobody after I’ve already crossed when the light does change. Unless the road is busy there’ll be a gap soon enough anyway
blainy-o@reddit
If it's something like a 3 or 4 way junction with multiple light sequences, pressing the button will quite often do sod all. It's easier to learn the pattern of the lights and traffic flow. This was the case on the crossing next to where I used to live. The crossing down the road maybe 50 yards however, that works if you press the button.
ToeFalse2765@reddit
I struggle with social anxiety and don't like to inconvenience people so I'm normally stood there trying to work out if I should wait for traffic to slow or not
sp1z99@reddit
screw that. Press the button. They legally have to stop.
dglp@reddit
Different buttons have different timings. There's a really busy road that I cross every couple of weeks. The button takes maybe two minutes to take effect because there's so much car traffic that a pedestrian wanting to cross is way down the list of priorities. The daft thing is that there are traffic signals further upstream that create gaps between waves of cars. So it's almost always faster to wait for a gap in the traffic than it is to push the button and wait for it to do its thing.
OldLevermonkey@reddit
The buttons on most crossings at junctions are to give the pedestrian something to do whilst waiting. Pressing the button will not change or speed up the sequence and the green man will illuminate automatically. The only people who benefit from pressing the button are the blind and partially sighted who will place their hand under the button to feel the spinnng cone.
If the crossing is between junctions and the traffic is light there may be no point in pressing the button or if there is a central refuge you may only need to press the button on one section of the crossing.
Don't forget that they probably have a better view down the road than you sat in your car.
thunderkinder@reddit
Sometimes it's a quiet time of day and I know the area so I know there'll likely be a gap. Other times it's because the crossing near me decides to switch itself off after I have pressed the button and I haven't noticed.
GotAnyNirnroot@reddit
There's poo on there...
I'm sure of it.
tmr89@reddit
Some crossings - those at junctions - change automatically so you don’t need to push the pedestrian button
JonTravel@reddit
Sometimes I press it, sometimes I don't. What's the problem if I don't? Why are you so bothered?
Katietori@reddit
Quite a few countries don't have a button pushing thing at crossings. I'm sure some of the non-button pushers might not realise that they need to push it if they want the system to kick in.
yoruba2@reddit
Key and Peele had or right first time Do not press the walk button
Toastinho@reddit
If I see it's not too busy a road, sometimes I'll just wait for a gap just so I don't stop people unnecessarily.
keepthebear@reddit
I don't want to stop traffic just for me, if it's super busy then I'll press the button, but if I might find a gap then I'll just cross like a normal person crossing a road.
I once had a person press the button for me, it was weird. I was waiting with my child in a buggy (button so far unpressed) and the road isn't busy so I normally just give it a minute, and some man walking past just smiled at me and pushed the button, then sort of waved and walked away, like he did me a massive favour. I had to stand there longer waiting for the damn green man so the drivers wouldn't curse me out for needlessly stopping the traffic. People, huh?
ThereAndFapAgain2@reddit
What would you say if I told you half the population have below average intelligence?
antonylockhart@reddit
Yes, that’s how averages work, good job
NoCommunication7@reddit
A lot of people think they are invincible crossing the road, jaywalking isn't a thing, but common sense is and it seems like it's going out of style.
I like pushing the button and making eye contact with the driver as if to 'you don't try to kill me!'
Harrry-Otter@reddit
More often than not there’s a natural crossing opportunity before the light goes green anyway. It just feels unnecessary.
oudcedar@reddit
I won’t do it if I see someone up the road the way I want to walk if they are waiting to cross when the green man arrives. They will beat me in the imaginary pedestrian race.
rtuck99@reddit
Because it often takes ages to change and I don't want to delay the traffic if I think I might cross in a few seconds anyway without pushing the button.
I used to work somewhere with a massive multi-lane roundabout between the office and the nearest Tesco, at lunchtime it was never worth pressing the button because the crossing would never give you the green man even when there was a big gap in the traffic and the lights a few yards further up were red. You could stand there for minutes, but it was way faster to just ignore the crossing and just jaywalk at the first break in traffic. In this country we are free unlike in certain others because we can wander into the road whenever we feel like it.
hughesyg@reddit
If it’s not that busy I’ll wait to just cross when it’s clear. It’s annoying as the driver to be stopped for no reason
Neat_Magician_4563@reddit
To busy messing on their phones
WeDoingThisAgainRWe@reddit
I don’t know but I’ve also seen this loads and it does my head in. (Followed by people who want to go to the right on the other side, but stand on the left at the crossing then walk right across the front everyone else, or vice versa).
Anxious_wank@reddit
If I wager I can cross without assistance, I'll just wait.
Also most lights I cross at pressing the has no bearing in the sequence, so I don't bother and just wait for the sequence to change, the pedestrian light is green.
3a5ty@reddit
I will always try to cross without pushing if I can. My theory is it's harder for a car to stop than me walking. I'll push the button if it looks like a couple minute wait.
kryters@reddit
Same, except when the weather is poor. They're in the climate-controlled bubble; they can wait!
RoutineImpressive395@reddit
I guess they're from the non-educated generations who don't know you do not cross the road until you see the Green Hulk not Iron Man
Pearsepicoetc@reddit
If it's a crossing with a sensor they may well have pushed the button.
Those crossings are so badly maintained where I am that the sensors are usually not working or are pointing in the wrong direction meaning you can push the button but the crossing will wait a few seconds and then just decide that you're not actually there and un-push it and you could be none the wiser.
DougalsTinyCow@reddit
I think they're still trying to be the tough kid at school.
PurpleOctopus6789@reddit
cba. plus have you any idea how many people that those things. I'd rather wait extra minute or so, it really doesn't bother me.
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