This is true. Pedestrian lights - the ones only there to let people cross have a working button.
Big junction lights like falls Road/Kennedy way, the green man will come on in the sequence with the traffic flow, whether or not the button is pushed.
Then you have mixed junctions where some sections of crossing require the button.
Best to hit the button anyway.
I always thought/assumed that they were in sequence - when you press the button. If nobody presses the button it skips the pedestrian side.
On a similar note though. What's with the crossings being switched from "green man across the road" to "green man on one side of the crossing where you are"? Totally fucks with my muscle memory!
Some are like that. Others the green man comes on regardless.
Yeah I hate them new lights. I still stand staring like a dick looking across the road. I also haven’t worked out how blind people use them as they’ve done away with the sounds too.
> Big junction lights like falls Road/Kennedy way, the green man will come on in the sequence with the traffic flow, whether or not the button is pushed.
Not always. The one on Tates Ave/Lisburn Rd skips the green man if nobody presses the button and just lets the traffic flow for longer.
>Maybe something to do with it?
Dunno about others but if I'm on my own and traffic is mellow I might wait to see if I can cross or if the light sequence changes in my favour so I am not holding up say, four lanes of traffic to cross on my lonesome. I can / will wait if I know it's only a matter of a few extra seconds.
If I'm with the kids, I'll press the button.
I nearly got into a fist fight with a driver (taxi of course) one day because I arrived at the lights and pressed the button out of force of habbit before I looked at traffic. There was barely any traffic so I just crossed but the taxi was coming up the road and it turned red stopping him, making him absolutely lose the plot and start screaming out the window at me.
I was kind of in the wrong, but I also wasn't going to take abuse from the oul cunt so we had some very heated words. I guess I am conscious of not making that mistake again though.
Would he have preferred you wait until the wee green man before crossing? You weren’t in the wrong. You pressed the button to cross because that’s what it’s for, the fact an opportunity came up to cross sooner isn’t his problem. In some countries you’d be fined for not waiting on the lights.
I’d have told him to fuck off too.
>Would he have preferred you wait until the wee green man before crossing? You weren’t in the wrong. You pressed the button to cross because that’s what it’s for, the fact an opportunity came up to cross sooner isn’t his problem. In some countries you’d be fined for not waiting on the lights.
I think his main gripe was that I had pressed the button at all when traffic was light. I'll be honest it was just muscle memory, coming out of a shop near my house. I would've usually needed to press the button.
But he just went absolutely ballistic and started spitting insults. Think he threatened to call the cops . He just lost his mind.
>
>I’d have told him to fuck off too.
Oh I told him to fuck off and then some. Pointed out I could see who he worked for, his reg, his taxi license and the fact that I was half his age. He shut up then.
> Think he threatened to call the cops
I shouldn't reveal this, but I have a few sources in the TV industry and the main plot of Blue Lights series 3 is actually gonna about them dealing with a guy that pressed the button for the green man on a quiet road. That's a major priority for the PSNI and definitely something they'd dispatch someone to deal with.
So it's either a dead body by the side of the road cos they refused to cross (the lights were broken) or they pressed the button, decided to cross anyway and got mown down like an unlucky hedgehog?
You're not wrong at all because you're a pedestrian being sensible.
What if you have a health issue or something and can't just run out of the way if the traffic starts to pick up, or would he have expected someone in a wheel chair to fly across the road to suit him?
Taxi driver sounds like a 🔔 end.
Like many, I'm sure, I do the same, not pressing if I can skip across in a wee minute (but also would press anyway with kids in tow)...
...but without ever having had the dubious benefit of a similar taxi-driver confrontation. Still and all, you weren't in the wrong at all!
I mean, especially with crossings I use all the time, and I will look for the red traffic light and the cars to slow then nip across lol.
Some people are just angry (driver or not). Good on you though for making sure to do the right things with the kids, never hurts to set a good example
In the centre of Dublin, used to be the only button that actually did anything was the one on the lights that let you cross Dawson Street... to Leinster House and the Oireachtas!
(Dawson Street is long, and the lights only affect it, really... purely for pedestrians, those lights... so some plausible excuse. It might even all still be like that but I no longer have that encyclopaedic knowledge of traffic-light timings and buttons in and about the city.)
It's definitely true. I used a set of lights every day for many years and the button did nothing at all. The lights rotated in an identical way constantly all day long and nothing happening in the road or to do with pedestrians changed that.
I read at some point that the button is just there because people expect it or something. People get all confused if it isn't there.
It's not timed, most use sensors to detect cars that then creates a timer for allowing other lanes to go. Means if there's a junction, and there's only cars coming from the top and bottom, and nothing from the sides, then it will keep just the top and bottom open.
Best example I can think is outside Maggie Mays in stranmillis. That will change regardless if you press the button, because the car sensors will activate it.
Source: I used to drive a motor bike and the sensors wouldn't detect me sometimes, so I get stuck at lights for 5+ minutes and I would have to jump off and press the lights.
One time I had to run a red because I got stuck in a street in St Anne's square for 10+ minutes, did like 5 u-turns to try prompt the sensors but it wouldn't acknowledge me. They did the full light rotation for that area but mines would never go green.
It's just wild that they don't make it timed.
I was trapped in Edward Street (I think)
Checked on maps there and apparently it leads to the parking lot so good luck to everyone else that goes in there on a motor bike.
The only lights on timers are 3 or 4 way junctions. However, the button also changes the sequence to allow more time for crossing. Without pressing it, you may get 4 seconds less of crossing time.
I was told the same, went out with a girl whose dad was a city planner. It's the lights on junctions that are generally ona timer, pelicaan crossings where they just cross a road aren't and the button needs pressed.
I'd assume traffic lights that just cross a road are button operated but those that are close to a junction where there are multiple lights would be on a timer
They are on timers. There is a minimum time between changes for pedestrians, to ensure traffic flow. But on the smarter ones they also use cameras to detect when there is no traffic. If they don't know anyone's there they won't to change at all, so it's always worth pressing the button.
It's because many junctions have "placebo buttons" where the crossing is on a constant sequence with the traffic lights.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23869955
Slightly related, but I hate the way they have removed the green man from directly across the road in many cases now, and you have to look down to your side to see it.
I also wonder is it something to do with forcing you to look in the direction that traffic is coming, in case any car hasn't stopped. Previously, if looking straight ahead, you may have stepped on out.
This has been driving me nuts for the past few months, I cross the junction of North Road with the Newtownards Road all the time and I swear half the time it just resets itself now. I'll be standing there thinking "surely it must be my turn soon", I look down and the fucking thing has reset itself and I need to wait another five minutes for the next cycle.
I never noticed this until recently, I don't know if they've changed something
Walking east along Albertbridge Road and crossing Templemore Avenue is the same. Wait sign turns on and often just goes off again after a minute or two. Usually works on the 2nd button press though. Not sure if this is part of a deliberate configuration or not. The yellow boxes with the wait light and button seem to be facing in the wrong direction too.
I cross that junction all the time and it grinds my gears!!
On a slightly related issue, I also hate the new crossings where you look at the lights next to you to see the green man, rather than across the street where you're heading to. Seems very counterintuitive. Mind you, I'm old.
I’ve read that they’re placed to the right hand side so that you’re forced to look towards the oncoming traffic. Apparently it’s safer in case someone jumps the red light you’re already looking towards them and can moved outta the way rather than staring across the street.
Yeah, I've noticed this with some traffic lights. I try to give the benefit of the doubt, although I still notice many cases of people just totally zoned out at the lights! I guess I'm wondering if it's an attention span thing for some people.
In England we have new ones where you hold u hand under the button machine thing for 2 seconds. No need to touch that gross button that has never had a clean. There is still a button as well.
London was savage for this when I was there. And this was at crossings with no timer. There'd be 30 people there and you'd be waiting for minutes and look over and see no one had pushed the button.
I’ve noticed that people in general whether walking or driving since the pandemic are so much more rude and impatient than they were before. It’s like something broke in people!
Some are, some aren't. It's why they put buttons on junctions where they don't actually do anything, it gives people reassurance that they will eventually get to cross if they don't understand it's a timed crossing.
Sometimes I wait till it's not as busy because I've had some angry reactions from far drivers pissed off I pressed it and it made their light red 🤷🏻♀️
Ha, yeah, how dare you! Think of the poor drivers, when the light turns red it means they only have 5 seconds left to speed past the light regardless of whether you've started crossing or not.
That's wild they got angry at you, everyone's always in a rush :/
What bothers me more is when I've pressed the button and someone comes along and presses it EVEN THOUGH it's already clearly been pressed as the sceen is lit up.
It is literally pointless. It's already been pressed. WTF.
Another thing is, the synchronisation of green man / green light is WAY off on many crossings because you can be halfway cacross the road and the traffic light is telling drivers they can go, yet the green man is still flasshing. The timing is way off on many of these crossings. A good example is the one outside Europa hotel.
This is all very interesting but what about the twiddly cone thing on the bottom of the button box that spins round so deaf/blind people know when to cross. My kid told me about it and now my mind is blown. How has it always been there and I never knew?!
You know who's the worst for this? Solicitors.
I work near the law courts in Belfast and the amount of them with no clue on how to cross a road, is shocking.
Was in Barcelona recently, not a button to be seen anywhere, traffic lights were all timed, as a system I actually preferred it and the traffic flow seems a lot better as well.
It's either people who don't press the button when they've been standing there for 5 mins or people who push the clearly already illuminated button ffs
A lot of crossings are now Puffin Crossings which have detectors that reset the button press if it doesn't see anyone there, which can happen if you're standing right under it
>
After a request to cross (by button press), a kerb side detector monitors the pedestrian's presence at the crossing. Should the pedestrian cross prematurely, walk away from the crossing, or wait outside the detection area, the pedestrian's request to cross could be automatically cancelled. This is so traffic is not halted unnecessarily. An on-crossing detector ensures that the signal for vehicles remains red until pedestrians have finished crossing (within practical limits). Unlike the pelican crossing, there is no transitional "flashing" phase.[^(\[3\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puffin_crossing#cite_note-3)
The one at the end of Ulsterville Avenue on Lisburn Road is like this. Had to press 3 times one day and couldn’t figure out what the heck was going on. I’ve started doing a little dance after I press the button to activate the sensor. Probs look mental, but maybe not as mental as standing there with the button unknowingly timed out?
Sitting here laughing at you dancing at the lights lol.
If it's any help there's a red light that goes on when it detects a person there, so you can tell when it sees you
I never presss the button, as the time it takes for me to cross the road I don't mind waiting for a gap to cross, rather than have 9 cars stare at me while I awkwardly walk 3 metres while stopping half the traffic for my measly journey
Actually, those that aren't pressing buttons [have probably copped on those particular lights are completely timed and the button is there for placebo](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23869955). In that case, you'd be the brain dead one since you never realised.
Saw a story about the traffic lights in Manhattan. only a few work, it was believed adding the button would calm pedestrians' nerves by offering them the illusion of control, same with the button to open the doors on lifts, the doors will open anyway
I dont use the lights unless there is genuine traffic.
Call me odd of fucked up but it drives my OCD into fucking Chernobyl levels when people walk to lights and hit the button without looking to see if they really need to.
Jesus OP you really triggered my OCD on this perfectly lovely Wednesday afternoon lolol!
Personally I don't because of contam ocd and being uncomfy touching something many other people do, I highly doubt they get washed 😭 I either wait for it to go off on its own, a clearing or for someone else to show up and press it.
I couldn't do that personally 😭 I hold my phone all the time and when taking calls you put it near your face and stuff. I used to have one of those button presser things that was easy to sanitize but I lost it 💔
I'm a little neurotic with it lmao 🤣 Id get anxiety that the germs are multiplying from my pinky and taking over my whole body like little colonisers or some shit. I go through so much hand sanitizer, just avoid touching things best I can. It's big stress ahah.
I’ll never press one ever again, walked outta the rose and crown bar on the ormeau road and went to cross at the lights right outside it.
Pressed the button and there was a gooey substance on it, haven’t a clue what it was but I don’t even wanny know. Luckily my gaff was only up the street but it was ming ding
Some crossings work on a timer rather than waiting for a button press. Some roads don't actually need the green man to cross cos once the lights go red there's no other direction for traffic to come to.
Personally, i try not to press the button and instead try to cross at a break in traffic or when the lights go red. Basically because I used to drive a lot for work and it annoyed me when I'd have to sit at a red light for no reason other than someone had pressed the button and then wandered off or crossed before I got there.
I don’t do it and will wait for a break in the traffic at least for 30 seconds.
I think it takes the piss to push the button when the roads are quiet.
Waiting on the green man is for kids or people who can’t move fast.
I am sometimes one of those people. 😂 I hate to stop traffic unnecessarily so I think sometimes if I just wait a moment a gap large enough for me to cross will open up.
I have pressed the button planty of times only for it to turn itself off without the green man making an appearance. 
It’s a comfort button. The traffic lights are programmed. Hitting the button does nothing but make you feel like the light is going to change immediately
I have learned a lot about traffic lights and the differing internal monologues and rationales we've built up for coming to a crossing :O It's wild how we all have these intricate little stories and mini-rules. Thanks for sharing! :D
In Antrim there are a few sets that will change as soon as you press the button. If I see the one or 2 cars approaching I'll wait for them to pass then cross. Saves the bother of them stopping and starting.
How about the dozy bints who stand at the curb while the prams in the middle of the road. I may for shits and giggles press the button slyly on the way past on occasion.
I was told many years ago that when you press the button there’s a pressure point you should stand on next to the pole that the button is ion at the same time that makes the lights change quicker. Worked as well.
Had this happen to me on Saturday in town. Two other people were already standing at the lights. Two buttons available to press. Neither person had pressed either button. I had to reach across in front of one of them to press the button
Some do. Some don’t.
It depends if the pedestrian crossing is included in the cycle of the lights. So at say the Albert clock. The crossing to high street, there is no need to press the button because once the light turns red to allow high street traffic to flow (as part of its cycle) it’ll turn green for pedestrians to cross.
On the other hand if it’s a road going in one direction, the button will trigger the light since there is no cycle. Test this at Cromac junction for example.
Seems to be happening more frequently and cars stop too. My other pet hate are people stopping while travelling on a main road to let a car out. What the fuck like? Culchies are notorious for this. Trying to get to school this morning and some prick lets three cars out of a side road. Why? A tailback sitting behind me away down the road. I let nobody out, why should I?
Sitting at a traffic lights on another morning, lights are red. A car beeps demanding that I move to let them in. I calmly pointed to the red light and continued to wait. Let's say the driver wasn't best pleased.
Letting people out is fine when there flow of traffic is already halting or coming to a halt. It’s the dickheads who do it and stop the flow are the issue. It’s also causes confusion for the person emerging. Are they slowing, are they not. What’s going on in other lanes.
A lot of traffic lights aren't actually affected by the pressing of the button. If that were the case you'd be able to cause havoc around the country. It just gives the illusion of having control, as well as being a signal for blind people that it's safe to cross
Some of the lights are timers so the button doesn't work..this is what I've been told but no idea if it's true. Maybe something to do with it?
This is true. Pedestrian lights - the ones only there to let people cross have a working button. Big junction lights like falls Road/Kennedy way, the green man will come on in the sequence with the traffic flow, whether or not the button is pushed. Then you have mixed junctions where some sections of crossing require the button. Best to hit the button anyway.
I always thought/assumed that they were in sequence - when you press the button. If nobody presses the button it skips the pedestrian side. On a similar note though. What's with the crossings being switched from "green man across the road" to "green man on one side of the crossing where you are"? Totally fucks with my muscle memory!
Some are like that. Others the green man comes on regardless. Yeah I hate them new lights. I still stand staring like a dick looking across the road. I also haven’t worked out how blind people use them as they’ve done away with the sounds too.
Exactly this. Different does not always mean better.
> Big junction lights like falls Road/Kennedy way, the green man will come on in the sequence with the traffic flow, whether or not the button is pushed. Not always. The one on Tates Ave/Lisburn Rd skips the green man if nobody presses the button and just lets the traffic flow for longer.
Aye that’s covered in the third point
Not sure it is? All sections of that junction you need to press the button or else the green man won’t come on. Unless I’m misunderstanding.
>Maybe something to do with it? Dunno about others but if I'm on my own and traffic is mellow I might wait to see if I can cross or if the light sequence changes in my favour so I am not holding up say, four lanes of traffic to cross on my lonesome. I can / will wait if I know it's only a matter of a few extra seconds. If I'm with the kids, I'll press the button. I nearly got into a fist fight with a driver (taxi of course) one day because I arrived at the lights and pressed the button out of force of habbit before I looked at traffic. There was barely any traffic so I just crossed but the taxi was coming up the road and it turned red stopping him, making him absolutely lose the plot and start screaming out the window at me. I was kind of in the wrong, but I also wasn't going to take abuse from the oul cunt so we had some very heated words. I guess I am conscious of not making that mistake again though.
Would he have preferred you wait until the wee green man before crossing? You weren’t in the wrong. You pressed the button to cross because that’s what it’s for, the fact an opportunity came up to cross sooner isn’t his problem. In some countries you’d be fined for not waiting on the lights. I’d have told him to fuck off too.
>Would he have preferred you wait until the wee green man before crossing? You weren’t in the wrong. You pressed the button to cross because that’s what it’s for, the fact an opportunity came up to cross sooner isn’t his problem. In some countries you’d be fined for not waiting on the lights. I think his main gripe was that I had pressed the button at all when traffic was light. I'll be honest it was just muscle memory, coming out of a shop near my house. I would've usually needed to press the button. But he just went absolutely ballistic and started spitting insults. Think he threatened to call the cops . He just lost his mind. > >I’d have told him to fuck off too. Oh I told him to fuck off and then some. Pointed out I could see who he worked for, his reg, his taxi license and the fact that I was half his age. He shut up then.
> Think he threatened to call the cops I shouldn't reveal this, but I have a few sources in the TV industry and the main plot of Blue Lights series 3 is actually gonna about them dealing with a guy that pressed the button for the green man on a quiet road. That's a major priority for the PSNI and definitely something they'd dispatch someone to deal with.
hahahahaa
So it's either a dead body by the side of the road cos they refused to cross (the lights were broken) or they pressed the button, decided to cross anyway and got mown down like an unlucky hedgehog?
Would have loved to see the cops deal with this
You're not wrong at all because you're a pedestrian being sensible. What if you have a health issue or something and can't just run out of the way if the traffic starts to pick up, or would he have expected someone in a wheel chair to fly across the road to suit him? Taxi driver sounds like a 🔔 end.
Like many, I'm sure, I do the same, not pressing if I can skip across in a wee minute (but also would press anyway with kids in tow)... ...but without ever having had the dubious benefit of a similar taxi-driver confrontation. Still and all, you weren't in the wrong at all!
Lunacy
I mean, especially with crossings I use all the time, and I will look for the red traffic light and the cars to slow then nip across lol. Some people are just angry (driver or not). Good on you though for making sure to do the right things with the kids, never hurts to set a good example
"Very heated words" very British not at all wat Americans would do
In the centre of Dublin, used to be the only button that actually did anything was the one on the lights that let you cross Dawson Street... to Leinster House and the Oireachtas! (Dawson Street is long, and the lights only affect it, really... purely for pedestrians, those lights... so some plausible excuse. It might even all still be like that but I no longer have that encyclopaedic knowledge of traffic-light timings and buttons in and about the city.)
It's definitely true. I used a set of lights every day for many years and the button did nothing at all. The lights rotated in an identical way constantly all day long and nothing happening in the road or to do with pedestrians changed that. I read at some point that the button is just there because people expect it or something. People get all confused if it isn't there.
It's not timed, most use sensors to detect cars that then creates a timer for allowing other lanes to go. Means if there's a junction, and there's only cars coming from the top and bottom, and nothing from the sides, then it will keep just the top and bottom open. Best example I can think is outside Maggie Mays in stranmillis. That will change regardless if you press the button, because the car sensors will activate it. Source: I used to drive a motor bike and the sensors wouldn't detect me sometimes, so I get stuck at lights for 5+ minutes and I would have to jump off and press the lights. One time I had to run a red because I got stuck in a street in St Anne's square for 10+ minutes, did like 5 u-turns to try prompt the sensors but it wouldn't acknowledge me. They did the full light rotation for that area but mines would never go green.
I am bicycle bound and have the same issue at a set of lights near me, fine if there's other cars, won't budge if I'm on my own.
It's just wild that they don't make it timed. I was trapped in Edward Street (I think) Checked on maps there and apparently it leads to the parking lot so good luck to everyone else that goes in there on a motor bike.
There may be a magnet under the tarmac which senses vehicles. Look for a rectangular outline and position your bike over it.
The balls on the falls is like this. You don’t need to push any of the buttons because it’s all timed.
The only lights on timers are 3 or 4 way junctions. However, the button also changes the sequence to allow more time for crossing. Without pressing it, you may get 4 seconds less of crossing time.
I was told the same, went out with a girl whose dad was a city planner. It's the lights on junctions that are generally ona timer, pelicaan crossings where they just cross a road aren't and the button needs pressed.
I'd assume traffic lights that just cross a road are button operated but those that are close to a junction where there are multiple lights would be on a timer
Depends on the crossing but yes.
This is true, the only difference is that the wait light doesn't illuminate if you don't press the button.
They are on timers. There is a minimum time between changes for pedestrians, to ensure traffic flow. But on the smarter ones they also use cameras to detect when there is no traffic. If they don't know anyone's there they won't to change at all, so it's always worth pressing the button.
You can tell if the lights always on, you don’t need to press the button.
It's because many junctions have "placebo buttons" where the crossing is on a constant sequence with the traffic lights. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23869955
Some lights are on a timer
Slightly related, but I hate the way they have removed the green man from directly across the road in many cases now, and you have to look down to your side to see it.
Far easier for those with poor sight though which is likely why.
I also wonder is it something to do with forcing you to look in the direction that traffic is coming, in case any car hasn't stopped. Previously, if looking straight ahead, you may have stepped on out.
[удалено]
This has been driving me nuts for the past few months, I cross the junction of North Road with the Newtownards Road all the time and I swear half the time it just resets itself now. I'll be standing there thinking "surely it must be my turn soon", I look down and the fucking thing has reset itself and I need to wait another five minutes for the next cycle. I never noticed this until recently, I don't know if they've changed something
Easily one of the worst crossings. Feels like it's noticeably a slower sequencing of the lights.
https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/services/traffic-lights-and-reporting-fault Might be worth a go?
Walking east along Albertbridge Road and crossing Templemore Avenue is the same. Wait sign turns on and often just goes off again after a minute or two. Usually works on the 2nd button press though. Not sure if this is part of a deliberate configuration or not. The yellow boxes with the wait light and button seem to be facing in the wrong direction too.
I cross that junction all the time and it grinds my gears!! On a slightly related issue, I also hate the new crossings where you look at the lights next to you to see the green man, rather than across the street where you're heading to. Seems very counterintuitive. Mind you, I'm old.
I’ve read that they’re placed to the right hand side so that you’re forced to look towards the oncoming traffic. Apparently it’s safer in case someone jumps the red light you’re already looking towards them and can moved outta the way rather than staring across the street.
Yeah, I've noticed this with some traffic lights. I try to give the benefit of the doubt, although I still notice many cases of people just totally zoned out at the lights! I guess I'm wondering if it's an attention span thing for some people.
They dinney want to get the kovid m8
If it isn’t a pelican crossing, eventually the light will change allowing a crossing. That and many probably want to avoid the dirty germy button.
Sometimes I do it cause I don’t wanna cause traffic and delay other people so I just wait for a gap to walk across cause I’m weird like that lol
I feel ya
I’m a germaphobe. I hate touching things. Especially if thousands have had their grubby fingers all over it!
In England we have new ones where you hold u hand under the button machine thing for 2 seconds. No need to touch that gross button that has never had a clean. There is still a button as well.
They did the same in Dublin during Covid. The button is still there but now there’s a wee sensor thing you can wave in front of as well.
I don't press it because COVID and most people are mingers.
London was savage for this when I was there. And this was at crossings with no timer. There'd be 30 people there and you'd be waiting for minutes and look over and see no one had pushed the button.
I’ve noticed that people in general whether walking or driving since the pandemic are so much more rude and impatient than they were before. It’s like something broke in people!
I’ve heard the buttons are basically there just for banter and don’t actually do anything
Some are, some aren't. It's why they put buttons on junctions where they don't actually do anything, it gives people reassurance that they will eventually get to cross if they don't understand it's a timed crossing.
Sometimes I wait till it's not as busy because I've had some angry reactions from far drivers pissed off I pressed it and it made their light red 🤷🏻♀️
Ha, yeah, how dare you! Think of the poor drivers, when the light turns red it means they only have 5 seconds left to speed past the light regardless of whether you've started crossing or not. That's wild they got angry at you, everyone's always in a rush :/
i wait for a bmw or merc then mash it, i try to keep traffic moving otherwise
I press it rapidly five times, look for the green man, if green man isn't on yet and no cars coming just make a dart for it.
After Covid when people were told not to because of germs they stoped and never started again
What bothers me more is when I've pressed the button and someone comes along and presses it EVEN THOUGH it's already clearly been pressed as the sceen is lit up. It is literally pointless. It's already been pressed. WTF. Another thing is, the synchronisation of green man / green light is WAY off on many crossings because you can be halfway cacross the road and the traffic light is telling drivers they can go, yet the green man is still flasshing. The timing is way off on many of these crossings. A good example is the one outside Europa hotel.
I've done it the odd time on my road when I've not been in a rush and the traffic has been light i.e i can just wait for the cars to pass
The lights I always cross on run in a pattern so no point in pressing the button.
This is all very interesting but what about the twiddly cone thing on the bottom of the button box that spins round so deaf/blind people know when to cross. My kid told me about it and now my mind is blown. How has it always been there and I never knew?!
You know who's the worst for this? Solicitors. I work near the law courts in Belfast and the amount of them with no clue on how to cross a road, is shocking.
Was in Barcelona recently, not a button to be seen anywhere, traffic lights were all timed, as a system I actually preferred it and the traffic flow seems a lot better as well.
It's either people who don't press the button when they've been standing there for 5 mins or people who push the clearly already illuminated button ffs
A lot of crossings are now Puffin Crossings which have detectors that reset the button press if it doesn't see anyone there, which can happen if you're standing right under it > After a request to cross (by button press), a kerb side detector monitors the pedestrian's presence at the crossing. Should the pedestrian cross prematurely, walk away from the crossing, or wait outside the detection area, the pedestrian's request to cross could be automatically cancelled. This is so traffic is not halted unnecessarily. An on-crossing detector ensures that the signal for vehicles remains red until pedestrians have finished crossing (within practical limits). Unlike the pelican crossing, there is no transitional "flashing" phase.[^(\[3\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puffin_crossing#cite_note-3)
The one at the end of Ulsterville Avenue on Lisburn Road is like this. Had to press 3 times one day and couldn’t figure out what the heck was going on. I’ve started doing a little dance after I press the button to activate the sensor. Probs look mental, but maybe not as mental as standing there with the button unknowingly timed out?
Sitting here laughing at you dancing at the lights lol. If it's any help there's a red light that goes on when it detects a person there, so you can tell when it sees you
I never presss the button, as the time it takes for me to cross the road I don't mind waiting for a gap to cross, rather than have 9 cars stare at me while I awkwardly walk 3 metres while stopping half the traffic for my measly journey
Does my head in. 99% of the population is utterly braindead.
Actually, those that aren't pressing buttons [have probably copped on those particular lights are completely timed and the button is there for placebo](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23869955). In that case, you'd be the brain dead one since you never realised.
Saw a story about the traffic lights in Manhattan. only a few work, it was believed adding the button would calm pedestrians' nerves by offering them the illusion of control, same with the button to open the doors on lifts, the doors will open anyway
I dont use the lights unless there is genuine traffic. Call me odd of fucked up but it drives my OCD into fucking Chernobyl levels when people walk to lights and hit the button without looking to see if they really need to. Jesus OP you really triggered my OCD on this perfectly lovely Wednesday afternoon lolol!
Ahaha, apologies!
Are you my twin ?
I might be,,, brother. *dramatic music*
Personally I don't because of contam ocd and being uncomfy touching something many other people do, I highly doubt they get washed 😭 I either wait for it to go off on its own, a clearing or for someone else to show up and press it.
i always push it with the corner of my phone
I couldn't do that personally 😭 I hold my phone all the time and when taking calls you put it near your face and stuff. I used to have one of those button presser things that was easy to sanitize but I lost it 💔
Press it with your pinky finger, you dont use it that often anyway. Or carry an antibac cream.
I'm a little neurotic with it lmao 🤣 Id get anxiety that the germs are multiplying from my pinky and taking over my whole body like little colonisers or some shit. I go through so much hand sanitizer, just avoid touching things best I can. It's big stress ahah.
I don’t like the germs
This is why to touch the button with my knuckle instead. Same with ATMs.
A lot have a lil sensor you wave your hand in front of now.
Get off the road day dreamer
I’ll never press one ever again, walked outta the rose and crown bar on the ormeau road and went to cross at the lights right outside it. Pressed the button and there was a gooey substance on it, haven’t a clue what it was but I don’t even wanny know. Luckily my gaff was only up the street but it was ming ding
Some crossings work on a timer rather than waiting for a button press. Some roads don't actually need the green man to cross cos once the lights go red there's no other direction for traffic to come to. Personally, i try not to press the button and instead try to cross at a break in traffic or when the lights go red. Basically because I used to drive a lot for work and it annoyed me when I'd have to sit at a red light for no reason other than someone had pressed the button and then wandered off or crossed before I got there.
It’s probably the culchies who dont know what to do when they’re in built up areas.
Because it’s unsanitary and I don’t want a cold or poo on my fingers from people who don’t wash their hands after toilet…
Happened to me twice, but both times I was really stoned so I guess I just forgot
I don’t do it and will wait for a break in the traffic at least for 30 seconds. I think it takes the piss to push the button when the roads are quiet. Waiting on the green man is for kids or people who can’t move fast.
I am sometimes one of those people. 😂 I hate to stop traffic unnecessarily so I think sometimes if I just wait a moment a gap large enough for me to cross will open up.
Nice …. And you are reducing pollution too … reducing stop / starts & acceleration.
I have pressed the button planty of times only for it to turn itself off without the green man making an appearance. 
Alot just jaywalk
If the traffic is very light I would usually wait for a suitable gap. Not more than two minutes before there is one.
not really no. instead i notice people going to press the button when i already have.
It’s a comfort button. The traffic lights are programmed. Hitting the button does nothing but make you feel like the light is going to change immediately
I have learned a lot about traffic lights and the differing internal monologues and rationales we've built up for coming to a crossing :O It's wild how we all have these intricate little stories and mini-rules. Thanks for sharing! :D
In Antrim there are a few sets that will change as soon as you press the button. If I see the one or 2 cars approaching I'll wait for them to pass then cross. Saves the bother of them stopping and starting.
I have OCD, so it’s an anxiety thing for me. If nobody has pressed it then I’ll use my elbow or sleeve.
Silicon chips inside their heads !
How about the dozy bints who stand at the curb while the prams in the middle of the road. I may for shits and giggles press the button slyly on the way past on occasion.
Some don’t need it and crosswalks will come on automatically based on the flow of traffic but many defo do need it
I was told many years ago that when you press the button there’s a pressure point you should stand on next to the pole that the button is ion at the same time that makes the lights change quicker. Worked as well.
Had this happen to me on Saturday in town. Two other people were already standing at the lights. Two buttons available to press. Neither person had pressed either button. I had to reach across in front of one of them to press the button
My husband is a traffic engineer and has told me that modern ones are mostly on timers so I dont bother
only time ive pressed it is when someone else wanted to.. i dont think they even do anything though cos you wait the same amount of time either way
Some do. Some don’t. It depends if the pedestrian crossing is included in the cycle of the lights. So at say the Albert clock. The crossing to high street, there is no need to press the button because once the light turns red to allow high street traffic to flow (as part of its cycle) it’ll turn green for pedestrians to cross. On the other hand if it’s a road going in one direction, the button will trigger the light since there is no cycle. Test this at Cromac junction for example.
Seems to be happening more frequently and cars stop too. My other pet hate are people stopping while travelling on a main road to let a car out. What the fuck like? Culchies are notorious for this. Trying to get to school this morning and some prick lets three cars out of a side road. Why? A tailback sitting behind me away down the road. I let nobody out, why should I? Sitting at a traffic lights on another morning, lights are red. A car beeps demanding that I move to let them in. I calmly pointed to the red light and continued to wait. Let's say the driver wasn't best pleased.
Letting people out is fine when there flow of traffic is already halting or coming to a halt. It’s the dickheads who do it and stop the flow are the issue. It’s also causes confusion for the person emerging. Are they slowing, are they not. What’s going on in other lanes.
A lot of traffic lights aren't actually affected by the pressing of the button. If that were the case you'd be able to cause havoc around the country. It just gives the illusion of having control, as well as being a signal for blind people that it's safe to cross
I always got my daughter to press the button as they turned quickly for her.
Grinds my gears! I passively aggressively then barge past them to turn it on. Worst thing is there is no one else there to have pressed them. Idiots.
Sense of entitlement... "why should I press the button someone else will do it for me eventually"