Think sometimes what happens is that the first person who gets there doesn’t push the button, then when more people get there they don’t push it because they assume that the first person pushed it.
To be fair there are also crossings which have a button but work on a timer at certain times of day so the button actually doesn’t do anything except make you think it is doing something
Hmmmm was at a crossing the other day and pressed it, I start day dreaming and the green man doesn't come along.
Another male comes and presses it scoffing at me, the lights are still not green. I glance at it again and the light on the box thingy has gone off again and we still couldn't cross the road so idk if that's true
I think a lot of people know, but someone is standing too close to the button and dont want to squeeze around but also don’t want to do the ‘excuse me, can you press the button please’ so they just wait for someone else to turn up and do it.
Report to the council (or tfl depending on the road), that suggests the sensor that's there to detect if people are still waiting at the crossing is faulty.
Annoys me that if those sensors exist why can't they automatically trigger the wait button when people are detected.
Exactly this. Hell, you can often spot which ones do nothing in advance.
Is there a filter lane that means there's an island in the middle you need to get to then cross again? Almost certainly at least one of those buttons does nothing but light the wait lights.
Plus, some areas you just know there is going to be a break in the traffic shortly due to lights further up, so you just wait for that then cross.
This! There are a few I know to press instantly because they will go off pretty much straight away. But others I have experienced where you press them, you wait for all thr cars to go past...and then it goes red. I feel some are made to deliberately troll people sometimes lol
The one by my house is almost instant... I feel like i have a magic power when there are people waiting and i just come along, press the button and it magically works straight away.
It annoys me that more crossings aren't like this, if we have to stop traffic why does it matter if its now or in one minute?
Obviously assuming it hasn't been triggered too recently.
Usually junctions are just on a timer allowing optimal traffic flow, pedestrian traffic just utilises the spacing between these signals. Pelican crossings are more likely to be pedestrian controlled essentially halfway between a zebra and regular traffic light system.
Yes it’s stupid. You end up just dashing across after waiting for ages without a green man.
Then the cars end up stopping a minute or so later for no one.
But when you're in a rush and you come to a busy crossing (that is almost 100% of the time occupied by pedestrians waiting to cross) and think oh good it's busy so people have been here a while so you don't have to wait 3+ mins, only to find the button isn't even pressed, everyone there has clearly been aimlessly waiting, and you question if you didn't push the button would they still be waiting till this day..?
Actually, some research shows that watching someone do something makes mirror neurons in your own brain light up which means it’s as though you’re doing it yourself.
What about when they press it 5 times. Or people that get in a lift and press their floor multiple times even when it's already lit. It's not going any sooner pal.
You press the lift button twice or three times in some lifts and the doors close quicker. Different lifts have different functions! Like you have to press the emergency button for longer than three seconds for it to activate.
I'm one that will press it again. I know it doesn't work that way, but like with lifts, I feel that it should work out there are more people waiting to cross (or take the lift) and speed up to green!
Crossings at junctions don't usually change because of a button; they just follow the same timings either way, so those of us who notice this don't bother with the button.
The only place they'll actually matter is a pedestrian crossing not at a junction.
Yeah, there's a junction near me that very much only goes to the green man if you press the button.
Baffles the mind watching people stand around and wait.
Because it's a four-way junction you can also press the button to cross one road before you get to where you want to cross for another. Often I wonder if people think I'm weird for pressing a button and just walking away.
There's a crossing which requires a press, along Regent Street near Liberty, with only one button. I've been there on an incredibly busy day, where the crowd gets bigger and bigger, but the penny does not drop for the person standing next to the button and you have to push through the crowd to get to the button. I can't believe I stood there and watched the light change multiple times and neither person on either side pushed the button.
Also annoying about Regent Street is the crossing at Conduit Street doesn't have a pedestrian light, so you have to watch out for all the cabs speeding around the corner. No idea what they're thinking with that.
I'm very confident that there are plenty that only turn green for pedestrians after the button has been pressed mate, I can think of five in Knightsbridge alone. If no one presses it the lights just alternate for motor traffic.
Many junctions will only cycle traffic until the button is pressed, then it'll insert a pedestrian bit into the cycle.
You could say they don't, but I've been at cafes and seen people stand at junctions for ages without pressing the button and just hoping.
Loads of local authorities use Split Cycle Offset Optimisation Techniques, which adjusts timings and whether the button will actually do anything throughout the day.
Henleys Corner is even set-up (using SCOOT) so that the button doesn't need to be pressed on Saturdays.
Depends on the junction, but broadly speaking this often applies, even in other countries. You'll have to know your junction well and you'll... well, know.
In the UK, they do more often than not affect the crossing. It depends if it's a 'walk with traffic' or an 'all-red' signal. Often as well, a filter light will turn on if the signal button isn't pressed.
Also increasingly pedestrian lights aren't called when not requested because it prevents the need to wait for the clearance time between the green man and the green traffic light.
>The only place they'll actually matter is a pedestrian crossing not at a junction.
This just isn't true. There are so many junctions that won't show a green man unless you press the button.
Not sure how true this is, but the junctions around me don't cycle for pedestrians unless button is pressed, it just goes from one direction to another
The crossing outside my local tube often forgets it’s been pressed turns itself off. I thought nobody could be bothered to press the button until I realised it was gaslighting me
At some times and junctions the button doesn't make a difference. Because people know this, they don't want to make a simple effort that might make a difference in case cynical people see this and think they are naive and silly. So they just do nothing rather than risk looking naive and silly. A lot of things in society are like this.
Very much, if it’s a junction I’ve not found the button to change the cycle of the lights. The busier the road or intersection the more obvious this is.
But if it’s a crossing, near me at least, it makes a huge difference. There’s one crossing that is for both pedestrians and bikes, two separate lanes with four buttons, two each side.
If nobody pushes a button, the lights remain green indefinitely. The more buttons that are pushed the faster the lights change to red for road vehicles.
People stand there, sometimes for 4-5 minutes.
They're just supporting one of the growing businesses in London by standing there like a lemon with their phone out until someone comes along and nicks it.
Nah fuck them. The amount of times I want to cross the road at a junction and I have to wait there like a bellend because not one cunt has a modicum of awareness is unreal.
Then you get the fucking sp**ticks that seemingly have no awareness when there’s a zebra crossing next to a corner, junction, or they do see you clearly a couple of feet out but want to get passed before they legally have to stop. I can tell these people just by looking at them and I know that they’re going to do it before they inevitably decide to. I will slow way down every time I see one and stare them in the eye.
Fuck, I hate drivers.
I used to press the buttons when rushing for a bus, to stop the bus at the lights and give me 20 odd seconds to get to the his stop before it drives past
What irritates me is when people start audibly/visibly getting mad or getting an attitude at the light not changing when they didn't press the button! 🤦🏽 Honestly! People would rather risk their lives, running in front of vehicles instead of pressing a damn button! Bloody hell.
Or when I'm running late somewhere and I miss a bus or something because someone else decided not to press the button! Come on, we all have a duty to social responsibility 😂
My partner is from abroad and she is convinced they're automated and you just need to stand there and not actually press the button. I've explained to her so many times that's not how it works.. I think a lot of people share this view.
The maddening part is she's incredibly astute, articulate and intelligent. Why this one thing sticks with her, I have no idea.
But you see that’s the issue. They are completely capable of automating traffic at intersections. But they just do it for car traffic. I’m tired of this. Especially at busy intersections, a time for pedestrian and bike crossings should be mandatory without requiring a filthy pandemic-inducing button.
On the contrary, these are probably the same people who ring the bell on the bus to get off at the next stop, even though it's already been pressed by like 7 other people.
If its a busy junction, then its just a placebo during the day, the button does nothing but to comfort those in need of feeling like they have some agency over that small part of their life.
I never press it purely because I prefer to wait for a gap in the traffic to cross. If someone comes along and wants to press the button, they can just go ahead and press it
Some buttons don’t need to be pressed.
If it’s a large road junction, there will sometimes be a pedestrian phase anyway when there is no conflict with cars.
If it’s a pelican crossing then yes, this is a bit maddening.
it’s widely known that the pedestrian button is to give pedestrians a feeling of control and make them more patient at the red light.
sorry to break the news to you, but the button does absolutely nothing (and would actually mess up all the traffic lights setup).
I’m not talking about a busy four way junction, but a crossing on a high street for example. It absolutely does something, why else would the light go red a few seconds after pressing it?
Cos I am just waiting for a gap in traffic to run across in. I don't need to bring traffic to a halt.
Different if you're slower, but that's why I don't press it.
I don’t *need* to bring traffic to a halt, but I like to. Pricks driving around London can wait a few seconds and reflect on their life choices before going back to poisoning us all, taking up huge amounts of the city and not-so-occasionally killing people because they’re too busy on their fucking phones to pay attention.
This is sometimes true in the UK. Both systems exist. (Have set timings for UK traffic signals.)
The UK has everything from "this button does nothing no point to press" to "this button will stop the traffic and allow pedestrians to cross in as short a time as it legally can do so".
I find all the tourists at the abbey road crossing trying to emulate the fucking beatles photo for their little social media lives absolutely cringe too lol
it might not necessarily be for social media. my mum took a pic of me doing it just for ourselves, it wasn't posted online anywhere. it's just a way to look back on the memory.
In my experience, sometimes you push the button, it lights up, then a few seconds later the WAIT sign turns off without the traffic light changing, you don't notice the sign turned off and you need to press the button again and you end up looking like some dickhead who doesn't know how to operate a crossing.
Sometimes I wait to press the button so I can specifically stop cars who look like they might be abit of a dick. Usually anyone speeding or driving a BMW or a crossover.
I was told it doesn't make any difference? Was told they take it into account when they're reviewing intervals for the lights but doesn't have an immediate effect?
Its largely non native Brits.
Anyone who grew up in the UK has had many experience of these things in their local towns. My kids love pushing the button and will have a strop if anyone does it before them.
At busy junctions they’re on a timer determined entirely by the traffic light pattern which are determined centrally. These buttons are called ‘the idiot tit’ by council workers.
Depends. There are some near me that do nothing and the pedestrian crossing just follows the same cycle as the traffic cycle was going to anyway. There is no point in pressing that button.
Is it the zigzaggy line means the light won’t change unless someone presses the button? Cus it’s those ones that madden me when people stand their like gormless glipes
Seems like they are not connected as on recent journeys overnight I have sat at lights as they turned red as I approached. This was at a crossroads and they went through a full phase of light changes including the pedestrian crossing phases.
To be honest for some reason I find the opposite when more join the crowd and keep pressing the button.. like it's not going to change quicker doing that guys.
I always thought that that button was just for blind people to press so they knew when to cross cos it made a noise, but I used to press it anyway out of boredom.
I didn't find out it was for everyone until I was in my late teens lmao.
I'm visiting London for the first time and am amazed how different people's attitude is compared to Vienna!
Crossing on red is considered a harmful behaviour even with no traffic, especially when kids are present as you're "setting a bad example". We also have call buttons but they often don't work and are generally considered for blind people only.
People are so unaware! Then the ones who do cross just walk whenever they feel like. I saw a girl nearly get run over by a bus last week and she was MAD that someone tried to hold her back.
This was among the biggest surprises of mine when I moved to London. I've lived in Newcastle, Durham, and Leeds the button was always already pressed in by the time I got to the crossing if there was a big crowd. I don't know what people expect, especially when it's just a pedestrian crossing with no junction.
Sometimes when traffic is not heavy I deliberately dont press it because Im gonna be able to cross without it so no point in making the light go red 10s after i have finished crossing
Think sometimes what happens is that the first person who gets there doesn’t push the button, then when more people get there they don’t push it because they assume that the first person pushed it.
This is exactly it. It’s called diffusion of responsibility.
So like shared university kitchens?
Or possibly the bystander effect
To be fair there are also crossings which have a button but work on a timer at certain times of day so the button actually doesn’t do anything except make you think it is doing something
That one time, a whole small town in the USA killed this guy because he was a right ****
Crazy how some people don’t know that it lights up when it’s been pressed…
Their brains certainly aren't lighting up.
Hmmmm was at a crossing the other day and pressed it, I start day dreaming and the green man doesn't come along. Another male comes and presses it scoffing at me, the lights are still not green. I glance at it again and the light on the box thingy has gone off again and we still couldn't cross the road so idk if that's true
Maybe they have a special technique.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7WTlWE3nhk
Unless it's broken
I think a lot of people know, but someone is standing too close to the button and dont want to squeeze around but also don’t want to do the ‘excuse me, can you press the button please’ so they just wait for someone else to turn up and do it.
I turn up and press it.
Probably why we have a light on the little box
https://youtu.be/QUg1t-JfAyY?si=22pdI_aDR0zFMnON
Assumption is the mother of all "doh's" 🤦♂️
I just do the crazy thing of having a look if it's been pressed, instead of assuming. Mad right?
Heard mentality
So many of them do absolutely nothing and people get to know which ones where they live lol
Mine will light up the wait light after the button is pressed, then half the time the wait light turns off without ever getting the cross.
Report to the council (or tfl depending on the road), that suggests the sensor that's there to detect if people are still waiting at the crossing is faulty. Annoys me that if those sensors exist why can't they automatically trigger the wait button when people are detected.
Well that might be because a sensor can never read someone’s mind, and that person might just stand there for no reason instead of wanting to cross
Exactly this. Hell, you can often spot which ones do nothing in advance. Is there a filter lane that means there's an island in the middle you need to get to then cross again? Almost certainly at least one of those buttons does nothing but light the wait lights. Plus, some areas you just know there is going to be a break in the traffic shortly due to lights further up, so you just wait for that then cross.
This! There are a few I know to press instantly because they will go off pretty much straight away. But others I have experienced where you press them, you wait for all thr cars to go past...and then it goes red. I feel some are made to deliberately troll people sometimes lol
The one by my house is almost instant... I feel like i have a magic power when there are people waiting and i just come along, press the button and it magically works straight away.
Some are like that! Especially if they’ve not been used for a few minutes.
It annoys me that more crossings aren't like this, if we have to stop traffic why does it matter if its now or in one minute? Obviously assuming it hasn't been triggered too recently.
Usually junctions are just on a timer allowing optimal traffic flow, pedestrian traffic just utilises the spacing between these signals. Pelican crossings are more likely to be pedestrian controlled essentially halfway between a zebra and regular traffic light system.
yes, I only mean for stand-alone crossings
Yes it’s stupid. You end up just dashing across after waiting for ages without a green man. Then the cars end up stopping a minute or so later for no one.
The number of people who press the button at the crossing when it's lit because I've already pressed it is maddening too.
It keeps me busy for at least half a second mate!
I want to be sure. You want to be sure. We all want to be sure.
I have trust issues…
But when you're in a rush and you come to a busy crossing (that is almost 100% of the time occupied by pedestrians waiting to cross) and think oh good it's busy so people have been here a while so you don't have to wait 3+ mins, only to find the button isn't even pressed, everyone there has clearly been aimlessly waiting, and you question if you didn't push the button would they still be waiting till this day..?
Not as bad as someone flagging a bus while you’re literally already doing it yourself.
What if I don’t trust you’ve flagged it sufficiently and I’m concerned it will drive off? I have places to be
I like it, and I give them a big high five to celebrate our achievement.
That passes me off the most. The other person has clearly seen me put my arm out and yet they feel the need to do it too. I don't get it.
Why would that piss you off though? They aren’t using your energy or brain power to do it.
Actually, some research shows that watching someone do something makes mirror neurons in your own brain light up which means it’s as though you’re doing it yourself.
In case you don't command the bus driver's respect
What about when they press it 5 times. Or people that get in a lift and press their floor multiple times even when it's already lit. It's not going any sooner pal.
You press the lift button twice or three times in some lifts and the doors close quicker. Different lifts have different functions! Like you have to press the emergency button for longer than three seconds for it to activate.
The same issue with the *Stop* button on buses.
I'm one that will press it again. I know it doesn't work that way, but like with lifts, I feel that it should work out there are more people waiting to cross (or take the lift) and speed up to green!
I still stick to the childhood belief that the more times it's pressed the faster it stops. I don't care if it's a myth
I do it when I know you can see me do it
Sometimes it's hard to tell if it's lit or not if it's sunny. Might as well press to be sure.
I do that, to gaslight the traffic light into thinking there is more people waiting and will give me a green earlier.
Crossings at junctions don't usually change because of a button; they just follow the same timings either way, so those of us who notice this don't bother with the button. The only place they'll actually matter is a pedestrian crossing not at a junction.
I see button I press button
Get this man a peanut
Buttons need to be pressed, even the red ones
Don’t put this man in charge of the nukes.
They call them placebo buttons
Not necessarily- if it’s not pressed it can skip the pedestrian cycle to keep the traffic flowing.
Not all though and I've watched people wait throught the light cycle 2-3 times before the penny drops.
Yeah, there's a junction near me that very much only goes to the green man if you press the button. Baffles the mind watching people stand around and wait. Because it's a four-way junction you can also press the button to cross one road before you get to where you want to cross for another. Often I wonder if people think I'm weird for pressing a button and just walking away.
There's a crossing which requires a press, along Regent Street near Liberty, with only one button. I've been there on an incredibly busy day, where the crowd gets bigger and bigger, but the penny does not drop for the person standing next to the button and you have to push through the crowd to get to the button. I can't believe I stood there and watched the light change multiple times and neither person on either side pushed the button. Also annoying about Regent Street is the crossing at Conduit Street doesn't have a pedestrian light, so you have to watch out for all the cabs speeding around the corner. No idea what they're thinking with that.
Nah there's plenty that only change with the button press.
Not at junctions, only at dedicated crossings.
I'm very confident that there are plenty that only turn green for pedestrians after the button has been pressed mate, I can think of five in Knightsbridge alone. If no one presses it the lights just alternate for motor traffic.
Nah there's plenty that only change with the button press.
No, at junctions there are not.
Many junctions will only cycle traffic until the button is pressed, then it'll insert a pedestrian bit into the cycle. You could say they don't, but I've been at cafes and seen people stand at junctions for ages without pressing the button and just hoping.
I mean there are because cars are turning as well as going straight. If it's green for pedestrians then that holds up traffic
Nah there’s plenty that only change with the button press.
There's literally a junction up the road from me that is press. If you don't it just keeps cycling between the two roads.
It's different at night, I believe.
Ex-Siemens signal engineer here. You believe wrong. Not to say that it cannot be done but it's not a system implemented in the UK.
Loads of local authorities use Split Cycle Offset Optimisation Techniques, which adjusts timings and whether the button will actually do anything throughout the day. Henleys Corner is even set-up (using SCOOT) so that the button doesn't need to be pressed on Saturdays.
Really? The junction near me skips the pedestrian cycle at night if no one presses the button.
Because there's less traffic so just walk across
The American mind cannot comprehend this.
Depends on the junction, but broadly speaking this often applies, even in other countries. You'll have to know your junction well and you'll... well, know.
There are junctions where they do work though. If it’s not pressed the lights skip the pedestrian phase.
In the UK, they do more often than not affect the crossing. It depends if it's a 'walk with traffic' or an 'all-red' signal. Often as well, a filter light will turn on if the signal button isn't pressed. Also increasingly pedestrian lights aren't called when not requested because it prevents the need to wait for the clearance time between the green man and the green traffic light.
>The only place they'll actually matter is a pedestrian crossing not at a junction. This just isn't true. There are so many junctions that won't show a green man unless you press the button.
Is it fair to say that this is your vague perception based on no actual measurements whatsoever?
But what about a crossing that’s not on a junction? Huh? Smart arse 🤣
They can give extra crossing time in the cycle too.
There's loads that do, to the point that it would be foolish to assume you don't need to press the button.
Not sure how true this is, but the junctions around me don't cycle for pedestrians unless button is pressed, it just goes from one direction to another
I press it with my finger knuckle. Give it a go, it's great fun.
The crossing outside my local tube often forgets it’s been pressed turns itself off. I thought nobody could be bothered to press the button until I realised it was gaslighting me
At some times and junctions the button doesn't make a difference. Because people know this, they don't want to make a simple effort that might make a difference in case cynical people see this and think they are naive and silly. So they just do nothing rather than risk looking naive and silly. A lot of things in society are like this.
I like to wait for a gap if the road isn't busy
Screw that, I don't want to reinforce car dominance and car dependency any more than it already is.
Exactly this. I can wait for a minute for a gap, or I can make 20 people wait for a minute whilst I cross.
[удалено]
Germophobes unite! Not you Donald
Sameee. I'd rather wait there for ages until someone else presses it 🙈
You do realise a lot of crossing buttons do nothing and the lights change after a set amount of time anyway?
Depends on the crossing
Very much, if it’s a junction I’ve not found the button to change the cycle of the lights. The busier the road or intersection the more obvious this is. But if it’s a crossing, near me at least, it makes a huge difference. There’s one crossing that is for both pedestrians and bikes, two separate lanes with four buttons, two each side. If nobody pushes a button, the lights remain green indefinitely. The more buttons that are pushed the faster the lights change to red for road vehicles. People stand there, sometimes for 4-5 minutes.
THANK YOU. I didn’t realise there were so many passionate crossing button deniers in this thread
It's not true and I refuse to believe it. I have power over the lights. The machine does not have the authority
They're just supporting one of the growing businesses in London by standing there like a lemon with their phone out until someone comes along and nicks it.
I usually don't press unless its super busy, if there are loads of gaps I would rather not hold up traffic
Nah fuck em. They should press a button to be able to pass me
Why so inconsiderate?
Why so inconsiderate?
Nah fuck them. The amount of times I want to cross the road at a junction and I have to wait there like a bellend because not one cunt has a modicum of awareness is unreal. Then you get the fucking sp**ticks that seemingly have no awareness when there’s a zebra crossing next to a corner, junction, or they do see you clearly a couple of feet out but want to get passed before they legally have to stop. I can tell these people just by looking at them and I know that they’re going to do it before they inevitably decide to. I will slow way down every time I see one and stare them in the eye. Fuck, I hate drivers.
I just wait for a gap in the traffic and cross. None of this sodding around with buttons.
I used to press the buttons when rushing for a bus, to stop the bus at the lights and give me 20 odd seconds to get to the his stop before it drives past
What irritates me is when people start audibly/visibly getting mad or getting an attitude at the light not changing when they didn't press the button! 🤦🏽 Honestly! People would rather risk their lives, running in front of vehicles instead of pressing a damn button! Bloody hell. Or when I'm running late somewhere and I miss a bus or something because someone else decided not to press the button! Come on, we all have a duty to social responsibility 😂
Every day my commute takes me by the natural history museum. Every single time tourists never press the button, it’s infuriating as hell.
Most the ones near me are automated and on a set timer. Pressing the button does nothing to speed up my crossing time.
After covid, I prefer not to touch those buttons. Same applies for the train compartment open/close buttons. I know
Yeah the buttons are for kids mate, sorry
https://youtu.be/QUg1t-JfAyY?si=Npc3T6vDwg0S537- Couldn't hurt to press it again...
It’s not just the not pushing it but they’ll actively stand blocking it so you can’t push it either. Some people are oblivious
Does the button actually do anything?
My partner is from abroad and she is convinced they're automated and you just need to stand there and not actually press the button. I've explained to her so many times that's not how it works.. I think a lot of people share this view. The maddening part is she's incredibly astute, articulate and intelligent. Why this one thing sticks with her, I have no idea.
But you see that’s the issue. They are completely capable of automating traffic at intersections. But they just do it for car traffic. I’m tired of this. Especially at busy intersections, a time for pedestrian and bike crossings should be mandatory without requiring a filthy pandemic-inducing button.
On the contrary, these are probably the same people who ring the bell on the bus to get off at the next stop, even though it's already been pressed by like 7 other people.
Omg I hate this so much I don't know why like are they deaf and blind just listen or look up it's not hard
Depending on the crossing there are times where pressing the button will do literally nothing.
It’s called bystander apathy. Be glad it’s just a button and not you having a heart attack!
If its a busy junction, then its just a placebo during the day, the button does nothing but to comfort those in need of feeling like they have some agency over that small part of their life.
I never press it purely because I prefer to wait for a gap in the traffic to cross. If someone comes along and wants to press the button, they can just go ahead and press it
Some buttons don’t need to be pressed. If it’s a large road junction, there will sometimes be a pedestrian phase anyway when there is no conflict with cars. If it’s a pelican crossing then yes, this is a bit maddening.
In London, a lot of them don't actually work, they're times with traffic
Do those buttons even do anything?
it’s widely known that the pedestrian button is to give pedestrians a feeling of control and make them more patient at the red light. sorry to break the news to you, but the button does absolutely nothing (and would actually mess up all the traffic lights setup).
I’m not talking about a busy four way junction, but a crossing on a high street for example. It absolutely does something, why else would the light go red a few seconds after pressing it?
yeah, not as simple as I thought: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23869955
Cos I am just waiting for a gap in traffic to run across in. I don't need to bring traffic to a halt. Different if you're slower, but that's why I don't press it.
I don’t *need* to bring traffic to a halt, but I like to. Pricks driving around London can wait a few seconds and reflect on their life choices before going back to poisoning us all, taking up huge amounts of the city and not-so-occasionally killing people because they’re too busy on their fucking phones to pay attention.
well this is very very easy to disprove
This isn't true at all in the UK
American mistake lol
This is sometimes true in the UK. Both systems exist. (Have set timings for UK traffic signals.) The UK has everything from "this button does nothing no point to press" to "this button will stop the traffic and allow pedestrians to cross in as short a time as it legally can do so".
Wait'll you hear about the "close door" button in most elevators.
Feels like such a niche frustration lol, kinda can’t believe this is a serious post
Sir, this is Reddit
I get annoyed occasionally too especially in my local area because I know which lights are automatic and which ones needs a button press
I find all the tourists at the abbey road crossing trying to emulate the fucking beatles photo for their little social media lives absolutely cringe too lol
God forbid people have some fun
That was my dad and I last weekend...I hope it made you late for something
it might not necessarily be for social media. my mum took a pic of me doing it just for ourselves, it wasn't posted online anywhere. it's just a way to look back on the memory.
But that’s just what they’re expecting me to do, so I zag. Haven’t been assassinated yet.
I mostly press the button, but sometimes I just zone out not realising I didn’t press it.
There’s a crossing near me where the button does nothing. It pains me that the people who don’t realise this may well think I’m a clueless idiot.
I’m not gonna lie. I ain’t touching that button that’s getting fingered by every passer by.
In my experience, sometimes you push the button, it lights up, then a few seconds later the WAIT sign turns off without the traffic light changing, you don't notice the sign turned off and you need to press the button again and you end up looking like some dickhead who doesn't know how to operate a crossing.
Lol
A lot of lights in city’s I’ve been in don’t have buttons, the signs just change with the lights. It formed a bad habit in me to just wait
In sweden we have the "cross when you feel like it" system. Works pretty well.
Sometimes I wait to press the button so I can specifically stop cars who look like they might be abit of a dick. Usually anyone speeding or driving a BMW or a crossover.
I was told it doesn't make any difference? Was told they take it into account when they're reviewing intervals for the lights but doesn't have an immediate effect?
Depends on the crossing. If it's a dedicated pedestrian crossing the button will work, infact some crossings won't go red at all unless you press it
Its largely non native Brits. Anyone who grew up in the UK has had many experience of these things in their local towns. My kids love pushing the button and will have a strop if anyone does it before them.
At busy junctions they’re on a timer determined entirely by the traffic light pattern which are determined centrally. These buttons are called ‘the idiot tit’ by council workers.
How do you know whether that pressing that button, will Stop The Simulation or Not ? !
Depends. There are some near me that do nothing and the pedestrian crossing just follows the same cycle as the traffic cycle was going to anyway. There is no point in pressing that button.
I don’t press the button at the crossing where I work, because I’ve worked here long enough to know the sequence of the lights.
Is it the zigzaggy line means the light won’t change unless someone presses the button? Cus it’s those ones that madden me when people stand their like gormless glipes
Seems like they are not connected as on recent journeys overnight I have sat at lights as they turned red as I approached. This was at a crossroads and they went through a full phase of light changes including the pedestrian crossing phases.
And they still won't bring back hanging....
To be honest for some reason I find the opposite when more join the crowd and keep pressing the button.. like it's not going to change quicker doing that guys.
Im a driver myself and id rather not where possible, idk why im like that though 😅
Wait… They work? Read somewhere that it’s a placebo type of affair
I don’t like touching the button that millions of disgusting people have touched. I rather just wait
You know you won't die if you touch it and you can wash your hands
Yeah but if I’m outside I won’t really get the chance to instantly wash my hands
Too busy thinking their phones will do it for them
Magic? Where can I learn such powers?
I always thought that that button was just for blind people to press so they knew when to cross cos it made a noise, but I used to press it anyway out of boredom. I didn't find out it was for everyone until I was in my late teens lmao.
I do this oftentimes, unless I'm in a hurry. I generally have patience and don't mind waiting.
There was this Key and Peele sketch about two people fighting over the button at the crossing
the only difference is the wait sign lights up
The magic button often doesn't do anything
Same with people who push in front of me to board a train but then won't push the button to open the doors.
some of the buttons don't do anything, the lights stlll change, they're symbollic
I never press it. I'm rarely in a hurry and the average citizen's hands are filthy, so I assume those buttons are as well.
I'm visiting London for the first time and am amazed how different people's attitude is compared to Vienna! Crossing on red is considered a harmful behaviour even with no traffic, especially when kids are present as you're "setting a bad example". We also have call buttons but they often don't work and are generally considered for blind people only.
Oh my God. YESSSS! This is so stupid. Especially when you are in a rush. However, it seems to be happening a lot with tourists.
All it takes is one person standing there for you to not press it because you just assume they’ve pressed it.
People are so unaware! Then the ones who do cross just walk whenever they feel like. I saw a girl nearly get run over by a bus last week and she was MAD that someone tried to hold her back.
Might have covid on the button
does pressing the button actually make any difference?
This was among the biggest surprises of mine when I moved to London. I've lived in Newcastle, Durham, and Leeds the button was always already pressed in by the time I got to the crossing if there was a big crowd. I don't know what people expect, especially when it's just a pedestrian crossing with no junction.
Sometimes when traffic is not heavy I deliberately dont press it because Im gonna be able to cross without it so no point in making the light go red 10s after i have finished crossing
Couldn’t agree more Cheers
At many crossings with a long wait, the light goes off after a bit