The other day, I took a group of retired police officers to a gathering of their old friends.
It was already late at night, and there were few cars on the road. But we had really bad luck with the traffic signals, and we seemed to hit every red light where we had to wait for the signal to cycle through all the traffic options for non-existent cars.
They got so frustrated that one of them let slip that police cars are equipped with a device that can speed the cycle so they don’t have to wait so long even without turning on the siren to blow through in emergency mode.
Having spilled the beans, they even told me how to get one, and—man is it nice to be able to anticipate that the red light that I am approaching will likely switch to green just as I get to the intersection!!
Obviously, it doesn’t work every time, and I always expect to stop. But I would say that at least 25% of the time, it will flip a red light to green in the straight direction of an intersection just as I approach. Sometimes, it merely expedites the cycle. In this case, an endless red light that is allowing non-existent traffic ample time to pass across the intersection in front of me will quickly move on to the left turn option in my direction—a step in the right direction, as the straight green is sure to follow soon.
I am careful not to use the device indiscriminately; I think that I might lose it if I disrupt the regular flow of traffic. But what a relief it is to feel that, at least sometimes, I have a little but of control over the traffic lights.