I don’t know if I can actually pull this off, but it’s been a thought that I’d like to sound off in the open for others to see.
I follow a lot of stoicism philosophy and I like to follow parables for life lessons. The dichotomy of control, the obstacle is the way, you have two ears and one mouth, Amor Fati, Memento Mori, etc. Most try to put it in every day examples and while I was commuting to and from work, I was constantly fighting the urge not to rage at other selfish drivers. Of course, that comes with the dichotomy of control. I can only control my feelings and actions. But it also occurred to me that no matter what lifestyle you live, what background, character, personality, financial or disability you may or may not have, everyone gets stopped by red lights. There is no competition on who’s the fastest, selfish, richest, toughest, or luckiest person. If you’re rich and own a private jet, you’ll have a chauffeur drive you to where you’ll be. If you don’t own a car, bikes and pedestrians have to obey the intersections. Runners and wheelchairs, fast cars and slow cars, big ass trucks and mini models. Sometimes you get lucky and it’s a green light, but eventually everyone has to stop at a red light.
We’re all equal and it has me more grounded than ever before. We have sports competitions and favorite teams, and my needs versus your needs. Political views, be damned. I always think of the person cutting me off or squeezing and now I just let them. Wherever they are going and for how long, a red light will stop them too.
I wish I could be more profound or add so much more to make into a book, but there you go out in the open. Now people can poke holes in it if they like. Haha
If you learn the timings, and choose the right route, you can hit green lights all night. Back when I had a job which finished up around 2am, I managed to travel ~15km across the city without hitting a red light, probably 2/3 of the time.
some areas near me have lights that will stay green on the main road mostly, but as soon as they see you speeding, they’ll turn red and have signs saying so.
Usually in bigger cities that’s the case. But small towns can be REALLY hit or miss. If there’s traffic sensors they generally do a good job at keeping traffic flowing. But you will know if you’ve hit a light that doesn’t have them, or is purposefully time poorly.
There’s one in my city that is impossible to make unless the second it turns green I gun it. Sometimes I have a second or two to spare. But if there’s ANYONE in the way you will not make that light.