Will Flashing Your Lights Trigger that Stubborn Traffic Light to Change from Red to Green?

Honestly who hasn't been in the situation where you sit at a red light and it just never changes. While early morning or late at night often tends to be a more common time this happens, often nicknamed and unlovingly called the 'midnight light,' I've sat at a red light in the middle of the day and literally watched all lanes move through at least two to three cycles while I sit and stare at that red just taunting me.

It's weird that this happens considering most traffic lights have the technology buried under the roads that senses when vehicles are sitting at traffic lights. According to the Family Handyman website, that tech adjusts the traffic signal so cars waiting will soon see a green light. Some never turn green unless a car is sitting there, or if the lights are on timers then it just adjusts the timer to turn green sooner.

According to Family Handyman, the technology at a light that doesn't trigger a change with the traffic signal unless it knows a car is there and that could just be with sensors or cameras instead of anything buried under the road. This means make sure you pull all the way up to the line in order for the sensor or camera to sense you.

Now what about flashing your high beams to signal the camera or sensor that you're sitting there, or even worse, behind a car or two. Sorry.  As fabulous as that sounds, according to the Motor Biscuit website, those cameras or sensors only detect rapidly flashing lights at an equivalent of 14 flashes per second. That's to assist emergency vehicles which already have technology to also turn all lights red if necessary.