Disobeying traffic signals

[Martin Cassini]

As well as defying commonsense and denying discretion, traffic signals foster dependency. Every day in London you’ll see pedestrians walk straight up to a Pelican crossing and press the button. Then they look up, see nothing coming, and cross. When the light changes, traffic has to stop for no reason other than the light is red. If you are driving and, like the pedestrian, use your commonsense to go on opportunity, you are an instant criminal – known in the trade as a "red light jumper" (RLJ).