Have you been pressing the button?
You’re twenty minutes late for a meeting, and you’re stuck at a crossing. You push the button once and hope for the little green man to appear ASAP. Two minutes go by – nothing. So you give it another push. And another. And another hundred pushes in hopes to speed up the process.
Well, it turns out all that button smashing has been in vain.
According to news.com.au, the signal is often on a timer, and no amount of button pressing can speed it up.
In Sydney, the signal changes are automated between 7am and 7pm on Monday to Thursday, and 7am to 9pm on Fridays.
On Saturdays, the automated phase runs from 8.30am to 9pm. Sundays, however, are the day when you can really test out your button smashing abilities as the automation is switched off.
But we’re sure you’re wondering – why?
Well, according to a spokeswoman from Transport NSW, these automated phases can actually result in “shorter wait times” and “reduce the risk of jaywalking and pedestrian crashes”.
Many studies have shown that if pedestrians are forced to wait for than sixty seconds to cross the road, they are more likely to jaywalk.
In smaller regions and towns, the buttons aren’t often automated.
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Written by Kate Stevens
Images: Getty
