How to get the green light every time

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Red lights can be infuriating, especially when you’re in a rush to get somewhere. Differing studies say you can spend anywhere between one and six months of your entire life waiting for the light to go green.

RELATED: How do traffic lights work in Australia?

However, obeying traffic lights is a core part of keeping our roads safe and the traffic flowing to the absolute max, so running a red light is absolutely out of the question.

But is there actually a way of triggering the green light faster? We remove some of the mystery surrounding the red, amber and green lights.

How do you make traffic lights turn green faster?

Chris Miller from the Department of Transport Victoria says the best way to get all green lights is to catch a “green wave”.

“There’s no way to make the light go green faster, but the way to get the green light is to be where most of the traffic is. Intersections don’t work independently; they tend to be linked to other intersections along specified routes. We look at the data, we look at the travel patterns and where the demand is,” says Miller.

“If you travel down the road at the prescribed speed limit, you can actually catch what’s called a ‘green wave’. As you approach the intersection, travelling at that speed, traffic lights know that a whole cohort of cars coming down that road, and they’ll kind of deliver that green time.”

As Miller mentioned, following the speed limit is the secret to getting the green light. Although speeding may give you the illusion of getting to your destination quicker, you’re actually giving yourself a greater chance of being stuck at a red light while breaking the law and putting others in danger.

Chris Miller further spoke about the traffic loops in the road. These electromagnetic sensors detect when a car has pulled up to a set of traffic lights.

“In the middle of the night when there’s no demand, you’ll probably find that when you pull up, the light will fairly quickly go green as long as nothing is coming in the other direction. At those times, the light is triggered by a magnetic loop built into the road pavement,” says Miller.

“To trigger the lights, just run over that detector, make sure that you pull up to the line at the intersection and the magnets underneath the road will detect your car and away you’ll go.”

Positioning your car correctly is especially important when travelling along roads that aren’t in high demand during peak periods, as the traffic light system needs to know that you are there and waiting for the green. Stopping short could mean you are waiting an eternity for the lights to change.

Myths around making traffic lights go green

There are some popular myths about making a light turn green faster. Some are futile, and others are actually illegal.

Will putting a magnet on your car make the light turn green faster?

Perhaps one of the most popular myths of the late 2000s was that you should put a strong magnet under your car to trigger the electromagnetic loops in the road.

The idea was popularised by YouTuber KipKay, who said “Small cars don’t really have enough conductive materials to trigger these loops and change the traffic lights”. He then placed two small but strong magnets underneath a light test scooter and said ” It works; it increases the inductance in these traffic sensors”.

There are a few reasons why this doesn’t work 100 per cent of the time.

One is that traffic lights in most areas are not solely dependent on road loops to trigger; instead, they simply indicate that there is some demand at that intersection.

The other reason is that your vehicle and even motorcycle have much more conductive materials, which would far outweigh the effectiveness of a small magnet placed on them.

Does flashing your headlights make the light go green faster?

Another popular myth surrounding traffic lights is flashing your headlights to make the traffic system go from red to green. Not only is this ineffective, but it’s also illegal.

The myth was generated based on the Emergency Vehicle Preemption (EVP) system, which senses police, ambulance, and fire services and gives them priority at an intersection. Part of the EVP runs on a strobing infrared optical signal that lets the traffic light know an emergency services (EMS) vehicle is approaching the intersection.

Legend has it that flashing your headlights at an intersection will trick the lights into thinking an EMS vehicle is heading to an emergency, but the reality is that there is more to the EVP. You’ll never be able to strobe your headlights at the frequency recognised by the sensor.

EMS vehicles are often marked on GPS and work together with the traffic signal controllers, not relying solely on the EVP system. In addition, there are still a plethora of lights that aren’t fitted with the priority system.

Flashing your headlights unnecessarily can also attract a fine, depending on the state or territory you live in. To find out more, you can read our story on high-beam flashing here.

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