[cpher]

I don't think they're always looking for efficiency of traffic flow. I live on the south side of Chicago. I swear the lights along major streets are timed to make it inconvenient for traffic flow ON PURPOSE. My unscientific theory is that this is done to prevent speeding, rack up violations for idiots that like to race, and make it easier for cops to pursue in their cars. Case in point: my street has a stretch of at least 3 blocks without a light; hence, we get idiots (cars and cycles) that like to gun it in a 30 mph zone.

[AnimalMuppet]

When I was a kid, we went through some small town when on vacation (don't remember which one). It didn't have speed limits - just signs that said that the traffic lights were synchronized for 25 MPH. After a light or two, you believed them, and so you drove 25 MPH.