traffic lights
Show most recent or highest rated first. Common beliefs in this section include:page 10 of 15
< 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 >
top belief!
As a child, I was firmly convinced that all the traffic lights in the entire country (Britain) were operated by separate, large teams of people based in subterranean offices.
Each set of traffic lights was fitted with a periscope, like the one on a submarine. The leader of the team would spend most of his time staring up through this at the street, whilst his minions brought him sandwiches, cakes and coffee.
When traffic approached, he would alert his second in command, who immediately bellowed into a desk microphone: "Action stations!"
The rest of the team members would then jump up from their desks and turn a giant handle that changed the colour of the traffic lights.
If the leader was annoyed with the local council for some reason, he would deliberately wind the officials up by creating a massive traffic jam and making everybody late for work that day. If he'd heard about a bank raid on the news, he'd use the jam to help the police capture the robbers.
I used to look forward to being a student when I was older, as I reckoned they helped change the traffic lights during the college holidays - and got paid tons of money for doing it. During quiet periods, you could read the paper, watch the telly, drink mugs of tea and eat biscuits.
The walls of the traffic light changing stations were padded with empty egg boxes, to muffle the sounds of the traffic passing overhead.
Fiona
my Dad told me that it was against the law to stand at a pelican crossing with a digital watch, because if the alarm went off a blind person may step out into the road and be killed.
neil
i used to think two worker-men worked inside each traffic light, kind of like Mario and Luigi. they both sat inside the traffic lights, and used a hammer to tap a button that activated each colored light
I used to think that traffic lights were the strings of lights some shops have up at Christmas. I was realy unhappy when I found out the truth because I felt they needed a wider variety of colours!
I also used to think that traffic jams were caused by jars of jam that were left in the road and stopped the cars moving. It made sense at the time!
Penny, England
I used to believe that there was people underground that had three buttons: One red, 1 amber and 1 green. And they pressed each one of the buttons to operate the change of the lights!! They knew when to change because the looked out of the 'Cats Eyes' (the little lights in the middle of the road at night in some places!)
Jodie
When I was a kid I thought that when a traffic light gave the signal "don't walk" it meant you ran!! How dum is that?
when i was younger i thought that traffic lights had little colored(red yellow and green)'light discs' in them. when the light turned green a green 'light disc' would pop up into the right hole. there had to be a lot of them so they wouldnt get tired tho.
jackie
I used to believe that stoplights were controlled by people. I thought that there was a man in a room that overlooked intersections (every intersection), and pressed buttons to change the light.
Stacy
When I was little I thought that traffic lights were controlled by little men who lived underground and timed when the light needed to be changed.
Lindsay M.
Sometimes I'd see an arrow-shaped green light, and the ones that pointed upward I thought existed to guide airplanes.
I assumed there was a runway somewhere near, and because I was at this particular intersection with airplane lights, I might get to see an airplane go right over my head at any moment!
Josh
When I was younger, my mom told me how traffic lights and street lights worked. I thought she was totally lying, and so I became convinced that all the lights that moved or turned on at certain times were operated by tiny gnomes who sat around and knew when to change the light.
Madii
When I was about 7 or 8 I used to think that there were little people under the road at the traffic lights. They would choose whose turn it was to go and stop by pressing a switch, kind of like a light switch.
Rachel
When I was about seven, I thought that cars should be equipped with very long, motorized periscopes. After going through a green light, the car would deploy the periscope and it would continuously extend behind the car, watching the light until it turned red. I guess my idea was that the car would stop for the red light, no matter how far it had traveled down the road. I'm not sure what that says about my seven-year-old desire to please the establishment.
Todd
When I was little I believed there was a little mustached man (not unlike Gomez from The Addam's Family) under the road that pulled a string to make the traffic lights change. I still think of that now, lol.
Chelsea Changa
Whenever I was in the car with my aunt and there was a red light, we would always blow to make it turn green. the amazing thing is it worked..............
Caitlin
i used to belive that traffic lights were my friends, and i (no one else) could talk to them, and tell them when they could turn green, and red... there was one i used to like im particular who i always talked toooo... :( but then we moved away
shell
When I was younger, I believed that the way the stoplights at intersections worked, were by construction men in underground dirt rooms, looking at the traffic through tiny cameras. And they decided when to change it from green to red. I still have no idea why 'till this day.
Mona
When I was little, I was scared to go under traffic lights. I always thought the colors changed by insects changing them from a nearby bush or tree. I was always afraid that the bugs would change the green light to red while we were going under it to kill us, since we always step on them if we feel in danger. It was just about 2 years ago, when I was 10, I found out how they really changed- technology!!
rachael from nc
top belief!
When I was a child, I used to see the "Don't Walk" light(the one that's in the shape of a hand), and think that if you would move while it was on, it would come out and slap you. So I was very afraid to move and I would tell my parents "Don't move or the hand will slap you!"
When I was young, we'd be sitting at a red light and after a while he'd say 3...2...1 and on 1 the light would turn green. I thought he was using magic, but really he was just counting down from the other light turning red (3 seconds between one light turning red and another turning green)
A Wild Cowgirl
I Used To Believe™ © 2002 - 2024 Mat Connolley, another Iteracy website. privacy policy