'Everybody is joining in, and it’s hilarious': Neighborhood joins together to combat traffic light issue

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Jan 1, 2024 3:00 PM EST

An entire neighborhood was stuck waiting in traffic, until a hero showed up. 

As if commutes weren't annoying enough, this person, u/sturtze, kept getting stuck in traffic every single day. That's bound to happen when everyone is trying to get to work by 8 or 9 in the morning. The roads clog up with cars, which can create bottlenecks and long waits. But this person had a uniquely bad scenario, as they shared in their malicious compliance story below. 

This is a great story of neighbors working together to find a solution to a common problem. Best of all, the OP reports that it actually brought everyone together! They write that their whole family is in on the trick. It seems like they beat the system with their genius little life hack. 

Scroll down to read the OP's awesome tale of beating the traffic light. Then, these tourists showed up at national parks completely unprepared---as one person shared, "I saw people trying to take selfies with a bear." 

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  • 01
    'We get a random email to the HOA distribution list from an anonymous person. They laid out our plan for malicious compliance'
    via Tsvetoslav Hristov on Unsplash
  • 02
    Police tell us to stop running red lights. Fine, we'll just extend how long it stays green.
    via u/sturtze
  • 03
    I live in a subdivision connected to a major road. The road out of the subdivision has a traffic light. In the morning, nearly everybody needs to turn left for work. Even if you want to turn right, you are simply stuck because there isn't
    via u/sturtze
  • 04
    enough room for more than one car. To compound the problem, the traffic light is green for no more than 5 seconds. We MAY get 4-5 cars out legally, then you have to wait another 3-4 minutes before the light switches.
    via u/sturtze
  • 05
    As you can imagine, this causes people to run the light, swerve around somebody they thought should have gone, etc. It's a grab back of "Idiots in Cars", myself included. If you roll up to the light and see that you are 15 cars back, you know you've just added 10 minutes to your commute simply trying to get out of your subdivision.
    via u/sturtze
  • 06
    Well, because of all of our reckless driving behavior, the police communicated via our HOA that we needed to knock it off. They had a police car parked near our area every morning for a week to keep us on our best behavior. Our board tried to work with the city to lengthen the light, but to no avail. That's when a hero emerged.
    via u/sturtze
  • 07
    We get a random email to the HOA distribution list from an anonymous person. They laid out our plan for malicious compliance. There is a pedestrian crosswalk light at the before mentioned intersection that basically goes unused. In my 10 years living there, I've never seen it used. There just simply isn't any pedestrian traffic.
    via u/sturtze
  • 08
    The subdivision hero devised a plan on how to use this crosswalk to our advantage. Basically, one person in their car simply needs to walk over and hit the "Push Button to Cross" and run back to their car. When to light switches, we now get 30ish seconds to alleviate our traffic jam.
    via u/sturtze
  • 09
    Everybody is joining in, and it's hilarious. My oldest daughter got to do it the other day, and other cars in the line were rolling down their windows and cheering her on. It's possibly the best neighborhood bonding
    via u/sturtze
  • 10
    experience possible. I'm sure our longer lights are up something further down the line, but none of us really care. We're now on our "best" behavior since we have about 5 times longer to get through the light.
    via u/sturtze
  • 11
    Itajel "This project was greenlighted by malicious compliance." in my best broadcaster voice of course.
    via u/Itajel
  • 12
    riverY90 For once a malicious compliance that isn't against the HOA. This is beautiful on so many levels
    via u/riverY90
  • 13
    5eangibbo I used to do the same thing in Whistler, to get onto the main highway, pressing the pedestrian button, instantly started the sequence to change the lights. Just roll up, get out, press button and by the time you put the seatbelt back on, green. Was great.
    via u/5eangibbo
  • 14
    Being a highway that went through Whistler, local council were not in charge of the timing and control
    via u/5eangibbo
  • 15
    sturtze OP That's awesome. I feel like we've exploited some system.
    via u/sturtze
  • 16
    Asklepios24 LPT for any motorcyclists: this is how you get the light to change for you. I've been doing this for a decade and I learned it from a bicyclist.
    via u/Asklepios24

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Tags

hoa neighbors traffic light malicious compliance neighborhood home owners association malicious-compliance-reddit driving drivers family malicious compliance reddit roads
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