h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I would like to hear theories from those of you not stumped by questions such as "Chocolate biscuit or fig roll with your tea?" (there is only ONE sensible answer).

The question:

Why do people press the button that illuminates the 'WAIT' sign on the old-style pedestrian crossings when it is ALREADY LIT?
I have three of my own theories but would like to hear others.

Stay hoopy.

For exactly the same reason people press an already lit lift button

By the way, welcome to h2g2, if we haven't already, one us us ACEs will be along shortly to welcome you officially to the site, in fact it may even be me.........

cause it makes the lights change faster to enable you to cross, no it does! it does! it relaly does!

Cos sometimes it is parents teaching their children to do it

I often do, but only because I have been caught out a couple of times thinking it was lit when it wasn't as the sun was shining on it

For a long time now i've considered that the reason for this is to hurry up the process of waiting for the lights to change by "fooling" the little mini computer into thinking there are more people standing at the lights than there actually are. It depends on the system infact, sometimes that the reqired effect of making the waiting time shorter. Other times it resets the timer making the wait longer. So in the average of all things its probably better to wait and not press the button.