I used to believe that there was a little person in the electrical boxes beside street lights that would change the lights at the appropriate times. If the light was taking too long to change, I would assume that they were taking a nap.

Ernie

My mom used to tell me that blowing at red lights made them turn green. I did so dutifully, amazed that it always worked (eventually). I learned the truth only when I started furiously blowing at lights in a friend's car.

Anon

My brother used to tell me that the lighthouse was a signal for babysitters to report to the office because there is a baby in need of sitting.

Anne

My dad had convinced me and my sister that he was in control of the traffic lights because when he said green it would turn green. Only recently did me,17 and my sister,20 realize that they were timed and after a few seconds of the other lights turning red, ours would turn green. :)

hannah

i used to believe that a man lived in the traffic lights and would change the colors. I spent hours trying to think of how he would fit.

Omar

I used to believe that the government knew where we wanted to turn at an intersection. It wasn't until I was tall enough (twelve years old) to see the 'left turn only' sign on the street that turning lanes came to mind.

Melissa

I was always amazed as a kid that the traffic lights knew when to change. I imagined that there were little tiny people inside (I saw them with little elf-type hats and shoes) who sat there looking out over the road. When they saw cars coming, they'd hit this big button that would change the colors of the lights. I believed this until I learned about the sensors in the road at about age 12.

Courtney

My parents used to tell me that the yellow traffic light meant to go faster instead of use caution. I guess it makes sense because that's what everyone does anyways.

Anon

when i was little, i used to think that little mice lived in the traffic lights and were control of when they changed color

Anon

I used to believe that a little man sat inside traffic lights and watched all the cars and decided when to change the lights. I also believed that the car automatically knew where you were going and would turn on the turn signals itself.

Lauren

Until about age seven, when underground traffic light sensors were explained to me, I believed that traffic lights were actually much bigger than they looked to me from the car- also that there were little elf-like men in green suits sitting inside them at all times, choosing when to change the light. I used to smile really big at the bottom light to impress them, so we could get wherever we were going faster.

Alix

When I was little, around five years old, I believed that all traffic lights had cameras on them, and that people watched the cameras to decide exactly when to turn the light yellow to avoid car accidents.

Anon

that the green traffic light turned blue when it was off

Kriket Evens

I used to believe that the traffic lights are controlled by a person sitting in some office near it. That person is in front of a lot of TV monitors so he could see when to push the right buttons for red, yellow and green.

vee