I used to believe that there was actually a little man in the crosswalk lights, and if you pressed the 'cross' button lots and lots of times you could trick him into thinking that lots of people were waiting to cross the road, and he would make the lights change quicker.
A childhood belief about traffic lights

you weren't the only one
254 of you believed this
- I thought traffic lights were controlled by little men who lived inside them. Anon
- "Traffic lights are operated by monkies inside of them" or so a very reliable source informed me.— guuy
- when i was about 5-8 i used to believe that oompa loompas lived in traffic lights and controlled the lights!!— ~wierd ~
- i used to beleive that elves controlled traffic lights.— Jessica
- I thought that little tiny people changed the color of the stop lights.Anon
- When I was little, I was thought that little elves controlled the traffic lights..— Rosie