I can assure you that is not the case where I live.
I may be the only person in the area who sometimes shuts the engine off while waiting for long lights (that remain red for at least several minutes).
For those of you who do not live in a large city or heavily populated suburban area, there is no way I can describe the multitudes who are inattentive when the light (or in this case the green arrow) turns green: the elderly (who unfortunately are slower due to aging), those who are distracted with cell phones, texting, eating, drinking, smoking, reading, daydreaming, looking for stuff under their car seats, arguing with their companions, putting on makeup (usually women), picking their noses (usually men), those who want to attempt a U-turn or decide they no longer want to turn left from the from the left turn lane (even though it is illegal,) etc.. And here's my personal favorite: those meek drivers who still do not realize that a green arrow means that they, and
only they now have complete and total right of way, without requiring any further contemplation, uncertainty or necessity of extended visual double-checking for any other moving traffic.
Even if the light is operated by a sensor, it only stays green briefly. All it takes is one inattentive dolt to wait 15 or more seconds after the arrow turns green - which means that only a few cars can proceed before the green arrow turns red again (for another five minutes) often leaving dozens of cars still waiting, sometimes for several cycles of the light.
We can install the best designed roads and the most sophisticated, programmed traffic signals on earth - but without instilling driver education and common courtesy, remember this: it only takes
one person to hold up
any line - no matter how long the line is behind that person.
This is a problem of human psychology. There is no quick-fix technological solution for it.