&gt; What reason is there to believe that the same driver who would run a red light (by accident or otherwise) would generally make better ad-hoc judgments without the light?<p>There would still be assholes. The difference is the other drivers would be checking for cross traffic instead of going as soon as they see the green light.<p>I&#x27;m certainly not convinced and in particular doubt you&#x27;d get high traffic flow, but it seems quite plausible for less busy intersections.