Have you ever found yourself getting fed up as you approach another set of traffic lights just as it hits red?

There’s almost a good feeling to it all when you continually get green, but when you’re forced to stop every 100 metres for the next set then there is a sense of frustration. In today’s Herald, Mark Smith has delivered his view on traffic lights in Glasgow and it’s got people talking.

He begins by mentioning the fact that he’s come up with his columns when he’s thinking about ideas while sitting at traffic lights, so why not right about them?

Read his full column: 

In it, he says: “You’ve probably experienced the phenomenon yourself: sitting at lights, no one around, roads clear, waiting, waiting.

“A new set was recently installed at the junction near my bedroom window and all through the night they turn red and go beep-beep for pedestrians who never come because it’s four o’clock in the morning you stupid machine. The beep-beep annoys me, but the kerching-kerching of the money being spent on it annoys me more.”

A quick chat about the £1.3 million that could potentially be spent in East Dunbartonshire raises more annoyance for him and he questions whether they are effective?

One stat shows that the number of lights increased by 30 percent between 2000 and 2008 and it’s probably risen to even more now.

There’s some potential solutions highlighted, such as turning lights off or bringing in the American system of being able to turn right at a red light if there’s no traffic – or left as it would be in Scotland and the rest of the UK.

But are traffic lights really that bad and do Scotland have too many of them? It’s certainly got our readers talking as they gave their views in the comments section of the column.

One of them, Ian Davidson, posted: “Definitely need "smart" lights which respond to traffic flow and also can pick up signals from emergency vehicles, public transport etc to give them priority. Otherwise I label them as "dumb lights".

“Drivers are generally good at giving way to other traffic if lights fail but less so to vulnerable pedestrians despite Highway Code general rule on giving way to pedestrians when turning at junctions? Pedestrian safety a major concern in Glasgow City centre.”

Another, John Young, added: “There is nothing worse than sitting at a red traffic light at 1am when the road is empty either way. After say 11pm traffic lights should only change when approaching vehicles activate them so in theory you are green lighted all the way when roads are not busy.”

But what do you think? You can let us know in our Herald poll and in our comment section below.