BATON ROUGE, LA – Residents across Baton Rouge are once again being recognized for their unwavering commitment to sitting through entire green lights while staring directly into their phones, a tradition transportation experts say has become one of the city’s strongest cultural identities.
The issue reportedly peaks at intersections along Bluebonnet, Essen, and Siegen, where drivers often remain motionless for up to 12 seconds after the light changes before slowly accelerating as the signal turns yellow again.
“It’s not road rage anymore,” said one exhausted commuter stuck behind three consecutive distracted drivers on Perkins Road. “At this point, it’s more of a shared community ritual.”
Several local motorists defended the practice, arguing the first few seconds of a green light are important for checking texts, scrolling Facebook Marketplace, or finishing a TikTok before traffic starts moving again.
DOTD officials confirmed the behavior has become so common they are considering extending all Baton Rouge green lights by an additional 15 seconds, with roughly 10 of those seconds reserved exclusively for “phone transition time.”
Officials say the proposal is still being reviewed after several committee members missed the meeting while looking at their phones.
