> In France and Italy, traffic lights are just recommendations. We once got honked at for waiting at a red light when there was no cross traffic. I don't know

> In France and Italy, traffic lights are just recommendations. We once got honked at for waiting at a red light when there was no cross traffic. I don't know about Italy, but in France red traffic lights are absolutely respected by everyone (almost, obviously there will always be people who run red lights). You'd lose 4 of your permit's 12 points (6 points if you're a young driver) for running a red light, and depending on the policeman's judgement your license might get suspended for up to three years. It's among the highest class of violation you can make. If you got honked at a red light, I suspect there was something you didn't notice, like a blinking orange light allowing your lane to pass, or something like that. Or just the driver behind you honking by error while fiddling with something in their car.