This traffic light is great:
https://www.google.com/maps?ll=41.869753,-87.648017&spn=...
It turns red immediately when you press the button. When I was in college, I would entertain myself between classes by going over, pressing the button just as the upstream light turned green and cars began accelerating, and then not crossing the street.
This, incidentally, is probably why most lights don't change immediately.