Part of the problem is the US light change sequence that gives you no indication at all of when the light will change to green.

I much prefer the UK sequence that goes: Green, Amber, Red, Red + Amber, Green. The additional red+amber still counts as a red in that you are not permitted to start moving, but it gives you an extra second or so to notice that the light is about to go green so you can be ready when it does. It won't prevent completely distracted drivers from missing a light change but it definitely seems to reduce the number of times a traffic queue will just sit there on green.

Other countries go further and have countdown timers for the drivers so you know exactly how long you have before the light changes from red to green which is even more helpful, albeit dispiriting when the countdown starts at several hundred seconds

Well said. I would add the caveat that "actually passing someone" means doing so in a reasonably short time. If you are unwilling or unable to do more than inch past the car in front at a glacial pace you should suck it up and wait for a break in traffic in the passing lane before attempting to do so. This goes treble for lorries/semis on long uphill sections with only 2 lanes each way!

I second that. I'm a big fan of its selectable width hex mode for viewing/modifying binary files, and it has a lot of other useful tools.