We are victims of obsessive officialdom

Driving through Barnstaple yesterday (on electric), I think I surprised the driver behind me. At a pedestrian crossing where the lights had just changed against the people on foot, I waited at green for them to cross. They waved in surprised gratitude. Then the lights changed against me but the people had gone, so I went. At the next signalled crossing where the people on foot had crossed but the lights were still red against the traffic, I went through again. Then, past the roundabout, I stopped for people waiting at the side of the road (no crossing marked). A bit further on I stopped for a teen to cross and join his friends on the other side. I made the next set of lights on green. The distance between the four sets of lights? About 400 metres. All are entirely unnecessary, or would be, if the rules of the road were based on social values instead of moronic regulation.