This is an all too common scenario on Phnom Penh streets–approaching an intersection and seeing the traffic lights not working. There’s always a question: Is it just the one light facing me that’s out? Are the lights out in all four directions? Are the lights out in the whole neighborhood? That’s not as big a question as it would be in the United States because a good portion of the driving public in Cambodia doesn’t pay much attention to the lights anyway. Stop lights are basically optional: if you want to stop, you do. If you don’t want to stop or wait the full time, you don’t. So this scenario with the light out isn’t much different from the scenario with the lights functioning.