Should You Wait at a Red Light in First Gear or Neutral? Here’s What the Expert Says

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• Why You Spend Years Staring at Red
• Ask the Expert: First Gear or Neutral?
• Clutch Myths, Busted!
• Automatics and Start-Stop Systems: A Brief Interlude

Ever feel like you’re spending a suspicious chunk of your life glaring at a red light? You’re not alone. In the Netherlands, waiting for traffic lights isn’t just a daily ritual—it’s basically a national pastime that, believe it or not, adds up to a collective few thousand years. But when you’re sitting there, somewhere between daydreaming and counting down the seconds, the real question is: should you keep your car in first gear or shift to neutral? Let’s ask the expert—and perhaps, save your sanity and your left leg in the process.

Why You Spend Years Staring at Red

• The Dutch population spends about 1.6 billion minutes every year waiting at stoplights. That’s right—over three millennia lost collectively to red signals.
• For each licensed driver, that means 108 minutes per year spent at a standstill, which accumulates to around 150 hours in an average lifetime.
• To put that in perspective, that’s over six full days and nights of your life dedicated to one thing: waiting for green.
• And non-drivers, don’t laugh—you’re in this too. Passengers linger for an average of 35 hours of their lives, whether they enjoy it or not.

With more than 5,200 traffic lights sprinkled generously across the Netherlands, spending a sizeable slice of your life stuck at red is, sadly, practically unavoidable. So the pressing question arises: what gear should you actually be in while you wait?

Ask the Expert: First Gear or Neutral?

Jos van der Drift, an Automotive Expert from the ANWB, weighs in with some wisdom (and puts a few myths to rest). Here’s what matters:

• If you’re the first car at the front, it’s logical to wait in first gear. That way, when the light flips green, you can drive off immediately, sparing the folks behind you from unnecessary waiting.
• If you find yourself in the middle of a queue or facing a particularly lengthy red light, feel free to pop your car into neutral. This prevents you from holding the clutch down the entire time, which—as anyone with a healthy set of calf muscles knows—can become tiring over time.

Clutch Myths, Busted!

Many drivers opt for neutral out of fear that holding in the clutch could wear it out. According to Van der Drift, this concern is mostly a myth.

• The clutch plate itself only wears when the car starts moving. Simply keeping the clutch depressed doesn’t cause significant wear.
• At a standstill, a pressed clutch puts some stress on the release bearing and pedal, but Van der Drift says the effect is minimal.

Technical studies from both the ANWB and Automotive Academy confirm: as long as the clutch is fully depressed—not half-pressed—extended waiting periods at red lights don’t produce meaningful wear. The real clutch killer? Slipping the clutch when pulling away, especially at low speeds or going uphill.

Automatics and Start-Stop Systems: A Brief Interlude

There’s good news if you drive an automatic:

• You don’t need to shift to neutral at red lights.
• Most modern automatics internally disengage when you press the brake, so there’s no significant extra wear. Simple and efficient.
• Cars with start-stop systems do their own thing and turn the engine off while you wait, no input needed.

A side note for the rebels who like starting off in second gear: as long as your car can move off smoothly without excessive engine strain at low revolutions, that’s just fine. But if it feels rough or jerky, you’re unnecessarily stressing both your clutch and drivetrain. So, while switching up your routine won’t really save wear, your left leg might thank you for sparing it some effort.

After all, comfort matters—especially when you’re spending an eye-watering six days of your life rooted at red lights. If you’ve got to wait, you might as well be comfortable, right?