agent4, i know what you mean and im not sure it is the same thing as sddsddean. i think the thing on the bottom that twist around is merely a timing mechanism and from my experience it does speed up the changing of traffic lights if you help it on a bit.
this is only on single sets of traffic lights though, not on ones which rely on the timing of other sets.
pressing the button repeatedly definately doesnt affect the lights although alot of people do it, including me cos its just something to fill the 10 seconds or so u have to wait!