That's not different at all. Why would Norwegians be different from other humans? I can confirm that Swedes and danes do this too.
And being of croatian descent I can confirm they do it there too. It's not a cultural thing, it's a human thing to be impatient.
If anything it speaks of the flow of traffic.
Here in Sweden you can often safely cross the street because the entire length of the street has lights that work in a pattern. So there are long gaps in traffic due to lights further up/downstream on the street.
It's quite unusual in Czech Republic too, again even when there's no traffic in sight. Sometimes police will post up in places where it might happen and wait to catch you crossing on a red. They busted me doing this twice in quick succession (as in, there were two very small quiet crossings near to each other and they caught me crossing both and fined me on the spot - two fines). I don't know if this is why people are reluctant to try it, or if this is one rule people just happen to strictly obey.
As a cyclist in Malmö, Sweden, I wish I could shout at some people sometimes. But truth is that people cross against red all the time with no consequences.
> Why would Norwegians be different from other humans?
Different cultures and legal system. I moved from UK to Poland. Almost everybody walks on red light in UK, almost nobody in Poland - you will get fined for doing so. I don't think anyone was fined for walking on red light in UK.
And being of croatian descent I can confirm they do it there too. It's not a cultural thing, it's a human thing to be impatient.
If anything it speaks of the flow of traffic.
Here in Sweden you can often safely cross the street because the entire length of the street has lights that work in a pattern. So there are long gaps in traffic due to lights further up/downstream on the street.