That sounds like an assumption that holds in the US much more than elsewhere, because in the US you don't have to wait for the traffic light if you turn right, but elsewhere you do.
The problem is usually more with unprotected left turns at stop signs [or pulling out of driveways]--not traffic lights. (Though traffic lights can be an even bigger issue if there's no left turn arrow--leading to people making turns when the light has either just turned red or it's just turned green and the oncoming traffic technically has priority.)
