I'm skeptical that there are very many lights that would take more than a few minutes to change even without a car.
Maybe cyclists should just be allowed to proceed through a red light since they are unlikely to hurt anyone besides themselves... But the rule does kinda make sense. If there are lights that rely on car sensors then obviously fixing that would be the right thing to do regardless of the law.
At least on my ride home some of the lights default to remaining green along the major street unless a car trips the sensor on the intersecting street. Unless a car comes along it will never change.
There's a couple in my area, so they can't be that rare. They're on arterial roads with small side-streets or shopping center exits, and after a certain hour at night, the signal never cycles unless a car trips the sensor on the smaller road.
Car sensors aren't infallible, even for cars. Last week, after (presumably related) heavy snow, I found a "delayed signal" that wouldn't turn green for in the delayed direction for my Honda Civic.
Maybe cyclists should just be allowed to proceed through a red light since they are unlikely to hurt anyone besides themselves... But the rule does kinda make sense. If there are lights that rely on car sensors then obviously fixing that would be the right thing to do regardless of the law.