Unexplained behavior on red lights

In recent times, I have been increasingly observing a behavior that absolutely does not open up to me. At a red traffic light a lot of distance (partly up to a car length) is braked before the traffic light or, if necessary, the vehicle standing in front of it to a standstill. Then, after a few seconds, the car is hit again and the gap is closed. The traffic light is still markedly red. At first I thought it was simply a misassessment of the distance and this corrects wi rd. But lately I see this practice so often, partly by several VTs at the same traffic light, so that I can start three times in a red phase to close the gaps again, that I can no longer believe in my random theory. I also know this from some who keep a lot of distance to then drive in the green phase at the same time with the front man, but in these cases it can’t be, because everything is still happening during the red phase. Is there a logical explanation for this or have everyone just gone crazy?