This looks interesting http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060417/...ffic_changer_2

 

"Niccum was cited after city traffic engineers who noticed repeated traffic-light disruptions on certain intersections spotted a white Ford pickup passing by whenever the light patterns were disrupted."

I had no idea those lights recorded the fact they deviate from the normal pattern!

Now excuse me while I go out to my car..........

 

Too be honest, I'm surprised there hasn't been mroe of this reported. This technology has been around for a long time, I'm really shocked that more people have not taken advantage of this at all.

 

In this state even possession of a premption device is unlawful unless you are specifically exempted by state law - heck, to give an idea how strict they are, here is one of the few exemptions allowed to be in possession of one, even in a sealed box:
If you are in Washington state, DON'T get caught with one... No sense of humor...

http://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=46.37.670

 

I saw this on the news today.

 

I think that's the case everywhere, but that won't (and apparently isn't) stopping people. In Va, you can't even have radar detector in the car, regardless of whether it is plugged in, or not in use. But people have them all the time.

 

Using these things is both selfish and dangerous. These devices are meant for emergency vehicles to be able to pass through traffic in a safe manner. There was an incident in Denver last year where someone used one of these and got blasted by an ambulance coming through the intersections. If you're running late to work everyday, here's a concept for you, get up earlier genius.

 

amen cletus could advice

 

Speaking of which I gotta head out for work now. Just so I don't get t-boned by any ambulances. The idea is still sci-fi to some people i guess. But yeah I heard about this on the radio too.
I always wanted to have control over the traffic lights when I was a kid. Then again who didn't. "When I snap my fingers the light will turn green, watch" I miss being a kid.

Oh BTW, Happy 420 ScionLife.com!!!!

 

Happy holidays to you as well.

 

I know i had a happy 420 now that i spent about $300 yesterday and what i invested it in was here this morning but now it is all gone now and all the food at the $3 buffet

Happy Holiday!!!

Morningman

 

I read about this about 12 years ago when I was 15 into the warz bbs pages and read how to make one of these. Never tried it because I couldn't drive at the time lol As was said it has been around for awhile.

 

Yea, I read about it when I was in high school and had a "hacker mentality". I found the schematics and everything online, but never ended up making one. Probably because there were no stop lights in my town.

 

alot of the lights in my town have a light sensor hanging from the cross bar. it picks up the lights from an emergency vehicle and changes the light to green....BUT at night i drive up to them flashing my highs and it changes for me...i dont think the headlights are bright enough to do anything during the day though.

 

Do they have a device that will make the dumb ___ going 55 in the fast lane in front of you get over? That would be priceless to me!

 

One of the problems is that most installations of these systems (not all) are the cheapest possible - all the detector/controller looks for is a bright light flashing within a certain range of rates to take control of the intersection.

More secure systems require the flashes to be a digitally encoded 'signature' that must be recognized by the controller, and specifically identifies (and logs) the unit asking to take control. The random flashing light won't trip those systems, since they will not be digitally signed in the correct pattern.

Many locales are now upgrading their systems - at least at the most important/dangerous intersections - to require coded flashes.

(The best of these systems appear to be those from 3M - 3M OptiCom. Google for that for more information than you want. For those just curious about how the 3M systems work, heres a great page, OptiCom for Dummies, from the Minneapolis/St Paul Metro fire district. The 3M systems are much more sophisticated than some of the others, and don't 'false trigger' from 'normal' lights.)

(Fun stuff, but I haven't looked into this stuff since I was working with a utility company that had OptiCom emitters on some of their vehicles.)

 

Yeah, actually. I think they call them guns?

 

No, not guns. That will make em even slower. Car can't drive itself when the driver is wounded. Or scared poopless.

The highbeaming of intersections seem to work for me now and then. I just flash rapidly but i don't think i'll ever flash rapidly enough for the "snart" ones that require digital signatures.

 

I was more so joking than I was serious. . . but in most places around the world, failing to yield to faster traffic will probably get you shot.

Nothing like the American attitude of not allowing others to pass (inferiority complex).