To All ,Blind and Visually Impaired Readers,  I live in San Diego,
> California and our city has these traffic control devises on fire trucks
> and other emergency vehicles.  We have some very wide intersections
> (some up to ten lanes wide) where these devices operate regardless of
> disabled persons who are crossing with audible signals and the blind and
> visually impaired are at the mercy of these emergency vehicles.  If this
> was an isolated incident only a few pedestrians would be hit by an
> emergency vehicle.  In the last two months I have been in such a
> position five times on crossing a wide boulevard.  Since I cannot see
> beyond a few yards it is impossible to know which way to go.  It is true
> I live only 1/4 mile from the local fire station and several blocks
> further are two very large hospitals who have emergency rooms for
> ambulance response.
> If any driver can be his own dictator/emperor behind the wheel of his
> moving mini domain we are in a really serious life threatening problem.
> At least massive gridlock does not threaten pedestrian lives.
> The problem has a simple short term solution.  Just deactivate these
> devises until a workable solution can be found.  Fire trucks and other
> emergency vehicles have operated more or less safely before these
> devices were installed.  It is interesting that when the power to due
> harm is removed the problem no longer exists.  And when the profit to
> the vender and user is removed a lot of stuff becomes useless junk.
> So please read the following article and be informed.
> Gordon Wahl
> XXXX
> #####
> Peter Altschul wrote:
> >
> > Gadget may wreak traffic havoc
> > In-car device lets drivers change stoplights; officials fear gridlock, seek
> > to block
> > signal
> > By Jodi Upton / The Detroit News
> > Tired of sitting at endless red lights? Frustrated by lights that turn from
> > green
> > to red too quickly, trapping you in traffic?
> > Now anyone can breeze through congested intersections just like the police,
> > thanks
> > to a $300 dashboard device that changes traffic lights from red to green,
> > making
> > nasty commutes a thing of the past and leaving other drivers open-mouthed at
> > your
> > ability to manipulate traffic.
> > But what if everyone had one?
> > That's the fear of traffic control officials, who believe chaos would take
> > over the
> > roads. That's also the potential facing communities from Troy to Washington
> > Township
> > as Internet-marketed knockoffs of the device -- originally intended only for
> > police
> > and fire vehicles -- have become available to the public.
> > The knockoffs have traffic engineers investigating whether lockout measures
> > will
> > work against the copycats and whether hundreds of thousands of dollars in
> > traffic
> > technology investments will become obsolete.
> > Police are worried about the possibility of intersection chaos if people
> > duel over
> > control for lights. But even more fundamentally, the dashboard device may be
> > impossible
> > to detect even from a police car right next to it, and it may be perfectly
> > legal
> > anyway.
> > "The potential for chaos is enormous," Macomb County Sheriff Mark Hackel
> > said.
> > The traffic light changer, called the MIRT for mobile infrared transmitter,
> > emits
> > a beam with a 1,500-foot range to a receiver installed at the intersection,
> > which
> > changes the light immediately, allowing an intersection to clear before a
> > fire or
> > rescue truck approaches.
> > "That's unreal. I want one," Hackel said while watching a test device change
> > the
> > lights at the touch of a button.
> > The devices are normally installed on the fire truck and respond
> > automatically. The
> > MIRT requires the press of a button and plugs into the cigarette lighter.
> > Unlike other devices, like radar jammers and certain laser detectors that
> > emit radio
> > signals, the MIRT and other signal changers emit an infrared beam, so it
> > doesn't
> > run afoul of the Federal Communications Commission, said Chelsea Fallon, a
> > spokeswoman
> > for the agency.
> > Because no laws apply to the MIRT in Michigan and elsewhere, new ones may
> > have to
> > be written. "I guess I have something to talk to the (state) legislators
> > about,"
> > Hackel said.
> > Copycats sold online
> > While government officials search legal texts for possible legal
> > infractions, dealers
> > are lining up to sell MIRTs.
> > Scott Pregler of Shelby Township was one of the first, adding it to his
> > other business
> > of after-market aerodynamic car body parts "like that stuff in 'The Fast and
> > the
> > Furious,' you know?" he said, referring to a movie in which a gang of
> > drivers in
> > super-fast cars repeatedly outwit the police.
> > Pregler said he hasn't even tried the device yet, and plans to focus on
> > selling it
> > to small police and fire agencies that can't afford the more expensive
> > version of
> > the technology, marketed by 3M, which bigger cities and counties buy.
> > "We'll probably try to avoid (selling to the public) if it may cause
> > problems in
> > the future," said Pregler, whose company is named Vision Aerodynamics.
> > The 3M knockoffs, like the MIRT, are available on the Internet, but they
> > work only
> > at intersections that have receivers. There are about 85 such intersections
> > in Troy,
> > along Big Beaver and Rochester Road and other main corridors. Farmington and
> > Novi
> > also have invested in the receivers, which can run $15,000 to $20,000 per
> > intersection,
> > including wiring and installation.
> > But the real vulnerability may lie in whether the receivers can lock out
> > devices
> > like the MIRT and read only the signal from specific fire trucks. Many
> > receivers
> > already purchased by Troy, for example, can't be locked out and can't be
> > upgraded,
> > said Frank Carrier, the primary 3M dealer in southeast Michigan.
> > Troy traffic engineer John Abraham said newer receivers are programmable,
> > making
> > it unclear how vulnerable the city is to MIRTs.
> > "We had a scare a few years ago when we realized there was a potential for
> > the technology
> > to get out, so we upgraded," Abraham said.
> > In Macomb, Washington Township along Old Van Dyke has been a test site. But
> > the county
> > has only six intersections with receivers, and the technology was able to
> > lock out
> > the MIRT on Friday.
> > "But if something comes up that gets around the lock, I'll take them all
> > out. It
> > would be chaos," said Dan McInerney, traffic operations engineer at the Road
> > Commission
> > of Macomb County.
> > For now, Macomb allows only fire trucks to have the device, fearing that if
> > police
> > and paramedics also have it, it would cause havoc at larger emergency
> > scenes.
> > Wayne County has none of the intersection systems, mostly because of a fear
> > that
> > if there was an accident because of the light change, the county would be
> > held legally
> > responsible, spokeswoman Vanessa Denha said. But there are some similar
> > devices on
> > traffic lights outside some firehouses to help trucks get out.
> > Because Michigan's communities have not invested in the traffic technology
> > as heavily
> > as some states, problems with copycat devices like the MIRT are just
> > beginning to
> > appear.
> > Competition, critics grow
> > Tim Gow, who markets the device through his company, FAC, which also sells
> > high-end
> > weapons and accessories to police, said he's not using the Internet to
> > appeal to
> > the public, but only to level the playing field in a David-versus-Goliath
> > market.
> > "We will need an army of distributors to go up against 3M," Gow said. He
> > said he
> > is aiming to sell to small police, fire and emergency agencies who can't
> > afford the
> > 3M systems but can afford his $499 device, which is higher than his
> > direct-to-the-dealer
> > price.
> > He says he has rejected some dealers -- including a pizza delivery guy who
> > wanted
> > to use the device. He asks dealers to promise not to sell directly to the
> > public
> > and to use their device for demonstrations only.
> > Gow knows he may not hear about infractions. But if he does, he says he will
> > revoke
> > a dealership.
> > "I have a highly unique product here, and I'm going beyond what I have to do
> > to sell
> > a legal product," Gow said. "The BATF (federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco
> > and Firearms)
> > and the FBI, these are organizations I answer to every day. We have no
> > issues with
> > these governing bodies."
> > But if communities start locking out the MIRT, Gow may not be able to
> > compete at
> > all.
> > Frank Carrier, the 3M dealer, says that's only fair. If Gow wants to
> > compete, he
> > should create his own system, including a receiver that can be locked as
> > well, Carrier
> > said. Providing only a transmitter as his business is parasitic, he said.
> > However long the MIRT survives, it's only one of a number of devices that
> > frustrated
> > and lead-footed drivers have snatched up over the years with an aim of
> > having an
> > advantage over the police. The difference is, few of them actually work.
> > "People are gullible, and they have discretionary income," said P. David
> > Fisher,
> > professor emeritus of electrical engineering at Michigan State University.
> > He said
> > the issue of a national campaign to expose the businesses that sell radar
> > jammers
> > and laser detectors that, by definition, if they are effective are illegal,
> > has been
> > discussed at public safety conventions.
> > "It's a very interesting ethical dilemma. Here are all these gullible
> > people. Why
> > should we protect them? On the other hand, they are causing a number of
> > crashes."
> > You can reach Jodi Upton at (313) 222-2310 or
> > [log in to unmask]
> >
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