Sounds interesting. I wonder what the NFB would think of this. Wonder if
they would hold the same opinion as they do for accessible pedestrian
signals, or truncated domes.
Jacob
----- Original Message -----
From: "Peter Altschul" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, November 01, 2003 3:15 PM
Subject: juno-l Fw: tell that pesky traffic light cycle good-bye OT
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
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