Danzig
Well-Known Member
ALL the lights in St.Mary's use these, now if I can just get my hands on one of these.
By Greg Schneider
The Washington Post
It sounds like a suffering commuter's dream come true: a dashboard device that changes red traffic lights to green at the touch of a button.
Police, fire and rescue vehicles have had access to such equipment for years, but now the devices are becoming available to ordinary motorists thanks to advances in technology and a little help from the Internet. Safety advocates are outraged, and news accounts in Michigan last week led to politicians there seeking a ban on the gadgets.
"Every driver I know would like to have that power, but these devices could create serious safety hazards, not to mention the havoc they'd create at busy intersections where lights are carefully synchronized," said Sally Greenberg of Consumers Union.
There are considerable catches to using the devices. Highway officials say most states would consider it illegal to interfere with traffic in an intersection. The gizmos won't work on just any old traffic light, but they will work on most lights that authorities have equipped with infrared sensors that can be controlled by emergency services.
In Maryland, for example, about 1,000 of 3,000 intersections maintained by the state have infrared control systems, said Tom Hicks, director of traffic and safety for the highway administration. About 100 of those stoplights have been equipped with secure sensors so the lights can't be changed by anyone without the proper code, but the rest are unprotected, he said.
Even the possibility that motorists could control a traffic signal sets safety advocates on edge.
A story about the devices in the Detroit News last week prompted Michigan state Sen. Tony Stamas to promise that he would introduce legislation to make it illegal to possess such equipment.
Hicks said using the devices is already illegal in most states under statutes that prohibit interfering with traffic flow.
The equipment causing all the fuss came on the market in January through a firearms and law-enforcement supply company called FAC of America. Owner Tim Gow said he takes great pains to make sure none of the devices is ever sold to an unauthorized individual, either over his Web site, www.themirt.com, or through a handful of authorized dealers.
"We want to make sure this doesn't get into the hands of the wrong user," Gow said, adding that he verifies the identity of the person ordering the product, confirms that it is being shipped to an authorized recipient such as a fire or police station, and requires the buyer to sign a contract. However, his Web site suggests a broad definition of "potential users," including private detectives, doctors and "community-services personnel."
Gow said he invented the equipment as a low-cost, easy-to-install alternative to the major system on the market, which is built by 3M Co. and sold under the name Opticom. That system involves putting a receiver onto a stoplight and an infrared emitter on the light bar of an emergency vehicle. A police officer or firefighter nearing an equipped intersection can send a signal to make the red light turn green.
Gow's device, called MIRT for mobile infrared transmitter, is a small emitter that plugs into a cigarette lighter and can be mounted on the dashboard. At about $500 per unit, the MIRT is a fraction of the cost of the 3M system, which Gow said is intended to make it attractive to cash-strapped emergency-services departments.
Despite his security efforts, MIRT devices are readily available elsewhere on the Internet. One Web site offers plans and kits for making copies of the MIRT emitter, and a recent eBay search found a number being sold for $300 to $900
By Greg Schneider
The Washington Post
It sounds like a suffering commuter's dream come true: a dashboard device that changes red traffic lights to green at the touch of a button.
Police, fire and rescue vehicles have had access to such equipment for years, but now the devices are becoming available to ordinary motorists thanks to advances in technology and a little help from the Internet. Safety advocates are outraged, and news accounts in Michigan last week led to politicians there seeking a ban on the gadgets.
"Every driver I know would like to have that power, but these devices could create serious safety hazards, not to mention the havoc they'd create at busy intersections where lights are carefully synchronized," said Sally Greenberg of Consumers Union.
There are considerable catches to using the devices. Highway officials say most states would consider it illegal to interfere with traffic in an intersection. The gizmos won't work on just any old traffic light, but they will work on most lights that authorities have equipped with infrared sensors that can be controlled by emergency services.
In Maryland, for example, about 1,000 of 3,000 intersections maintained by the state have infrared control systems, said Tom Hicks, director of traffic and safety for the highway administration. About 100 of those stoplights have been equipped with secure sensors so the lights can't be changed by anyone without the proper code, but the rest are unprotected, he said.
Even the possibility that motorists could control a traffic signal sets safety advocates on edge.
A story about the devices in the Detroit News last week prompted Michigan state Sen. Tony Stamas to promise that he would introduce legislation to make it illegal to possess such equipment.
Hicks said using the devices is already illegal in most states under statutes that prohibit interfering with traffic flow.
The equipment causing all the fuss came on the market in January through a firearms and law-enforcement supply company called FAC of America. Owner Tim Gow said he takes great pains to make sure none of the devices is ever sold to an unauthorized individual, either over his Web site, www.themirt.com, or through a handful of authorized dealers.
"We want to make sure this doesn't get into the hands of the wrong user," Gow said, adding that he verifies the identity of the person ordering the product, confirms that it is being shipped to an authorized recipient such as a fire or police station, and requires the buyer to sign a contract. However, his Web site suggests a broad definition of "potential users," including private detectives, doctors and "community-services personnel."
Gow said he invented the equipment as a low-cost, easy-to-install alternative to the major system on the market, which is built by 3M Co. and sold under the name Opticom. That system involves putting a receiver onto a stoplight and an infrared emitter on the light bar of an emergency vehicle. A police officer or firefighter nearing an equipped intersection can send a signal to make the red light turn green.
Gow's device, called MIRT for mobile infrared transmitter, is a small emitter that plugs into a cigarette lighter and can be mounted on the dashboard. At about $500 per unit, the MIRT is a fraction of the cost of the 3M system, which Gow said is intended to make it attractive to cash-strapped emergency-services departments.
Despite his security efforts, MIRT devices are readily available elsewhere on the Internet. One Web site offers plans and kits for making copies of the MIRT emitter, and a recent eBay search found a number being sold for $300 to $900
