$300 “MIRT” Device Changes Traffic Lights from Red to Green

By Alice Hill
RealTechNews

When I was a little kid, my father would do the dad trick of pretending he could make the traffic lights turn green when we were driving. Somehow he always knew when they were going to turn. (Hey, I wasn’t always a snide know-it-all!) But even after adulthood revealed that sitting in lights is something none of us can control, here’s word of a $300 device called a MIRT that promises to make lights green with the simple press of a button. Apparently many traffic lights are built with hidden transmitters the police and fire departments can use to beam a signal and change the lights to green for safer passage through intersections. But thanks to the internet, cheapo knock-offs are being sold online. It is also now a federal crime to own one, but here’s some info from the world of MIRTs on how the technology works.

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. The devices are normally installed on fire trucks 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. Source: The Detroit News

Alice Adds: While I love technology and how it can solve problems, this is a gray area that is dangerous business at best. Just like illegal cell phone jammers and even that wacky device that enabkles you to turn off TVs in airport lounges, people are clearly turning to technology to get the upper hand. It’s one thing to pull a prank, but messing with traffic lights is serious business.

UPDATE:

It is now a FEDERAL Offense to Sell or Use any Traffic Preemption device by an authorized user. This has been passed by the Safe Intersections Act of 2005, an addition to the tranist bill signed recently by President Bush. The Penalty is as follows:
`(a) Offenses-

`(1) SALE- A person who knowingly sells a traffic signal preemption transmitter in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce to a person who is not acting on behalf of a public agency or private corporation authorized by law to provide fire protection, law enforcement, emergency medical services, transit services, maintenance, or other services for a Federal, State, or local government entity, shall, notwithstanding section 3571(b) of title 18, United States Code, be fined not more than $10,000, imprisoned not more than 1 year, or both.

`(2) USE- A person who makes unauthorized use of a traffic signal preemption transmitter in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce shall be fined not more than $10,000, imprisoned not more than 6 months, or both. Source: I-hacked.com

MIRT Site (If you really want to go to jail)