![](\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/blogs\/static\/dowbrigade\/semaforo.gif\")
If you’ve ever been stuck in traffic longing for a magic box\n that could turn all your red lights to green, beware: Acting on that fantasy
\n became a federal crime this week.<\/p>\n
The Safe Intersections Act, part of the transit bill signed Wednesday by
\n President Bush, makes it a misdemeanor for unauthorized users to wield
\n a "traffic signal pre-emption transmitter," a special remote
\n control used by police, firefighters and ambulance drivers to change traffic
\n lights to green as they approach an intersection.<\/p>\n
![](\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/blogs\/static\/dowbrigade\/antilite.jpg\")
Lawmakers took an interest in the devices, called mobile infrared transmitters,
\nor MIRTs, a couple of years ago, when it emerged that impatient commuters could
\npurchase rogue boxes online for around $500. <\/p>\n
"When you first look at it, you think, ‘It’s not such a big deal,’" says
\nDeWine spokesman Jeff Sadosky. "But when you realize the possible implications,
\nsomebody using one of these to go 80 miles an hour through rapidly changing lights,
\nyou realize it could be life-threatening."<\/p>\n
from Wired News<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you’ve ever been stuck in traffic longing for a magic box that could turn all your red lights to green, beware: Acting on that fantasy became a federal crime this week. The Safe Intersections Act, part of the transit … Continue reading