Man Ticketed For Changing Red Lights To Green
Man Says Device Bought On eBay Cut His Drive To Work
POSTED: Monday, April 17, 2006
LONGMONT, Colo. -- A Longmont man has been ticketed $50 for suspicion of interfering with a traffic signal, but he says he really enjoyed using it.Jason Niccum told The Longmont Times-Call that he bought a device that let him change traffic lights from red to green, called an Opticon, on eBay for $100.He told the newspaper the device "paid for itself" in the two years he had it, helping him cut his time driving to work.Niccum was cited on March 29 after police said they caught him using the strobe-like device to change traffic signals. Police confiscated the Opticon, and informed Niccum it was illegal to possess it."I'm always running late," police quoted Niccum as saying in an incident report.An Opticon shines a strobe light on the optical sensors set atop some traffic signals, causing lights to jam.City traffic engineer Joe Olson said traffic engineers plan to update the city's system this year to block unauthorized light-changing signals. He estimated that a new system, which would be able to block out all unauthorized light-changing signals, will cost taxpayers about $75,000.The Opticon devices, which are becoming more commonplace, are marketed through many different avenues. Dealers are instructed to sell only to "authorized users" such as volunteer first responders, doctors and security personnel, but it is easy for anyone to buy the devices online.
Distributed by Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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