| Subject: Unauthorized Opticom Use |
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Major Monaco
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Date Posted: 19:14:39 09/25/02 Wed
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Ban urged on light changers
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State asked to bar use by civilians
By Karen Mellen and Virginia Groark
Chicago Tribune staff reporters
September 25, 2002
It's every frustrated commuter's dream: a device that would change traffic lights to green, especially those at never-ending intersections clogged by construction or too many cars.
In fact, such technology exists. It's being used by fire and police personnel in many Chicago suburbs to get to an emergency faster and more safely.
On Tuesday, the DuPage County Board approved a resolution urging the Illinois legislature to make it illegal for anyone other than agencies operating emergency vehicles or commuter buses to possess such devices.
Although state officials do not know of any case of the equipment getting into civilian hands, they believe it could.
A few months ago, DuPage sheriff's deputies who were perusing the Internet for police equipment found a Web site offering traffic-control pre-emption devices.
"The purpose of it is for emergency access, not for the convenience of someone who wants to get home earlier or wants to dodge traffic," said Pamela Rion (R-Bloomingdale), chairwoman of the County Board's Transportation Committee.
The systems typically have an emitter that is mounted on a vehicle and a detector that is placed above the traffic signal. When it receives a signal from the emitter, the detector directs the traffic-control signal to hold the light green until the emergency vehicle passes. If the light is red, the detector directs the signal to provide a quick green.
"It's made a difference, in a time issue," said William Wolff, assistant chief of the Bloomingdale Fire Protection District. "Before, if we came up to an intersection and there was a red light, people see the red light and sirens and have no place to go. [This system] gives us a green light, and it gives drivers some room to maneuver to the right and clear the way for us."
DuPage Sheriff John Zaruba believes the steep price-- $700 to $1,000, manufacturers say--will deter most people from buying such a device. But he understands the frustration of commuters and the allure of a magic box that could move traffic along.
"Could you imagine how many people would drive around doing that?" he said, acknowledging that it would be difficult to catch the users because the machines have a range of a mile and a half.
The devices typically are mounted in the light rods of squad cars, but they also can be put in a car grille or on a dashboard, said Don Nolde, owner of Radco Communications Inc., a Glendale Heights company that installs the devices in emergency vehicles. Installation costs vary, but are about $200, he said.
Installers of the devices must agree in a signed certificate to mount them only in emergency vehicles, said Nolde. He said he has not had any civilians ask him to mount the emitters on their cars but that doesn't mean they aren't available.
"Some of them are very simple devices, and they only require you to put a 12-volt battery to them," he said. "It's possible that they could just be plugged into a cigarette lighter."
Officials at 3M Co. of St. Paul, which makes the popular Opticom Priority Control System, said their product has built-in security that prevents unauthorized use.
But in at least one state, unauthorized use of the technology is a reality.
"They definitely are in use, and it's my understanding that they are available online," said Jim Gaston, executive director of the Texas Fire Chiefs Association. "They are not as scarce as they ought to be.
"Sometimes public safety people who leave the field for whatever reason take one with them," Gaston added. "That's been known to happen."
The Texas association recently endorsed a proposal to prevent unauthorized individuals from using the devices. But the state's legislature is out of session, so for now, Gaston believes, a person who has pre-empted a traffic signal has not done anything illegal.
"Not right now," he said. "Not if the light changes. It's a green light."
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